| 01/02/2021 – 5:20 am (GMT-4)
The renowned Cuban singer-songwriter, Carlos Varela, Celebrated the beginning of 2021 with a significant excerpt from his song “The Child, Dreams and the Hourglass”, which alludes directly to the need for change, at the time he wished his fans a happy new year and blessings.
“Although I have no illusions / something will have to change / even if I dream songs and others prefer to shut up”, Wrote Varela on his Facebook profile. Although Varela did not directly allude to the situation in Cuba, this was interpreted by dozens of people in the comments to his publication.
The fragment chosen by Varela to celebrate the new year in Cuba belongs to its disc of 1995, Like fish, Considered one of the most important in the record career of the Cuban musician.
“This is the story of a child who stopped dreaming / who dreams of seeing a day that just doesn’t come / but knows that there are others who dream the same / because maybe one day this damn dream / can come back real “, also says the text to which the fragment refers.
In early December, Carlos Varela came out in defense of artists calling for increased political freedoms, Creative and expressive in Cuba. “There are actors, musicians, playwrights, writers, who only ask for and want respect for their ideas and for a need for dialogue,” Varela said in an interview with CNN.
The important Cuban troubadour said that people in Cuba are not locked in an information bubble that comes only from one side, and said that, thanks to social media, people feel on the island every time more entitled to express their judgment.
Previously, the Cuban singer-songwriter had come out in defense of the Cubans strikers of Sant Isidre in a forceful text that launched questions, reflections and conclusions of strong involvement in the current circumstances on the island.
“When will Guillem Tell’s grandchildren be heard?”, Carlos Varela wondered in a writing where he raised his voice in favor of art, the right to dissent and freedom of expression.
The musician has said he does not personally know any of the strikers, but went on to admit that anyone who is willing to die for a cause deserves to be listened to with respect. For this reason, refusing to be “an accomplice of the silence of the heart,” he wondered, “By what right can anyone decide who is an artist and who is not? Who is Cuban and who is not?”; “Will we have to delete the word DIALOGUE from the dictionary of Cubanisms at once?”.
After other similar questions and a critical review of the evils that have characterized Cuban society in recent decades, one of his conclusions was that he does not live in the Cuba he dreamed of.
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