Cantos Cautivos
The Paper Boat (El barco de papel)
- Music piece by:Julio Numhauser, popularised by the band Amerindios
- Testimony by:José Selín Carrasco Vargas
- Experience in:
While we were imprisoned in Melinka, this song was sung every time that one of us was released. I remember a fellow prisoner nicknamed Bigote Molina (Moustache Molina) singing the song when we were going to Tres Álamos, from where we would be released a few days later.
It was exciting to hear the song when we said goodbye to someone, and even more when it was our turn.
We would change the lyrics of the song to “se va, se va, se va a la libertad” ("going away, going away, going away to freedom").
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Published on: 23 September 2017
on the sea of hope
carrying a bunch of dreams
and children can’t reach it.
Going away, going away, going away, never to come back
going away, going away, going away, never to come back.
One passenger is a doctor
a soldier is the captain
a bourgeois is the cannon operator
and the queen is made of tar.
Going away, going away, going away, never to come back
going away, going away, going away, never to come back.
A worker climbs aboard the ship
an artist, a teacher
and also that little girl
who stayed behind on the shore.
Going away, going away, going away, and will come back
going away, going away, going away, and will come back.
Climb aboard the boat, sailor
they don’t come to fight
they are all comrades
of peace and equality.
Going away, going away, and will come back
going away, going away, towards freedom.
Related testimonies:
- Lament for the Death of Augusto the Dog (Lamento a la muerte del perro Augusto) Sergio Vesely, Campamento de Prisioneros Melinka, Puchuncaví, 1975
Augusto the dog (not to be confused with the journalist Augusto Olivares, affectionately nicknamed 'Augusto the Dog', who was murdered in the Presidential Palace on
11 September 1973 ), was the mascot of the political prisoners held at the Ritoque concentration camp, and accompanied his master when the military junta decided to close that prison and transfer the inmates to the neighbouring Puchuncaví concentration camp. - Ode to Joy (Himno a la alegría) Luis Madariaga, Cárcel de Valparaíso, 1974 - 1976
In prison, we would sing the 'Ode to Joy' when a comrade was released or sent to exile.
- Today Was Visitors’ Day (Hoy fue día de visitas) Sergio Vesely, Cárcel de Valparaíso, 1976
Visitors’ day was an exceptional day that broke the monotonous routine of all the other days of the week.
- Song of a Middle-Class Man (Canción de un hombre medio) Sergio Vesely, Cárcel de Valparaíso, 1976
In our political discussions, we always spoke disdainfully of the middle class. In the view of the Marxist ideologues in prison, that sector of society supported the dictatorship and it was necessary to reverse that trend.
- How Can I Describe This to You? (Cómo hacer para darte una idea) Sergio Vesely, Cárcel de Valparaíso, 1976
This is one of two songs I wrote in prison for my beloved Graciela. In the song I tried to draw her closer to me, describing my everyday world and my experience of life as a captive.
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