Hasta Siempre, Comandante

A fragment of the Che Guevara monument in Santa Clara, Cuba

"Hasta Siempre, Comandante, or simply "Hasta Siempre", is a 1965 Spanish song by Cuban composer Carlos Puebla. The song's lyrics are a reply to revolutionary Che Guevara's farewell letter when he left Cuba, in order to foster revolution in the Congo and later Bolivia, where he would be captured and murdered.

The lyrics recount key moments of the Cuban Revolution, describing Che Guevara and his role as a revolutionary commander. The song became iconic after Guevara's death, and many left-leaning artists did their own cover versions of the song afterwards. The title is a part of Guevara's well known saying "¡Hasta la victoria siempre!" ("Until the eternal victory!").

Metrical structure

Like many of the songs of the author and in line with the tradition of the Cuban and Caribbean music, the song consists of a refrain plus a series of five verses (quatrain), rhyming ABBA, with each line written in octosyllabic verse.

5th stanza

[1] (1)Vie-(2)nes (3)que-(4)man-(5)do (6)la (7)bri-(8)sa

[2] (1)con (2)so-(3)les (4)de (5)pri-(6)ma-(7)ve-(8)ra

[3] (1)pa-(2)ra (3)plan-(4)tar (5)la (6)ban-(7)de-(8)ra

[4] (1)con (2)la (3)luz (4)de (5)tu (6)son-(7)ri-(8)sa

Lyrics

Original lyrics in Spanish Aprendimos a quererte desde la histórica altura donde el Sol de tu bravura le puso cerco a la muerte. Chorus: Aquí se queda la clara, la entrañable transparencia, de tu querida presencia, Comandante Che Guevara. Tu mano gloriosa y fuerte sobre la Historia dispara cuando todo Santa Clara se despierta para verte. [Chorus] Vienes quemando la brisa con soles de primavera para plantar la bandera con la luz de tu sonrisa. [Chorus] Tu amor revolucionario te conduce a nueva empresa donde esperan la firmeza de tu brazo libertario. [Chorus] Seguiremos adelante, como junto a tí seguimos, y con Fidel te decimos : «¡Hasta siempre, Comandante!» [Chorus]

Translated English lyrics[citation needed] We learned to love you from the historical heights where the sun of your bravery laid siege to death Chorus: Here lies the clear, the deep transparency of your beloved presence, Comandante Che Guevara Your glorious and strong hand over History it shoots when all of Santa Clara awakens to see you [Chorus] You come burning the breeze with springtime suns to plant the flag with the light of your smile [Chorus] Your revolutionary love leads you to new undertaking where yearned is the firmness of your liberating arm [Chorus] We will carry on as we followed you then and with Fidel we say to you: "Until always, Commandant!" [Chorus]

Versions

"Che Guevara is the purest part of the Cuban Revolution. He is the symbol of the ideal of the revolution; he is the symbol of innovation. We all need change, and we need hope. He is the symbol of hope. He had Irish roots, traveled around Mexico and learned to be alone, he challenged solitude. He is the brave part of the revolution."

— Nathalie Cardone, sang modern version of Hasta Siempre, which sold 80,000 copies alone in France

There are more than 200 versions of this song. The song has also been covered by Los Calchakis, Compay Segundo, Soledad Bravo, Óscar Chávez, Nathalie Cardone, Robert Wyatt, Inés Rivero, Silvio Rodríguez, Ángel Parra, Celso Piña, Walter Cesar, Xesco Boix, Wayna taki, Veronica Rapella (whose performance is known for Joan Baez by a common mistake) , Rolando Alarcón, Los Olimareños, Julio Cesar Barbosa, Los Machucambos, Ciganos D'Ouro, Maria Farantouri, Jan Garbarek, Wolf Biermann, Boikot, The Buena Vista Social Club, George Dalaras, Giovanni Mirabassi and Al Di Meola, Ahmet Koç, Mohsen Namjoo among others. Although Victor Jara never sang this song, however, many attribute the the Carlos Puebla's version to him by mistake.

In some versions, such as one version by the Buena Vista Social Club in 2003, the last verses were changed from "y con Fidel te decimos : «¡Hasta siempre, Comandante!»" to "y con Cuba te decimos : «¡Hasta siempre, Comandante!»"^{[citation needed]}.

External links

• Poems & speeches about Che Guevara
• Hasta Siempre Comandante - English & Spanish lyrics
• Hasta Siempre performed live by Nathalie Cardone
• Hasta Siempre performed live by Silvio Rodríguez
• All versions of Some musics - 200 versions of Hasta Siempre, Comandante