Everything Changes (Todo cambia)

Music piece by:
Julio Numhauser
Testimony by:
Carolina Videla
Experience in:
Cárcel Pública de Arica, 1989-1990

My guitar accompanied me for the entire time that I was deprived of freedom. It was like a magnet. In the afternoon we would sing and play in the courtyard.

Other women drew, knitted or played volleyball. It was a space that allowed us to get out of there for a bit. It was expected that I would musicalise the afternoons.

There were four political prisoners out of the 60 or 70 women there. We were spread out in two big rooms with three-bed cabins.

'Todo cambia' ('Everything Changes') was the anthem of the afternoons and was always sung. Everyone knew the song after a couple of months. It was like a timeout, everyone’s hope.

I often remember an older woman who came in because of drug trafficking. Her life had fallen apart but she wanted to get ahead. We came to have enough trust to have conversations.

This woman suffered a lot and was very dejected. She would approach me and ask me to sing because music calmed her down. One day she told me that she hoped everything would truly change.

There was a very friendly young guard who would let us into the courtyard when she was on a night shift. We would play cards, sing and look at the moon. The guard liked trova music(Cuban) Poetic song form typically featuring voice and guitar, originated in 19th-century Cuba with roots in medieval Europe. The Nueva Trova emerged after the Cuban Revolution and became closely connected with Nueva Canción. and listening to me sing.

There was an open space in the prison which was guarded by men. They were also our audience when we sang. We had to cross this courtyard when we were taken to prosecution.

More than one guard asked us 'how is the music?'. 'Oh', I would say, 'well'. I understood that it meant 'I like your music' or 'good that you play the guitar'.

With the passing of time, you begin to remember. You see a before and after in life. Talking about it is a way to break free. We talk very little about these things.


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Published on: 26 September 2018

The superficial changes
also the profound changes
ways of thinking change
everything in this world changes.

Over time the climate changes
the shepherd’s herd changes
and just as everything else changes
it is not strange that I change.

The finest diamond changes
from hand to hand, its shine
the bird its nest changes
a lover’s feelings change.

The rambler his path changes
even though it pains him
and just as everything else changes
it is not strange that I change.

[Chorus]
Changes, everything changes.

The sun’s trajectory changes
when the night persists
the plant changes and wears
green in the spring.

The beast its fur changes
the elderly’s hair changes
and just as everything else changes
it is not strange that I change.

But my love does not change
no matter how far away
nor does the memory or the pain
of my village and my people.

And what changed yesterday
will have to change tomorrow
just as I change
in this remote land.

But my love does not change
no matter how far away
nor does the memory or the pain
of my village and my people.

And what changed yesterday
will have to change tomorrow
just as I change
in this remote land.

[Chorus]

Related testimonies:

  • 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.

  • The Paper Boat (El barco de papel)  Carlos Muñoz, Campamento de Prisioneros, Tres Álamos, 1975 - 1976

    One of the most important songs in the detention centres. Impossible to count how many times we sang it. Every time someone was released from a detention camp or there was credible information that a person would be sent into exile, a gigantic chorus would sing this song, in a powerful unison.

  • Today I Sing for the Sake of Singing (Hoy canto por cantar)  Beatriz Bataszew Contreras, Calle Irán Nº 3037 / Venda Sexy / La Discotheque, 12 - 18 December 1974

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  • Free (Libre)  anónimo, Campamento de Prisioneros, Estadio Nacional, September - November 1973

    While waiting in the grandstands to be interrogated for the first, second or more times, we would sing 'Free' to those who were being lined up to be released. 'Free' was a catharsis, a mixture of joy for those who were going and hope for those of us left behind.

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