Guantanamera Arranged for Guitar

Cuba, ‘the island of liberty’, so original and exotic in its essence, is a highly patriotic country. So would be its music, it seems. But surprisingly, the song that is often perceived as a truly national tune of the country does not have so much of patriotism about it, if you dig deeper. “Guantanamera” (Spanish for ‘girl from Guantanamo’), both Cuban and international hit, is about a province girl and a romantic relationship – that’s how it began.

Cuban Grannies Smoking Cigars

The music of the song is now a decided matter – in 1993 Jose Fernandez officially won the battle being now called both composer and the first promoter of the song (mostly through his radio shows). But in terms of the lyrics, there is still a lot of arguing. Some say that originally it was a story about Fernandez himself and a girl that brought a sandwich to one of his radio shows and who he felt platonic love for. According to other version, Garcia Wilson, who claimed to be the song’s co-composer, also had a romantic story but the girl turned him down.

The original lyrics, however, are not to be heard in the song today. What we enjoy is the adaptation of 4 verses (stanzas) from various poems by Jose Marti, Cuba’s national hero and independence fighter. Maybe at least this sole fact adds up 80% of patriotism to the song and all the original versions stay in the shadow. Guantanamera soon received the unofficial status of the national anthem, the symbol of unity, and was even used as a ‘peace-maker’ during the missile crisis. The most successful recording of the famous song is attributed to The Sandpipers and is based on the song’s adaptation by Pete Seeger.