Cara al Sol
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Cara al Sol means "facing the sun" in Spanish. It is the anthem of the Falange party. The lyrics were written in December 1935 and are usually credited to the then leader of the Falange, José Antonio Primo de Rivera. The music was composed by Juan de Tellería.
The circumstances of its creation are unusual. The Falangists needed a stirring song of their own to counter the popular appeal of El Himno de Riego (the national anthem of the Second Spanish Republic) and A Las Barricadas (a very popular Anarchist song). The Falange had nothing suitable of its own so it had been borrowing from the German Nazi and the Italian fascist repertoire.
To solve the problem, Primo de Rivera formed a committee[1], meeting on 2 December 1935 in the home of Marichu de la Mora Maura. Those present included José María Alfaro, Rafael Sánchez Mazas, Agustín (Así) de Foxá, Mourlane Michelena, Dionisio Ridruejo, Agustín Aznar, and Luis Aguilar. The result of their efforts, following a period of sub-committee review (at the Cueva del Orkompon, a Basque bar in Calle Miguel Moya, Madrid) was provisionally entitled the Himno de Falange Española. It was first performed in Madrid in 1936.
Its popularity was boosted by Primo de Rivera's execution on 20 November 1936 and his subsequent glorification by the Spanish Nationalists.
In Spain under Franco, Cara al Sol became a semi-official anthem, often played alongside the official anthem, the Marcha Real, and was regarded as the battle song of the Spanish far right.
Contents |
[edit] The lyrics
|
01 05 09 11 15 17 19 |
Original lyrics Cara al sol con la camisa nueva, Formaré junto a mis compañeros Si te dicen que caí, Volverán banderas victoriosas Volverá a reír la primavera, ¡Arriba, escuadras, a vencer, ¡España una! |
Translated lyrics Facing the sun in my new shirt I'll take my place alongside my companions If they say to you that I fell, The flags of victory will return Spring will laugh again, Onwards, squadrons, to victory, Spain united! |
[edit] Written by committee
The lyrics were a collaborative effort, under the editorship of Primo de Rivera. Authorship of individual lines are attributed as follows: 1-4 Foxá, Primo de Rivera, Alfaro; 5-10 Foxá; 11-12 Ridruejo; 13-14 Primo de Rivera; 15 Alfaro; 16 Mourlane; and 17-18 Alfaro. Lines 19-22 were existing Falange slogans.
[edit] Imagery in the lyrics
- Line 1: The reference to shirts relates to the Falangist uniform, a blue shirt which was embroidered with red yoke and arrows upon the chest. "New shirts" does not refer to Falangists who joined during the war ("Old shirts" joined before it), since this expression came up only after the song was composed.
- Lines 13-14: The reference to arrows is an allusion to the Falange "Yoke and Arrows" symbol and to the Falangist youth movement.
- Lines 19-21: España Una, Grande y Libre was a frequently used slogan in Francoism.
- Line 22: Falangists use Arriba España ("Onward Spain") instead of the more usual Viva España ("Long live Spain").
[edit] Alternate lines
In Line 5, mis compañeros ("my companions") is sometimes replaced by los compañeros ("the companions") or otros compañeros ("other companions").
[edit] "Amanecer"
This version of the song appeared well after the civil war, and is a slow-motion version of "Cara Al Sol", sometimes sung by a female voice, almost a ballad. This is a very different version, given the fact that "Cara Al Sol" was originally a battle song, and "Amanecer" is almost a love ballad. It was produced and conducted by A. Velázquez
[edit] Trivia
- In an amusing coincidence, there is a striking similarity between the first few bars of Cara al Sol and the opening line of the American folk song I've Been Working on the Railroad.
[edit] External links
- BBC news story about the removal of the last statue of Franco from Madrid, during which a group of Francoist demonstrators sang Cara al Sol.
- Spanish website featuring lyrics and mp3 files
