Five Songs By Cuban Legend Maria Teresa Vera (with lyrics)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post presents information about and five sound files of the legendary Cuban vocalist Maria Teresa Vera.

The content of this post is presented for historical, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

INFORMATION ABOUT MARIA TERESA VERA
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mar%C3%ADa_Teresa_Vera
María Teresa Vera (Guanajay, February 6, 1895 – Havana, December 17, 1965) was a Cuban singer, guitarist and composer. She was an outstanding example of the Cuban trova movement...
-snip-
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trova
"Trova is one of the great roots of the Cuban music tree. In the 19th century a group of itinerant musicians known as trovadores moved around Oriente, especially Santiago de Cuba, earning their living by singing and playing the guitar...

Trova musicians have played an important part in the evolution of Cuban popular music. Collectively, they have been prolific as composers, and have provided a start for many later musicians whose career lay in larger groupings. Socially, they reached every community in the country, and have helped to spread Cuban music throughout the world."
-snip-
From http://www.amazon.com/Maria-Teresa-Vera-Various-Artists/dp/B00000HXJ8
"Born in 1895 in Rio de Pinar, Maria Teresa Vera grew up in a Cuba rich in songs born of beauty and conflict. That she became a professional singer was at first an effrontery to the male-dominated music business at the time; that she became a sensation is a tribute to a talent that is now legendary in her country. In the years that she sang and wrote songs, she became famous, made a wealth of recordings, led her own band, and championed the country music of the street troubadour in the years before the son swept the nation."
-snip-
From http://www.amazon.com/Cuban-Legend-Maria-Teresa-Vera/dp/B00003L3N8
"The Grande Dame of Cuban Music, Maria Teresa Vera was Not Only the Greatest Female Trova Singer of all Time, She was also One of the Form's Greatest Singers, Period. Vera Became a Professional Musician and Songwriter — and a Mightily Popular One at that — During the Early 20th Century, When Such a Career was Virtually Unheard of for a Woman. Her Skill at Singing Trova — a Rural Folk Song Style that Predated the Son Dance Craze — Helped Lay the Groundwork for the Explosion of Cuban Popular Music in the '30s and '40s, and her Fame as a Trovadora Lasted Well after the Style was Eclipsed by Other Popular Trends. Maria Teresa Vera was Born in Guanajay, in the Province of Pinar Del Rio, on February 6, 1895. She Began Learning the Guitar from Jose Diaz, and in 1911, at Age 15, Performed Publicly in Havana at a Tribute to Arquimedes Pous. Vera Subsequently Formed the First of Several Duos, a Format She Would Favor Throughout her Career, with Rafael Zequeira"...

FEATURED SOUND FILES
Example #1 Maria Teresa Vera - Veinte años



lucho0412, Uploaded on Jan 30, 2010


Veinte Años

Qué te importa que te ame
si tú no me quieres ya
El amor que ya ha pasado
no se debe recordar.

Fui la ilusión de tu vida
un día lejano ya,
hoy represento el pasado
no me puedo conformar.

Si las cosas que uno quiere
se pudieran alcanzar
tú me quisieras lo mismo
que veinte años atrás.

Con qué tristeza miramos
un amor que se nos va
es un pedazo del alma
que se arranca sin piedad.

-snip-
English translation (thanks to YouTube video commenter clare oleary)

Twenty Years,

What does my love mean to you,
if you no longer love me?
We should not dwell on love that is past.
I was your life's desire one day long ago.
Now I'm history I can't face the change.
If only we could make our dreams come true .
If only you would love me as you did twenty years ago.
How mournfully we watch a love that ebbs away heartlessly a part of the soul is torn away.
-snip-
[I changed this comment to a line format.]

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Example #2: MARÍA TERESA VERA LÁGRIMAS NEGRAS



yavaslub,Uploaded on Sep 5, 2011

LÁGRIMAS NEGRAS
Aunque tu
me has dejado en el abandono
aunque ya
se han muerto todas mis ilusiones.

En vez de despedirme
con Justo encono
en mis sueños te colmo
en mis sueños te colmo
de bendiciones.

Sufro la inmensa pena de tu extravio
lloro el dolor profundo
de tu partida
y lloro sin que sepas
que el llanto mio
tiene lagrimas negras
tiene lagrimas negras
como mi vida.

Tu me quieres dejar
yo no puedo vivir
contigo me voy mi negra
aunque me cueste el morir

Tu me quieres dejar
yo no quiero sufrir
contigo me voy mi santa
aunque me cueste el morir.
-snip-
I think that the English translation for "Lagrimas Negras" is "Black Tears".

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Example #3: Eso No Es Na - Maria Teresa Vera



Obi Tarkanobi, Uploaded on Apr 13, 2011

The best of Cuban music!
-snip-
I think that the English translation for this title is "This is nothing".

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Example #4: Maria Teresa Vera - He perdido contigo



lucho0412, Uploaded on May 14, 2009
-snip-
Here's the English translation of this song's Spanish lyrics:
From http://www.allthelyrics.com/forum/spanish-lyrics-translation/32387-he-perdido-contigo-translation-please.html translated by citalli, 11-25-2007

I know you loved me, I loved you too,
then you forgot me, but I haven’t forgotten you,
destiny has condemned me to suffer for your love,
what can I do? I had to lose and I’ve lost to you /bis
so many good loves which adored me faithfully,
and I denied them of my love full of everlasting innocence
but you were so cruel and only played with me
what can I do? I had to lose and I’ve lost to you /bis

so many good loves which adored me faithfully,
and I denied them of my love full of everlasting innocence
but you were so cruel and only played with me
what can I do? I had to lose and I’ve lost to you /bis
-snip-
Click that same link for the Spanish lyrics.

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Example #5: Nostalgia Cubana - Maria Teresa Vera y Lorenzo Hierrezuelo - Longina



elmarakazo, Uploaded on Feb 13, 2010

Un valioso duo de nuestra cultura cubana y unas vistas inéditas de los carnavales de los años 30's. http://www.cinedelhogar.com
-snip-
Google Translate gives this English translation for the above comment: "A valuable duo of our Cuban culture and unprecedented views of the carnivals of the 30's."

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND THANKS
Thanks to the musical legacy of Thanks also to the other performers on these sound files. My thanks also to the uploaders of these sound files and the transcribers of the lyrics.

Unfortuntely, my Spanish is very poor. I'd love it if someone would translate at least the titles of these songs. Thanks in advance.

Also, thank you for visiting pancocojams.

Viewer comments are welcome