Attend me, I want to tell you something...

Attend me, I want to tell you something, so begins a song written by the young composer from the province of Pinar del Rio, Cuba, Pedro Junco. The song is called "Nosotros" (We). It was written in the forties of the last XX century. But it is still one of the most beautiful songs of our province.
Who inspired this love song is a mystery that many have tried to explain. A veil of romanticism and fatality covers the story.
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Its melody is used in the provincial radio station Radio Guamá, to identify the signal of the radio vueltabajera. Besides, the song has gone around the world interpreted by several artists and used in the soundtrack of some movies.
But it was surely born here in the house of its author. The home of a happy family that was tarnished by the death of the young Pedro. Today it is a cultural institution.

There are reports of more than 400 instrumentations of the song according to what I heard in a radio program. I have heard singers such as Julio Iglesias, Sara Montiel, Plácido Domingo perform it. Personal I love the version of the Mexican Luis Miguel.

The boy, Pedro Junco, a very talented musician, studied piano and wrote more than thirty songs in his short life. Born in February 1920, he fell ill with tuberculosis and died in 1943. He began to live and develop intellectually.

I tell you that in a soap opera that is being shown on Cuban television, they talked about the song Nosotros, they played it and I was very motivated to find out more about its history. I remembered a book I have at home, a gift from a good friend, many years ago when I started studying at the university, its title: Pedro Junco. Como soy, authored by journalist and researcher Aldo Martinez Malo.

While I was immersed in reading about the subject, to my surprise, I was invited to a cultural event at the branch of the National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba, where Pedro Junco's former home is located. At the entrance of the house there is a bronze bust with the image of Junco. There is no denying that he was a beautiful young man, dark-haired, elegant, most of the time with suit and tie.

Inside the house there is an exhibition of various artists. An old and disused piano reigns over the living room and a beautiful ceiling lamp crowns the room. There are no personal objects as the institution is not a museum. I don't know how to play piano, but I love to listen to its melody. This one is big and must have been elegant but I think it's out of use now. I tried to see its mark but I was afraid to get close and stumble. I remembered the friend @mipiano .

The floors and walls are made of mosaic tiles with beautiful artistic details that are no longer visible. In each drawing must be hidden a musical note, a song. Each tile was a silent witness of the musician's dreams. On it he paused to hum a song.

In the courtyard we were able to enjoy different activities. The saxophone quartet Arsis played several compositions by authors from Pinar del Río such as Polo Montañés, Virgilio González Soler. Among their repertoire we could listen to the song "Nosotros". This performance deserved a standing ovation.

I see myself inside that house and try to imagine its former inhabitants, still the story of the song "Nosotros" is going around in my head. According to what I found in the book, the young Pedrito had many lovers, given his good looks and his family's economic solvency. But he was in love with a beautiful girl, at the beginning of the 40's of the previous century. She reciprocated and they had love plans that they wanted to realize.

He fell ill with tuberculosis, at that time the disease was the cause of isolation and rejection for fear of contagion and also very dangerous. When the girl's family found out about this, they were forbidden to meet and the love story ended with the consequent suffering of the two young people.

Then the talented composer wrote Nosotros, where the author says goodbye to his lover. There he explains his reasons for ending the relationship. In a short time the song was heard in several countries around the world. More than 70 years after its composition, it is still listened to and enjoyed.
That is one of the many stories that try to explain what was the inspiration for the song. Although the journalist Aldo was a friend of the young man and experienced first hand many events of the family.

I have learned it since I was a child and I sing it with all the passion I can many times a day, depending on the circumstances, especially in the bathroom. My friend Luciano, a talented musician whom I consider an encyclopedia in musical matters, says that I am very out of tune. He can only stand listening to me sing because he loves me. My thing is to write poetry, I have to leave the singing to him and Yaimara.

Listen to me because I love you
a song to give you.
If you can hear it
it will tell you that I'm dying
without your love. I despair
when the sunset approaches
and I haven't had your embrace,
your spring song.
I offer you my whole life,
I am happy in your gift.

My tenth is not of farewells or bad omens, it is a declaration of love, of life. Luciano is right, my thing is written poetry.

The images used in the publication are my own taken with my Xiaomi Redmi 12C cell phone. English translation by Deepl Translate. You can find me on my social network Facebook.