Blue Eyes (Ojos azules)

Music piece by:
attributed to Gilberto Rojas Enríquez (Bolivia), Manuel Casazola Huancco (Perú), and the Andean oral tradition. Popularised in Chile by Violeta Parra and her children Isabel and Ángel Parra.
Testimony by:
Luis Cifuentes Seves
Experience in:
Campamento de Prisioneros Chacabuco, January – February 1974

This is the last track on the cassette recorded by the band Los de Chacabuco in the concentration camp; it was digitised in 2015.

They played at the prisoners' weekly show. The song was very popular in Chile in the 1960s and many bands included it in their repertoire.

The quenaAndean traditional flute, made of reed or wood. was played by Ricardo Yocelewski and the charangoA small Andean plucked string instrument traditionally made from an armadillo shell or wood. by Luis Cifuentes.


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Published on: 13 November 2015

Clandestine recording made by political prisoners in Chacabuco in 1974.

Do not cry, blue eyes
do not cry or fall in love.
You will cry when I leave
when there is nothing else to be done.

You swore to love me
to love me for the rest of your life.
But hardly two or three days have passed
you are going away and leaving me.

In a glass of wine
I would like to drink poison
poison to kill myself
poison to forget you.


Related testimonies:

  • Filistoque's Cueca (Cueca del Filistoque)  Víctor Canto Fuenzalida, Campamento de Prisioneros Chacabuco, June 1974

    Filistoque is a real-life person in all his mighty height (1.90 metres tall). I always remember him laughing. In Chacabuco, we shared a house for nearly ten months. Around him, you were never allowed to become depressed or get into a stew over our situation.

  • Lucky Devil (El suertúo)  Luis Cifuentes Seves, Campamento de Prisioneros Chacabuco, November 1973 - February 1974

    This cueca was composed at Chacabuco sometime between November 1973 and February 1974 and was sung by Los de Chacabuco, of which Víctor Canto and I were members.

  • A Cocky Fellow (El puntúo)  Luis Cifuentes Seves, Campamento de Prisioneros Chacabuco, November 1973 - February 1974

    This cueca was composed in Chacabuco between November 1973 and February 1974, and was sung by the band Los de Chacabuco, to which Víctor Canto and I belonged.

  • The Crux of the Matter (La madre del cordero)  Servando Becerra Poblete, Campamento de Prisioneros Chacabuco, 9 November 1973 - 10 November 1974

    I recited this poem in the National Stadium. I continued to do so in the Chacabuco prison camp, earning the nickname of “Venancio” from my fellow prisoners.

  • The Crux of the Matter (La madre del cordero)  Servando Becerra Poblete, Campamento de Prisioneros, Estadio Nacional, 9 November 1973 - 10 November 1974

    I recited this poem in the National Stadium. I continued to do so in the Chacabuco prison camp, earning the nickname of “Venancio” from my fellow prisoners.

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