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Oct 21, 2007 - 7:34PM

My favorite Spanish song of 1999: Andrés Calamaro's "No son horas"

Confessional albums are a thorny affair. Quoting Eduardo Guillot for Rockdelux: “Giving yourself in the desperate and spontaneous way that he gives himself in this record is similar to selling your body or killing someone: it could seem easy but not everyone can do it”. The Spanish-Argentinean singer-songwriter Andrés Calamaro travelled a long way till the release of his masterpiece “Honestidad brutal” (“Brutal Honesty”) in 1999, 37 songs recorded when the singer was 37-years old.
Calamaro began his career twenty years before, achieving his first success in 1981 as part of the pioneer Argentinean rock band Los Abuelos de la Nada. After three albums with the band and four solo albums, he left Argentina in the middle of the inflationist hell of the early 90s to start from scratch in Spain. He formed a band, Los Rodríguez, with ex-members of Tequila (a successful Spanish-Argentinean band), publishing 5 albums during the 90s to notable critical and public acclaim. After the disbanding of Los Rodríguez, Calamaro started again his solo career with the succesful “Alta suciedad” (“High Dirtiness”, 1997), but nobody was prepared for his 1999 double album. An album recorded between Madrid, Buenos Aires and New York during almost a long year and deeply marked by a painful breaking of a relationship. It’s an album full of excesses (just like The Magnetic Fields “69 Love Songs”, my other favourite album of that year). Of chemical and sentimental excess (numerous references to drugs and lost love filled the album), of musical and creativity excess (this time the 140 minutes length is justified, with almost no weak songs and nice stylish variety) and, of course, of honesty excess.
I’ve selected “No son horas” (“It’s No Time”), a song of disturbing beauty, with a ¾ rhythm rooted in South-American folk and a melody with some debts to traditional Argentinean song “Alfonsina y el mar” (later covered by Calamaro). Conveniently placed in the latter third of the album, it’s a song about the hope of recovery after the fall: “Don’t you feel sorry for me more than a second / cause I’m going to get up”.
Some quotes now. Juan Cervera for Rockdelux: “It’s an album with and about friends, cities, football, women, cocaine and love. A love that spreads on every note of the album.” Iván Adaime for AMG: “The album contains 37 songs selected from more of a thousand recorded during this period – a result of the split-up with his Spanish girlfriend, sleepless nights and plane travels. Most of the songs are about regret and lost-love panic”. And Andrés Calamaro itself: “To me it’s violent, even cruel, to listen an album like that one. So I don’t listen to it at all. There are some songs on it that I don’t even want to think about. I was probably crazy when I decided to release that album. I could have spared this to me. Next time I don’t want to be the main protagonist of my record”. Sadly. The next works of Calamaro didn’t come even close to this masterpiece, one of the best five Spanish albums ever in my opinion.

NO SON HORAS
Composer and performer: ANDRÉS CALAMARO
First release: 1999 (“Honestidad brutal” double album)
Length: 4’13”

Si te dicen que caí,
y es verdad, y es verdad,
no sientas ni un segundo más de lástima por mí
que me voy a levantar.
Y si te falta una imagen quiero que me recuerdes así,
con el viento en las velas.

Si te dicen que duermo de día,
es verdad, y es verdad,
no te olvides que soy grande porque tengo multitudes
que me esperan afuera.
Y si te faltó ternura, o la vida te hizo dura,
quiero que me perdones.

No tengo los pies en la tierra, me perdí la realidad,
me olvidé de los amigos, me olvidé de los demás,
reconozco haber perdido sintonía alguna vez
pero no te dejé de querer.
Sigo siendo un varón tierno que quiere seguir de pie,
pero te espero.

No son horas de reírse, no son horas de olvidar,
hiciste lo que quisiste, de verdad,
no sientas ni un segundo más de lástima por mí
que me voy a levantar.
Y si te falta una imagen quiero que me recuerdes así,
con el viento en las velas.
Y si te falta una imagen quiero que me recuerdes así,
con el viento en las velas.

Te dicen que duermo de día,
y es verdad, y es verdad,
no te olvides que soy grande porque tengo multitudes
que me esperan afuera.
Y si te faltó ternura, o la vida te hizo dura,
quiero que me perdones.

No tengo los pies en la tierra, me perdí la realidad,
me olvidé de los amigos, me olvidé de los demás,
reconozco haber perdido sintonía alguna vez
pero no te dejé de querer.
Sigo siendo un varón tierno que quiere seguir de pie,
pero te espero.

No son horas de reírse, no son horas de olvidar,
vos, hiciste lo que quisiste, de verdad,
no sientas ni un segundo más de lástima por mí
que me voy a levantar.
Y si te falta una imagen quiero que me recuerdes así,
con el viento en las velas.
Y si te falta una imagen quiero que me recuerdes así,
con el viento en las velas.

Y si te falta una imagen quiero que me recuerdes así,
con el viento en las velas.
Y si te falta una imagen quiero que me recuerdes así,
con el viento en las velas.

IT’S NO TIME

If they told you I fell down,
and it’s true, and it’s true,
don’t feel sorry for me more than a second
cause I’m going to get up.
And if you need an image please remember me like this,
with the wind in the sails.

If they told you I sleep at daytime,
it’s true, and it’s true,
don’t forget that I’m big cause there’s crowds
waiting for me outside.
And if you missed some tenderness, or life made you tough,
I want your forgiveness.

I’m not down to earth, I lost reality,
I forgot the friends, forgot the others,
I admit we’ve been out of tune sometimes
but never stopped loving you.
I’m still a tender male who wants to stand up
but I’ll wait for you.

It’s no time for laughing, no time for forgetting,
you did what you wanted, really,
don’t feel sorry for me more than a second
cause I’m going to get up.
And if you need an image please remember me like this,
with the wind in the sails.
And if you need an image please remember me like this,
with the wind in the sails.

They told you I sleep at daytime,
and it’s true, and it’s true,
don’t forget that I’m big cause there’s crowds
waiting for me outside.
And if you missed some tenderness, or life made you tough,
I want your forgiveness.

I’m not down to earth, I lost reality,
I forgot the friends, forgot the others,
I admit we’ve been out of tune sometimes
but never stopped loving you.
I’m still a tender male who wants to stand up
but I’ll wait for you.

It’s no time for laughing, no time for forgetting,
you, you did what you wanted, really,
don’t feel sorry for me more than a second
cause I’m going to get up.
And if you need an image please remember me like this,
with the wind in the sails.
And if you need an image please remember me like this,
with the wind in the sails.

And if you need an image please remember me like this,
with the wind in the sails.
And if you need an image please remember me like this,
with the wind in the sails.

Oct 21st, 2007 - 7:34 PM

Zé

Oct 22, 2007 - 12:19AM