Rubén Blades
Sings For The World
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| "If we don't live and breathe politics, we're fucked." |
To speak of Rubén Blades is tell the story of six thousand years of
solitude. The life beat of his songs reverberates in prison cells from San
Salvador to Johannesburg. They are heard everyday on the street corners of the
city to which we all belong. In this world, politics isn’t a once in every four
years game like the World Cup or the Olympics. “In Latin America,” says Blades,
who once ran for president of his native Panama, “you live and breathe politics
because it affects your everyday life. If we don’t, we’re fucked.”
Blades grew up in a
world where people disappeared and nobody talked of it in the daylight. He began
his career as a musician imitating rock bands from El Norte before discovering
Salsa and becoming world renown with his band Seis del Solar (Six from the Sun,
an infamous tenement) and albums including Siembra
with Willie Colón, Nothing But The Truth
with Elvis Costello and Sting, Agua de
Luna based on the stories of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the Grammy enriched Tiempos, Buscando America with its crossover hit, "Decisiones," and Paul Simon’s The Capeman. Never renouncing his
interest in politics, he not only infused his danceable tunes with socially
aware lyrics, he picked up a law degree and a doctorate in International Law
from Harvard. Along with aspiring to be president of Panama, Blades modeled
himself on the Boss of America, Bruce Springsteen.
“He does not take the
intelligence of his audience for granted,” says Blades. “The honesty and
quality of the songs come from the gut, as well as the mind and heart. For me,
the validity of talent and sincerity is in the measure of touching someone, the
reaction from people to the presentation.”
For Blades, it is
always an issue of humanity above all else.
“What happened in
Argentina (referring to the tortures, killing squads, and other abuses by right
wing Peronists) is as horrible as what happened to the Jews in World War Two,
not to compare in terms of numbers of atrocities, but because of the degree of
sophistication in the administration of torture. These killers were people who
had mothers, fathers, sisters, friends and you ask how could these people do
these horrible things. And because these people are, on the surface, just like
you and me, you ask, what prevents me from doing those horrible things. It is
very easy to say, ‘I would never,’ but we can’t just wash away that possibility.
Denying it almost invites it. I think the idea is to say, ‘Well, I could become
that, but I will choose not to.’ You have to face the evil within and always
keep a watch on it. When you let your guard down, when you say ‘That’s them,
but not me’ it takes over. This is as true for political murderers as for
junkies in the projects. Any of us could be any of them. The difference is that
we control it because we are aware of it. That is what I try to do in my
political work, but especially in my music. Music works on behalf of those who
may not read all the books about human behavior or watch all the programs and
movies or the news—because of a lack of education and censorship, both
controlled by the government. But music rescues the popular voice. You will see
that the youth of Latin America will prevent future dictatorships because they
have a better understanding of humanity and themselves through listening to
music. The government wants us to forget. Music bans forgetfulness. Music
reminds us of who we are. Sing it and it stays.”
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