This is a song called "El Necio" by Cuban writer, Silvio Rodriguez. I understand the Spanish, but don't understand all of the references. Supposedly the song is an ode to Castro at the fall of the Soviet Union.

Here are the questons I have:

1. What does the word "Parnaso" refer to?
2. What is "un hijonuestro"? I know the Lord's Prayer (Padre nuestro), but don't know what hijonuestro refers to.
3. Are the religious comments in jest or are they serious? It sounds to me like a joke of some sort (for example the part about wanting to fool around, perhaps to multiply loaves and fish), but I don't get it.

Juan? Doña Diana? Other Spanish speakers? Could you help me out?

Parnaso is Mount Parnassus, home to Apollo and associated with poetry and music. May be a reference to Castro living in the mountains as a guerilla fighter.

hijonuestro may refer to Castro, as son of Cuba or son of Soviet communism.

Lots of other religious allusions. Could be saying that communism is the true religion.

Thanks, Juan. I would never have gotten the Parnassus reference.

I still think I'm missing the point. The religious references are sailing right over my head. To be honest, if no one had told me that this was a song for Castro, I would have thought it was opposing him- so I definitely think I may be missing something.

Here is my lame attempt at a translation (I'm lousy with literary Spanish and even lousier with translations of any sort) so that maybe some English speakers might be able to shed light on this (my husband is no literary genius either and I'm embarrassed to ask my coworkers about it). Also, maybe I'm misunderstanding some parts and Juan will catch it in my translation:

The Stubborn One

In order not to make my icon into pieces
In order to save myself among the unique and the odd
In order to yield myself a place in your (his?) Parnassus
In order to give myself a little corner in your (his?) alters
They come to convince me to say I’m sorry
They come to convince me not to lose
They come to convince me to make myself indefinite
They come to convince me of so much sh**

I don’t know what destiny is
Walking I was what I was
there God, what would be divine.
I die as I lived.

I want to continue playing at losing.
I want to be the left more than the right.
I want to make a congress of the united
I want to pray at the base of an OurSon.
They will say that the fashion of madness has passed
They will say that people are evil and don’t deserve it,
Mostly I will continue dreaming of fooling around
(perhaps multiplying loaves and fish).

I don’t know what destiny is
Walking I was what I was.
There God, what would be divine.
I die as I lived.

They say they will drag me over boulders
When the Revolution comes tumbling down.
that they’ll chop up my hands and my mouth
That they’ll pluck out my eyes and my clapper.
It may be that the foolishness ended with me
The foolishness that today comes out as stubborn:
The foolishness of assuming the enemy,
The foolishness of living without price.

I don’t know what destiny is
Walking I was what I was.
There God, what would be divine.
I die as I lived.

Any takers? What do you think the song means?

A couple of translation quibbles among other things:

necio is closer to dimwitted, stupid
convidar means to invite
left than right is double meaning, political, but also an allusion to Jesus and God (the right hand of the Father)
a fondo means completely, fully
badajo is a sexual innuendo
parió means was born with me

Thanks, Juan! Where I live, "necio" is closer to stubborn, but I know that words have different meanings in different places. Your other points are well taken - thanks!

So here, again, is my translation with Juan's notes in mind:

The Stubborn One (Or the Dimwitted One)

In order not to make my icon into pieces
In order to save myself among the unique and the odd
In order to yield myself a place in your (his?) Parnassus
In order to give myself a little corner in your (his?) alters
They come to invite me to say I’m sorry
They come to invite me not to lose
They come to invite me to make myself indefinite
They come to invite me to so much sh**

I don’t know what destiny is
Walking I was what I was
there God, what would be divine.
I die as I lived.

I want to continue playing at losing.
I want to be the left more than the right.
I want to make a congress of the united*
I want to completely pray an "OurSon."**
They will say that the fashion of madness has passed
They will say that people are evil and don’t deserve it,
Mostly I will continue dreaming of fooling around
(perhaps multiplying loaves and fish).

I don’t know what destiny is
Walking I was what I was.
There God, what would be divine.
I die as I lived.

They say they will drag me over boulders
When the Revolution comes tumbling down.
that they’ll chop up my hands and my mouth
That they’ll pluck out my eyes and my clapper (ding dong? Hee hee- double meaning).
It may be that the foolishness was born with me
The foolishness that today comes out as stubborn (or dimwitted):
The foolishness of assuming the enemy,
The foolishness of living without price.

I don’t know what destiny is
Walking I was what I was.
There God, what would be divine.
I die as I lived.

(*meaning of "congreso del unido" is unclear to me)
(**meaning of "hijonuestro" is unclear to me)

Anyone? Why do you think this song has become a bit of an anthem of Leftist ideals in post-Cold War Cuba?

quote:

Why do you think this song has become a bit of an anthem of Leftist ideals in post-Cold War Cuba?

Because the Soviet Union was the sole economic support of Cuba for years. When it fell, Cuba's situation, which was bad already, became incredibly worse. At present, it's an absolute basket case.

Juan - yes, but that's exactly what has me baffled. Rodrìguez is painted as being very pro-Castro. To me, this song seems anti-Castro - he seems to be saying he's being ridiculously hard-headed. It seems to be about what a disaster this is, not a heroic anthem of any sort. And all the religious imagery is unclear to me - I can't tell if he's seriously invoking the name of God or not.

He may be referring to himself as necio because he continues to support communism despite the fact it is dying everywhere, and he seems to think it will die in Cuba. Nonetheless, he fights on.

Thank goodness for you, Juan! The song suddenly make sense to me. Thanks.

What do you think about the religious allusions? Do you think the singer is religious or being somehow ironic?

Looks to me as if he's casting himself as a Christ figure, who will be sacrificed by the non-believers.

Yes! I think that's it!

Which makes hijonuestro more clear to me. I had searched for it and came up with this, which didn't seem to fit so I decided it was a coincidence. But if he makes himself a Christ figure (or himself, Castro, and other people who continue to fight for the cause), it would make sense that he would make this prayer.

Thanks, Juan!

I think it means "Se muere en su ley."

DD