I'm going to tell you the story of a song. I was in Madrid one night in 2002 with my teacher and friend Joaquín Sabina, when he said he had something to give me. He said, "Jorge, I have some lines that you need to put into a song. Take these down, take these down." I looked on the table but all I found was a circular coaster, on which I wrote the lines my teacher dictated. They were four lines that went like this:
Ispričaću vam priču o jednoj pesmi. Bio sam u Madridu jedne noći, godine 2002. sa mojim učiteljem i prijateljem Hoakinom Sabinom, kad mi je rekao kako ima nešto da mi da. Rekao mi je: "Horhe, imam neke stihove na koje ti treba da napišeš pesmu. Zapiši ih. Zapiši ih." Pretražio sam po stolu, a jedino što sam našao su bili podmetači za čaše, na njima sam zapisao stihove koje mi je maestro izdiktirao. Četiri stiha koja su glasila:
"I am a Jewish Moor living among Christians I don't know who my God is, nor who my brothers are."
"Ja mavarski Jevrejin sam što međ' hrišćanima živi, koji bog je moj, pak, ne znam, niti ko mi je brat pravi."
Those lines really made an impression on me. I said, "What beautiful lyrics, Joaquín. Did you write them?" He said no, they were by another composer named Chicho Sánchez Ferlosio, who was less known than Joaquín, but also a great poet. These lines came to me at a time where I had been wanting to express something for a while, but didn't quite know how.
Ovi stihovi su me zaista poprilično dirnuli. Upitao sam: "Kako lepi stihovi, Hoakine, jesu li tvoji?" Rekao mi je: "Ne." Rekao mi je da su jednog drugog kompozitora koji se zvao Čičo Sančez Ferlosio, koji je bio manje poznat od Hoakina, ali je takođe veoma značajan. Ti stihovi su stigli baš kao nešto što sam već neko vreme želeo da kažem, ali nisam znao kako.
I was getting up to leave and go home to write, when Joaquín stopped me and said, "Hang on, hang on," and presented me with this challenge: "Write the stanzas for this song in Décimas." Now, at this point in my life, I still wasn't completely sure what Décimas were, but I was too embarrassed to tell my teacher I didn't know. So I put on my best "Yeah, I totally understand" face, and went home to look up what Décimas were. I learned that a Décima is a type of verse that only exists in Spanish, and that it has 10 lines. It's very, very complex -- perhaps the most complex style of stanza that we have in Spanish. It also has a very concrete date of origin, which is very rare for a style of stanza.
Spremao sam se da krenem, kako bih stigao kod kuće da pišem, kad me je Hoakin zaustavio i rekao: "Čekaj, čekaj", i zadao mi je sledeći izazov: "Napiši strofe za ovu pesmu u obliku decime." Sad, u tom momentu svog postojanja, još uvek mi nije bilo najjasnije šta su to decime, ali me je bilo strašno sramota da kažem maestru da ne znam. Te sam napravio izraz lica kao da razumem i krenuo sam kući kako bih pokušao da saznam šta su to decime. Saznao sam da je decima tip strofe koji jedino postoji na španskom jeziku, da ima deset stihova. Veoma je složena, veoma, veoma složena. Možda i najsloženija od svih koje imamo u našem jeziku, koja, uz to, ima konkretan datum nastanka, što je retkost kod poezije.
The Décima was invented in Spain in 1591, by a guy named Vicente Espinel, a musician and poet from Málaga. And listen to this coincidence: he was the same guy who added the sixth string to what would later be called the Spanish guitar. This string right here -- it's called the "bordona."
Decimu je izmislio u Španiji 1591. gospodin koji se zvao Visente Espinel, koji je bio muzičar i pesnik iz Malage. Zamislite i to - koja slučajnost - isti taj čovek je stavio šestu žicu na nešto što će kasnije postati španska gitara. Ova žica ovde, nazvana "bordona".
From Spain, the Décima, with its 10 lines, crosses over to America, just like the Spanish guitar, but in contrast to the Décima, the Spanish guitar continues to live today on both sides of the Atlantic. But the Décima, in Spain, its birthplace, disappeared; it died out. It died out about 200 years ago, and yet in Latin America, from Mexico to Chile, all our countries maintain some form of the Décima in our popular traditions.
Iz Španije, decima, sa svojih deset stihova, stiže do Amerike, baš kao i španska gitara, međutim razlika je u tome što je španska gitara i dan danas živa s obe strane Atlantika. Međutim, decima, na mestu na kom je nastala, u Španiji, nestala je, izumrla je. Već nekoliko vekova se ne praktikuje tu, ali, nasuprot tome, u Latinskoj Americi od Meksika do Čilea, u svim našim krajevima se zadržao neki tip decime u našoj narodnoj tradiciji.
In each place, they've given it a different name, and set it to different music. It has a lot of different names -- more than 20 in total on the continent. In Mexico, for example, it's called the "Son Jarocho," "Canto de mejorana" in Panama; "Galerón" in Venezuela; "Payada" in Uruguay and Argentina; "Repentismo" in Cuba. In Peru, they call it the Peruvian Décima, because the Décima becomes so integrated into our traditions, that if someone asks, people from each place are completely convinced that the Décima was invented in their country.
U svim krajevima su je drugačije nazvali, muzika je različita. Ima razna imena, više od 20 na čitavom kontinentu. Nazivaju je, na primer: "Son Jarocho" u Meksiku, "Canto de mejorana" u Panami, "Galerón" u Venecueli, "Payada" u Urugvaju i Argentini, "Repentismo" na Kubi. U Peruu, na primer, nazivaju je "peruanskom decimom". Iz razloga što je decima tako stopljena sa našim tradicijama, ako bi neko upitao, svi oni bi bili potpuno ubeđeni da su baš u njihovim državama izmislili decimu.
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
It's also got a really surprising feature, which is that despite the fact that it developed independently in each of the different countries, it maintains even today, 400 years after its creation, exactly the same rhyme, syllable and line structure -- the same structure Vicente Espinel gave it during the Spanish Baroque period. Here's the structure -- I'll give you the basic idea and then later you can look online and learn more about it.
Osim toga, ima nešto krajnje iznenađujuće. A to je, uprkos tome što se nezavisno razvijala u svakoj od tih zemalja, zadržala je do dana današnjeg, više od 400 godina nakon nastanka, identičnu strukturu rime, slogova i stihova. Istu strukturu koju joj je podario Visente Espinel u španskom baroku. Ovako glasi struktura - objasniću vam ukratko, pa posle možete poći na internet, i sami videti kako ide -
The Décima is ten lines long; each line has eight syllables. The first line rhymes with the fourth and the fifth; the second line, with the third; the sixth line, with the seventh and the tenth; and the eighth line rhymes with the ninth. It's a bit complicated, to be honest. And me -- imagine me, trying to write in Décimas. But it's not as complicated as it seems. Plus, it's amazing that it's survived with the same structure for more than four centuries. It's not that complicated, because it has an impressive musicality to it, a type of musicality that's very hard to describe technically. I prefer that you listen to it. So I'm going to recite a Décima, one of the Décimas that I wrote for this song. I'm going to ask that you concentrate just on the musicality of the rhymes. For those of you with headphones on -- I see that some of you are listening to the translation -- please take them off for a minute.
ima deset stihova sa po osam slogova. Prvi stih se rimuje sa četvrtim i petim, drugi sa trećim, šesti sa sedmim i sa desetim, a osmi sa devetim. Zaista je malo komplikovana. I ja - zamislite me kako pokušavam da napišem decimu. Ali nije toliko složena, koliko se čini. Osim toga, neverovatno je da je preživela sa tom istom strukturom više od četiri veka. Nije toliko složena jer ima fantastičnu muzikalnost. Ima tip muzikalnosti koga je veoma teško tehnički objasniti. Radije bih da je čujete. Stoga ću da vam izrecitujem jednu decimu. Na primer, jednu od decima koje sam napisao za ovu pesmu. Zato ću da vas zamolim da se skoncentrišete samo na muziku rima. I vi što imate slušalice, vidim da neki od vas slušaju simultani prevod, skinite ih za kratko.
(English) Take your headphones off, it you have them.
(Engeski) Skinite slušalice, ako ih imate.
(English) Forget about the meaning of the words for a few seconds,
(Engleski) Zaboravite nakratko na značenje reči
(English) and then you'll put them back.
(Engleski) i kasnije ih ponovo stavite.
(English) Forget about the structure.
(Španski) Zaboravite na strukturu i na sve.
(Spanish) Forget about the structure.
(Engleski) Radi se o koreografiji zvuka decime.
(English) And just ... it's all about the choreography of sound of the Décima.
(Spanish) A choreography of sound.
Koreografija zvuka. Posmatrajte to tako.
(Sings in Spanish) "There is not one death that does not cause me pain, there are no winners, here’s nothing but suffering and another life blown away. War is a terrible school no matter what the disguise, forgive me for not enlisting under any flag, any daydream is worth more than a sad piece of cloth."
(Peva) "Svaka smrt zaboli mene pobedničke strane nema. Osim bola ničeg nema i života koji vene. Rđave sve su škole ratne ma kakvu krinku da stave, ispod nijedne zastave, žalim, da stanem ne želim sve himere više cenim od tkanine bedne kakve."
That's a Décima.
Ovo je decima.
(English) You can put your headphones back on.
(Engleski) Možete ponovo da stavite slušalice.
(Applause)
(Aplauz)
(English) Thank you.
(Engleski) Hvala.
(Applause)
(Aplauz)
I also applaud Vicente Espinel, because here it is 426 years later, and the Décima lives on everywhere in its original state.
I ja sam aplaudirao Visentu Espinelu, jer je 426 godina ostala identična u svim krajevima. Napisao sam tri nalik ovoj, upravo sam vam izveo drugu
I wrote three like that one; you just heard the second. I wrote the first one having only recently learned how, and it has some errors in terms of meter, so it's not presentable in its current state. But the one I sang was good, more or less. So: What was it about? What was the meaning behind those lines?
jer sam u prvoj primenjivao tek stečeno znanje i, iskreno, ima neke greške u metrici, stoga ne služi kao odgovarajući primer. Ali ova je bila, manje-više, dobra. Dakle, o čemu je govorila? Šta je sadržaj tih decima?
I had just returned from doing a concert in Israel, and I was very emotional over a problem that hits really close to home, which is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I'll explain: my dad's family is Jewish, and my mom's family are non-practicing Christians. I was raised in a home where the two traditions lived together more or less in harmony. It wasn't unusual to see my Jewish grandpa dressed as Santa Claus, for example, or to see my non-Jewish grandpa at the synagogue wearing his kippah, at family celebrations, wearing the same expression that I probably had when Sabina told me --
Upravo sam se vratio iz Izraela gde sam imao koncert i izuzetno me je dirnuo problem koji mi je veoma, veoma blizak, a to je izraelsko-palestinski rat. Objasniću vam: moj otac je iz jevrejske porodice, moja majka potiče iz nereligiozne hrišćanske porodice. Odrastao sam u domu u kom su te dve tradicije zajedno postojale više-manje harmonično. Nije bilo čudno videti mog jevrejskog dedu u odelu Deda Mraza, na primer ili mog nejevrejskog dedu u sinagogi sa kipom, na porodičnim zabavama sa istim izrazom lica koji sam imao ja kad mi je Sabina rekao da -
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
that he had some Décima lines for me. For someone raised in that kind of environment, it's especially painful to see the difficulty the opposing parties have in putting themselves in the other side's shoes even for a moment. So that's what I wrote about.
da ima za mene neke stihove za decimu. Za nekoga ko je odrastao ovako, naročito je bolno videti poteškoće koje imaju obe strane konflikta da se stave, bar nakratko, u tuđu kožu. Dakle, o tome sam pisao.
I already had the lyrics, I had the form -- the Décima -- and the content. I needed to write the music. I'll give you some context. I had only recently moved from Uruguay, where I'm from, to Spain. And I was feeling very raw with nostalgia, like many of you here, who are away from home. And I wanted my song to be very, very Uruguayan, the most Uruguayan type of song there is -- the milonga. So now, I had been studying the Décima, and after finding out that everyone tried to claim the Décima as their own, that it was invented in their country, it made me wonder: What does it mean when we say the milonga is Uruguayan?
Već sam imao reči, imao sam oblik, to jest decimu, i sadržaj. Dakle, trebalo je da napišem muziku. Daću vam i kontekst. Tek sam se bio preselio iz Urugvaja, odakle potičem, u Španiju. I mučila me je sveža nostalgija, zaista, kao i mnoge od vas koji ste daleko od svojih domova. I želeo sam da moja pesma bude izrazito urugvajska, ali baš izrazito. Najurugvajskiji žanr se naziva milonga. Sada, očito, počeo sam da izučavam decimu i, iako sam video da je svi prisvajaju kao svoju, svi misle da su je izmislili, zapitao sam se: šta znači to kad kažemo da je milonga urugvajska? Zamislite, milonga ima ritmički obrazac
The milonga has a rhythmic pattern that we musicians call 3-3-2.
koji mi muzičari nazvamo 3-3-2.
(Counts out the beats) One two three, one two three, one two.
(Taktira) Jedan-dva-tri, jedan-dva-tri, jedan-dva.
And it has a characteristic emphasis.
Ima karakteristično naglašavanje.
(Sings)
(Peva)
But this characteristic rhythm pattern comes from Africa. In the ninth century you could find it in the brothels of Persia, and in the thirteenth, in Spain, from where, five centuries later, it would cross over to America with the African slaves. Meanwhile, in the Balkans, it encounters the Roma scale --
Ali ovaj karakteristični ritmički obrazac potiče iz Afrike. U IX veku ste ga mogli sresti u persijskim bordelima, a u XIII u Španiji, odakle je pet vekova kasnije stigao u Ameriku sa afričkim robovima. Dok se na Balkanu susreo sa ciganskom lestvicom -
(Sings)
(Peva)
which in part, gives birth to klezmer music, which Ukrainian Jewish immigrants bring to Brooklyn, New York. They sing it in their banquet halls.
a to je delom izrodilo klezmersku muziku, koju su ukrajinski jevrejski imigranti doneli u Bruklin, Njujork. Pevali su je u salama za zabave.
(Sings "Hava Nagila")
(Peva "Hava Nagila")
And their neighbor, an Argentine kid of Italian origin named Astor Piazzolla, hears it, assimilates it and transforms the tango of the second half of the 20th century with his ...
A njihov komšija, klinac iz Argentine, italijanskog porekla, po imenu Astor Pjacola, čuo je to, primenio i preoblikovao tango iz druge polovine XX veka svojim... (Taktira) Jedan-dva-tri, jedan-dva-tri, jedan-dva.
(Counts out the beats) One two three, one two three, one two.
(Sings "Adios Nonino")
(Peva "Adios Nonino")
He also played it on his bandoneon, a 19th-century German instrument created for churches that couldn't afford to buy organs, and that ends up, incredibly, in Río de la Plata, forming the very essence of the tango and the milonga, in the very same way another instrument just as important as the bandoneon did: the Spanish guitar.
Takođe je to svirao na svom bandoneonu, nemačkom instrumentu iz XIX veka koji je napravljen za crkve koje nisu mogle da priušte orgulje i koji je, neverovatno, završio u Rio de la Plati postavši od suštinskog značaja za tango i milongu, isto kao drugi instrument, podjednako važan kao bandeon, španska gitara.
(Applause)
(Aplauz)
To which, by the way, Vicente Espinel, in the 16th century, added a sixth string. It's amazing how all these things are coming full circle.
Kojoj je, zapravo, Visente Espinel u XVI veku dodao šestu žicu. Zamislite koliko je krugova zatvoreno.
What have I learned in these 15 years since the song was born from going all over the world with four lines written on a coaster from a bar in Madrid? That Décimas, the milonga, songs, people -- the closer you get to them, the more complex their identity becomes, and the more nuances and details appear. I learned that identity is infinitely dense, like an infinite series of real numbers, and that even if you get very close and zoom in, it never ends.
Šta sam naučio u ovih 15 godina otkad se rodila pesma, prelazeći čitav svet s ova četiri stiha koje sam zapisao na podmetačima u jednom baru u Madridu? Decime, milonga, pesme, ljudi: što ih podrobnije poznajete, to im složeniji identiteti bivaju, iznijansiraniji, detaljniji. Shvatio sam da je identitet beskonačno gust, poput beskonačnog niza realnih brojeva, da čak i kad im se približite i zumirate, nikad se ne okončavaju.
Before I sing you a song and say goodbye, allow me to tell you one last story. Not long ago, we were in Mexico after a concert. And since the concert promoters know me, they knew I was a Décima freak and that everywhere I go I ask about it, insisting on hearing Décima artists. So they organized a son jarocho show for me at their house. If you recall, the son jarocho is one of the styles of music that uses Décimas in its verses.
Dozvolite mi da pre nego što otpevam pesmu i oprostim se da vam ispričam poslednju anegdotu. Nedavno smo bili u Meksiku i nakon jednog od koncerata, kako me promoteri koncerta poznaju, znaju da sam lud za decimama i da se svuda kuda idem raspitujem za njih, insistiram da čujem autore decima, pa su organizovali u svom domu koncert u stilu son haroča. Ako se sećate, son haročo je vid pesničkog oblika koji koristi decimu u svojim strofama.
When these amazing musicians finished playing what is for me, something amazing, which is the son jarocho, they finished playing and were ... I went up to greet them, really excited, getting ready to thank them for their gift of music, and this young kid says to me -- and he says it with the best of intentions -- he says, "We're very proud, sir, to be keeping alive the purest origins of our Mexican identity." And to tell you the truth, I didn't really know what to say.
Kada su sjajni muzičari prestali da sviraju - meni je son haročo nešto predivno - završili su svirku i ja sam bio... Krenuo sam da ih pozdravim, dirnut, hteo sam da se zahvalim muzičarima na poklonu, i jedan veoma mlad dečko mi je rekao - i rekao mi je to s najboljom namerom - rekao je: "Mi smo, gospodine, veoma ponosni jer održavamo u životu najčistije poreklo našeg meksičkog identiteta." I, iskreno, nisam znao šta da kažem.
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
I stood there looking at him. I gave him a hug and left, but ...
Stajao sam, posmatrajući ga, zagrlio ga i otišao, ali...
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
But he was right, too, though. Right? In reality, the Décima is its origin, but at the same time, just like in the milonga and in the Décima, are the roots of many more cultures from all over the place, like he said.
Jer bio je u pravu, zar ne? U stvarnosti, decima potiče odatle, ali istovremeno, isto kao što unutar milonge i unutar decime nalazimo korenje mnogih kultura iz raznih krajeva, kao što mi je rekao.
Later, when I got back to the hotel, I thought about it for a while. And I thought: things only look pure if you look at them from far away. It's very important to know about our roots, to know where we come from, to understand our history. But at the same time, as important as knowing where we're from, is understanding that deep down, we're not completely from one place, and a little from everywhere.
Kasnije, kad sam stigao u hotel, razmišljao sam, i rekao: stvari su jedino čiste, ako ih posmatrate iz daleka. Veoma je važno poznavati naše poreklo, znati odakle potičemo, poznavati našu istoriju, ali istovremeno je podjednako važno, kao i znati odakle potičemo, razumeti da svi, u suštini, potičemo niotkuda i pomalo odsvuda.
Thank you very much.
Mnogo vam hvala.
(Applause)
(Aplauz)
This is "The milonga of the Jewish Moor."
Ovo je "Milonga mavarskog Jevrejina".
(Music)
(Muzika)
(Sings)
(Pevanje)
For every wall a lament in Jerusalem the golden
Za svaki zid tugovanka u zlatnom Jerusalimu
and 1000 wasted lives for every commandment.
i sto bića što nestanu zbog te zapovesti svake.
I am dust in your wind and although I bleed through your wound,
Tvog sam vetra vlati tanke, mada krv sam ti iz rane,
and every beloved stone has my deepest affection,
a svaka ljubljena stena moju duboku ljubav ima,
there is not a stone in the world worth more than a human life.
kamena na svetu nema da vrednost bića u nj stane.
I am a Jewish Moor who lives among Christians
Ja mavarski Jevrejin sam što međ' hrišćanima živi
I don't know who my God is, nor who my brothers are.
koji bog je, pak, moj ne znam, niti ko mi je brat pravi
I don't know who my God is, nor who my brothers are.
koji bog je, pak, moj ne znam, niti ko mi je brat pravi.
There is not one death that does not cause me pain, there are no winners
Svaka smrt zaboli mene, pobedničke strane nema.
there's nothing but suffering and another life blown away.
Osim bola ničeg nema i života da uvene.
War is a terrible school no matter what the disguise,
Rđave sve su škole ratne, ma kakvu krinku da stave,
forgive me for not enlisting under any flag,
ispod nijedne zastave, žalim, da stanem ne želim,
any daydream is worth more than a sad piece of cloth.
sve himere više cenim od tkanine bedne kakve.
I am a Jewish Moor who lives among Christians
Ja mavarski Jevrejin sam što međ' hrišćanima živi
I don't know who my God is, nor who my brothers are.
koji bog je, pak, moj ne znam, niti ko mi je brat pravi
I don't know who my God is, nor who my brothers are.
koji bog je, pak, moj ne znam, niti ko mi je brat pravi.
And nobody has my permission for killing in my name,
I ne odobrih nikom to da ubija u ime moje,
a man is but a man and if there is a God, this was his wish,
čovek ništa do čovek nije, boga da ima, hteo bi isto.
the very ground I tread will live on, once I am gone
Tlo koje noga gazi to, nakon mene tu će biti;
on my way to oblivion, and all doctrines will suffer the same fate,
dok hitam ka prolaznosti, neprolaznih doktrina nema;
and there is not one nation that has not proclaimed itself
a svako je pleme ubeđeno da je pleme odabrano.
the chosen people.
I am a Jewish Moor who lives among Christians
Ja mavarski Jevrejin sam što međ' hrišćanima živi
I don't know who my God is, nor who my brothers are.
koji bog je, pak, moj ne znam, niti ko mi je brat pravi
I don't know who my God is, nor who my brothers are.
koji bog je, pak, moj ne znam, niti ko mi je brat pravi.
I am a Jewish Moor who lives among Christians
Ja mavarski Jevrejin sam što međ' hrišćanima živi.
(Applause)
(Aplauz)
Thank you.
Hvala.
(Applause)
(Aplauz)