Organizing my mp3 files, many "inherited" from my sons who also use(d) my comp, I came across Manu Chao's albums. I knew some of the songs, but not this one, that soon became my favorite:
Denia.
A haunting melody, and true to many of his songs, a comment on suffering violence. In this case, the civil war in Algeria, a decade of violence from 1992 to 2002 with a death toll around 160,000 includinig many civilians. This song is from Manu Chao's 2001 album
Próxima Estación: Esperanza.
Manu Chao (born José-Manuel Thomas Arthur Chao on June 21, 1961), is a French folk singer of Spanish origin (Basque and Galician). He sings in French, Spanish, English, Arabic, and Portuguese and occasionally in other languages.
Chao was born in Paris, France, to Spanish parents. His mother, Felisa Ortega, is from Bilbao, Basque country, and his father, writer and journalist Ramón Chao, is from Vilalba, Galícia. They emigrated to Paris to avoid Francisco Franco's dictatorship — Manu's grandfather had been sentenced to death.
— from Manu Chao at Wikipedia
From some of the Youtube sites there is this translation:
Poor Algeria
Life beats in the rhythm of your dismay
Life itself is a lie
My heart aches to watch you
Poor Algeria
Life through your eyes
Life as lie
Life swarming with police
Life soaked with
mothers' tears
Life racked with madness
Poor Algeria
Who really cares
in America about
what's happening in Algeria?
Who really knows?
