An Old Love Tune (Tonada del viejo amor)

Music piece by:
Eduardo Falú and Jaime Dávalos
Testimony by:
Luis Cifuentes Seves
Experience in:
Campamento de Prisioneros Chacabuco, November 1973 - February 1974

The Los de Chacabuco band, created and conducted by Ángel Parra, performed this zambaTraditional musical genre and dance from Argentina. by Eduardo Falú and Jaime Davalos at the camp’s weekly shows.

My personal memory of it is that I sang these verses as a solo: “No tengo miedo al invierno / con tu recuerdo lleno de sol” (I'm not afraid of winter / with my memory of you full of sunshine).

This song can be found on the secret recording made of the farewell show organised for Ángel by Alberto Corvalan. It is called 'Zamba argentina' on the vinyl record released in Italy and on the CD released in Chile.


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Published on: 19 February 2015

Clandestine recording made by political prisoners in Chacabuco in 1974.

And I've never forgotten
in the sand you wrote to me
the wind erased it
and I'm so alone gazing at the sea.

How lovely when once
under the midday sun
your mouth opened in a kiss
like an apricot full of honey.

[Chorus]
What injury to your mouth
what hurt without pain
I have no fear of winter
with your memory full of sunshine.

I would like to see you again
smiling in front of the foam
your hair loose in the wind
like a torrent of wheat and light.

I know it will not return
that summer when you loved me
forgetfulness is broad and dark
and autumn enters the heart.

[Chorus]



Related testimonies:

  • Blue Eyes (Ojos azules)  Luis Cifuentes Seves, 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.

  • 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.

  • How We Resemble Each Other (En qué nos parecemos)  Luis Cifuentes Seves, Campamento de Prisioneros, Estadio Nacional, September - November 1973

    During the 1960s, the group Quilapayún popularised this old Spanish song in Chile. Víctor Canto and I performed it as a duet in Santiago’s National Stadium, which had been converted into a concentration, torture and extermination camp.

  • Chacabuco’s Soul (Alma de Chacabuco)  Luis Cifuentes Seves, Campamento de Prisioneros Chacabuco, November - December 1973

    This is the original version of a composition by Ángel Parra at Chacabuco, as secretly recorded at the prison camp during his farewell concert. The composer’s voice can be heard.

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