ALBUM REVIEW: Victor Jara - El Derecho de Viva en Paz

    It's hard to estimate the impact of a folk artist like Victor Jara on his home country in America - chances are immensely high that if you asked a person on the street about Victor Jara here in the States, they wouldn't even have heard of him. One person from Chile I talked to describes his influence better than I could; he is their Bob Dylan. Jara was a teacher, poet, theater man, and most significantly a communist advocate. Jara's music was hopeful and optimistic, spreading the word of peace, love, and social justice to the impoverished of Chile - with the September 11 coupe in Chile, this would all unfortunately make him a target, and Jara was arrested, tortured, and killed on September 16, 1973. Knowing the injustice done to Jara makes El Derecho de Viva en Paz ("The Right to Live in Peace" for us English speakers) feel tragic - the bright and hopeful music contrasting with his grizzly, wrongful death. It's also a powerful folk album, one that detests the treatment of the poor and unnecessary war, but also one filled with hope. If Victor Jara is Chile's Bob Dylan, then let this be his The Times They Are A-Changin'.

    Victor Jara was, as apparent throughout the music and writing on this album, a supremely charming man. His warm and bold voice is the perfect spokesperson for his lyricism, immediately evident from the album's title track "El Derecho de Viva en Paz," which as Jara's vision for a peaceful world - no Vietnam, no death or napalm or genocide, but everyone at peace. The way he sings also perfectly matches his bright and rich guitar playing, in line with the nueva canción chilena genre of folk music - the combination of the two makes for an incredibly playful sound, most evident in bright moments like "Ni Chicha Ni Limoná" or the ode to Communist Cuba in "A Cuba," which is one of my personal favorite moments on the entire album. Jara's filled with energy throughout this entire album, and his energetic performances are a major key to the album's hopeful, lovely energy.

    Of course, El Derecho de Viva en Paz is a layered album of protest, even if the title track is an anthem of peace and the struggles of Chile (in a similar vein to how "The Times They Are A-Changin'" became an anthem against Vietnam here in the States). Jara uses his voice and skills as a writer to pen stories of the struggles of the impoverished in Chile, such as the satirical and biting view of the upper class in "Las Casitas del Barrio Alto," singing of their wealth and luxuries while contrasting it with the reality of their political crimes and ignorance to the world around them. In the penultimate moment of "Plegaria a un Labrador," Jara prays to a common laborer to awake conscious of himself, social class, and can eventually rise up to overcome their oppression as the working class - typical communist stuff, perhaps, but it's very powerfully worded and painted. Other powerful and moving moments like "El Niño Yuntero" talk of a young boy who was forced into work at a young age - these moments showcase the anger at injustice of Jara, and they're every bit as poignant and powerful as his uplifting and hopeful moments.

    I don't claim to know everything about Chile's history at the time, but from what I've read I get the sense that Victor Jara was a martyr - he was a powerful voice who fought for the equality of the impoverished of his home country of Cuba, being killed by his own government for his vocal beliefs. However, if this review is evident, it didn't kill his legacy or his memory, and El Derecho de Viva en Paz is a powerful, bold album that encapsulates Jara's brand of protest and hope for the future. It's angry, yes, but it's painted in an optimism of what could be for him and the people of Chile, and it's this hope that makes El Derecho so powerful in my mind. Whether or not you're familiar with Jara's story feels irrelevant to me; El Derecho is a poignant and brilliant album that deserves to be remembered. 

RATING: ✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯

Listen to El Derecho de Viva en Paz.

Comments