Charly Garcia Tells the Argentine Government What He Really Thinks

How could a man who has made a musical career out of blatantly and harshly criticizing the Argentine government ultimately get be asked by ex-President Nestor Kirchner to play a concert at the Argentine government palace? The man in question could of course be none other than the legendary Charly Garcia, arguably Argentina’s most recognizable musician with a long career in both folk and rock. Charly Garcia, for over 35 years, has seen his ups and downs both personally and professionally, but what can not be argued is his determination to always push the envelope in his own quest for truth, justice, and freedom for the people at a time in Argentina’s history when these were not popular traits to publicly desire.



Charly began to show musical talent at an early age. At three, he received a toy piano as a gift, and soon he surprised his mother with his ability to compose and play coherent melodies. At age twelve, he graduated as a Music Professor. And then the music of the Beatles came waltzing into his life and turned his world upside down, showing him that music could be about so much more than notes on a scale.

Wanting to concentrate on folk and psychedelic rock with his band Sui Generis, Charly took a setback when he was asked to serve mandatory military service. His hatred for the institution led him to perform extravagant stunts to try to get released, such as taking a corpse in a wheelchair for a walk in the sun because “he was too pale”. He also ingested a large dose of amphetamines in order to try to feign a heart attack. In the hospital after this episode he composed two songs, Botas locas (Crazy Boots,), which quickly became censored by the government, and Canción para mi muerte ("Song for my Death"). He was quickly released from the military for purported mental heath problems, and was quite happy to be able to concentrate on his music.

Shortly thereafter he recorded two albums: La Máquina de Hacer Pájaros (1976) and Películas ("Movies", 1977). Some of the songs on "Movies" contained a political message directed against the military government of those years, during which Jorge Rafael Videla was the president of Argentina. At that time, repression, disappearances and censorship reached new heights, as this was the time of the Dirty War. In 1979, Charly almost went to jail because of the band's lyrics, considered too clear and direct in some quarters. Even as the music's political message became stronger, it was concealed in an effort to avoid censorship and another close call with the authorities. He had to work hard to make sure his message could still be heard and reach the people. In a time when most artists ran afraid of the government regime, Charly tackled it head on and showed no reservation in making personal attacks to officials that he did not agree with.

Canción de Alicia en el país ("Song of Alice in the (Wonder) Land") drew an uncanny analogy between Lewis Carroll's story and the Argentine military government. Encuentro con el diablo ("Meeting with the Devil") is a reference to the band's meeting with Albano Harguindeguy, the Security Minister at the time. A military man, one of his jobs was to give talks to some artists, ordering them to tone down their work or leave the country.

Peperina carried a political message. The song "José Mercado" ("Market Joe") was a clear reference to José Martínez de Hoz, the Minister of Economy. The lyrics "José Mercado compra todo importado (...) / José es licenciado en economía, pasa la vida comprando porquerías" (which translate as "Market Joe only buys imported (...) Joe has a degree in economy, spends his life buying garbage") referred to Argentina's policy of economic liberalism, with its profusion of imported and often low-quality products.

Another famous Garcia song is Dinosaurs. Charly wrote this song while the government of Argentina was under a military regimen. The mention of the dinosaurs is a pure description of the mentality the people in charge had. In his lyrics, Charly mentions his friends might disappear, the singers might disappear, but the dinosaurs WILL disappear, trying to portray the imminent final time of this generation of power abusers

One of Gracia’s more famous, although not commercially successful at the time, albums is Pequeñas anécdotas de las instituciones. The album was intended as a reflection on the unstable nature of Argentine social and political institutions at the time. Charlie's initial concept was to write a song for every traditional institution: the Roman Catholic Church, the Government, the family, the Judicial System, the Police, the Army, and so on. However, two songs, Juan Represión, about the police, and Botas locas, about the army, were eliminated from the album by the censors. Two more, which referred to censorship itself, had to be partially modified.

Charly continued to push the envelope into the 1990’s, when his friend Diego Maradona ironically became the poster boy for an anti-drug campaign led by the Argentine government called Sol sin Drogas (Sun without Drugs). Charly was among those who criticized the initiative as nasty, corrupt and altogether childish; during a concert he mocked the campaign with a play in words, saying "I bet 'Drugs Without Sun" is a whole lot better than 'Sun Without Drugs'." The remark earned him several appearances before a judge, accused of being an apologist for drugs. Charly was ultimately absolved.

Charly may be one of the best selling Argentine musicians of all times, with a long and varied career spanning over 35 years, but what will be remembered for most is not his commercial success, but his willingness and determination to stand up for what he believed no matter what the consequences were.

To buy mp3's or CD's of Charly's music,go to the EDNSA Amazon store

http://astore.amazon.com/charlygarcia-20

by Cathy Brown - Editor of Expat Daily News South America and Expat Daily News Central America

I would love to hear from you with your views and comments about this article! Email me at cathy@expatdailynews.com.

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