Silvio Rodríguez: The Dreams of a Creator

August 10, 2018

I arrive at Silvio Rodríguez —a man of thought, more than a troubadour— without pretensions of discovering hidden niches for him, because he has been one of the great transparent figures of Cuban culture. Listen to the lyrics of his songs and you will find answers to all kinds of questions. Or if not, read the (hundreds?) of interviews that have been done with him throughout a career that already exceeds half a century and you will find much of what has characterized him.

That is why I direct my effort to dig a little deeper, through his dreams —fulfilled or unfulfilled— which often turn out to be the motor of vital actions, or the result of them, especially for idealistic romantics (those who live and die for an idea).

Dreams are recurrent in his work. In one, "Dream Repairman," optimism shines through when he sings "The little man always arrives, with his tools to loosen hatreds and tighten loves. The little man always arrives, always listening closely, with cheerful eagerness to flood what is broken. Always moving stones from here, trash from there, doing the work. Always this happy little person goes trading the dirty for gold...."

What I want to gather begins by asking him: What was the first dream you remember? In what context did you have it and how much did it matter for the ones that would come later?

"The first dream I remember was when we lived in San Antonio de los Baños, on Jesús Planas Street. There, I first slept in a crib and when my little sister was born —I was almost 4 years old— I gave it to her and they put me in a cot to sleep in the living room. That was when I had a very strange dream: I dreamed that the world had no houses or anything. There were only hands, arms raised, that disappeared from sight. Now it seems like a Salvador Dalí painting to me, surrealist. The curious thing is that those arms carried me... I moved from one place to another through those hands that were carrying me. That was my first dream."

When I comment to him that this has been coming true, he gets ahead of my argument by saying: "In a certain way yes, because those of us who have the privilege of being in the superstructure of societies, we are somewhat lifted by the arms of many. It was a dream, if you will, a symbolic one. We are like a pyramid that is made of pain, suffering, sacrifice..."

Then I point out to him that the meaning of my comment, in addition to that approach, had the purpose of signifying that his work as a creator has transported him in the arms of global prestige (and in the applause of many hands) because —I tell him— being at the top can also mean being recognized for what you are or what you have done, and not as a privilege. To that, Silvio expands:

"Without a doubt it can be seen that way, although in my mind as a child it was much simpler. I think it must have been in response to having had to give the crib to my sister; and perhaps that's why I dreamed that I was going to have an enormous, immense retribution for having made that gesture."

Next are the rest of the questions I presented to him and his answers:

You lived the end of your childhood and youth in the whirlwind of a Revolution that anchored in the hearts of many, most of your contemporaries, emotions and actions in keeping with those times of awakening to chimeras. What led you to take them on, how did you do it and what lessons did it leave you?

"That is a volume of my autobiography... (Laughs.) I began my adolescence with the triumph of the Revolution. It had been only a month since I turned twelve when that happened. I perfectly remember the life before and, of course, the life after.

"Adolescence was that decade of consolidation, of contradictions, of struggle, of survival, of extraordinary tensions: it coincided with the personal transformation of a person —of many, I believe many must have experienced something similar. I became a man in that first decade of the Revolution. I went from child to man.

"It was very special, because that revolution that also occurs in the human being during the adolescence stage, which is called that for a reason, was like living it from the inside and the outside. It was not a country, a state, stable, a balanced situation that I had on the outside. Many times I also identified with the urgent things and the outbursts of the revolution and society, because they had much to do with my own outbursts, with my own breath, my own needs...

"It is the most intense decade of my life, without a doubt, from every point of view, unforgettable. But it is not the only one, because the revolution matured, went through various stages; not only the revolution, the world, because we are a small piece of the world. We cannot believe that we are the center... because we are not, just as a man is not the center of the world."

What did you dream about while you sailed on the Playa Girón? To what extent did those expectations come true for you, which ones fell by the wayside and why?

"The songs I made on the Playa Girón were like 'I invite you to believe me when I speak of the future'. Many times one makes songs for oneself, then one projects them to others and they have X acceptance, they are liked more or less, they are understood more or less, but above all they are songs of that moment... They were dialogues with myself, they were everything that occurred to me, because of what was happening in general and because of what was happening to me in particular.

"I was very young, 22 years old, I still had the breath of adolescence. At that age one has not entirely freed oneself from things of adolescent temperament. I dreamed with great intensity that the world, the reality in which we lived in the country, was going to be much better in the future. I had more than conviction, faith, that it would be so.

"But, as another singer says, 'life gives you surprises, surprises life gives you'. Life is never exactly as one imagines it. And when you start to imagine it according to a series of experiences and analogies, comparisons based on what you have lived, it ends."

And he reiterated the idea in good Cuban: "When you have 'a ball-sized' idea of where things are going, right then they tell you, shut it down and let's go."

Growing up, especially under sometimes contradictory conditions, leads to postponing youthful projects, transforming them or discarding them, while others take their place. At this point in time, what is the balance you get when you review them?

"The balance is of an intense life and a hopeful life. I have always been optimistic, although sometimes I have had stages or moments of pessimism, like any human being, but in general I have always been optimistic and the things I sing are the things I think, dream, that I want and the things I don't want —because sometimes I sing about what I don't want— are things I alert about from the limitations of my points of view and my experiences."

(It is valid to recall at this moment one of his musicalized poems or poetic-political creations such as "Dream of a Summer Night," which in some of its passages expresses: "I dreamed of airplanes that clouded the day Just when people sang and laughed the most. I dreamed of airplanes that killed each other destroying the grace of the clear morning. If I think I was made to dream the sun and to say things that awaken love... How is it possible then that I sleep among leaps of anguish and horror? And I hope that my dream is not my future...")

In your repertoire the term "dreams" appears in the titles of five of your compositions. How have the ones you portrayed in your work come true?

"I believe I still don't know what is going to happen and in that I resemble very much the one who started. Back then I didn't know what was going to happen and I still don't know what is going to happen. That is why the life that my children and my children's children will live is going to be fascinating.

"There is one thing that is worth pointing out: there is no life without difficulties, there is no life without stumbles. Before life one can have various attitudes, but basically two: one positive and one negative. I believe it is worth having a positive, hopeful, fighting one. That 'yes we can,' even if deep down you say 'let's see if we can,' helps others and helps oneself advance. If you are alive, why lower your arms, why are you going to stop walking if you have legs to do it. In my case it is an indispensable attitude."

You already addressed my last questions in advance, but I insist: What dreams are you most determined to fulfill, as part of a society for which you are an inspiration —unintentionally— to reflect, to advance, to correct errors and to strengthen successes, and to keep dreaming of a better future for everyone?

"On my blog La Segunda Cita my positive, projective thinking is manifested. It is my song of recent times, the opera I was unable to make. Writing helps you think. You reach points where an idea bifurcates, leads you to several others. It is an important exercise of thought, of self-reflection. The act of creation transcends one's own intention. You start writing about one thing and end up doing it about another. It happens to me a lot. From time to time I publish some things on my blog and others I have written for it, motivated by its dynamics.

"I visit La Segunda Cita several times a day, which on May 9 will celebrate seven years of existence, and in which intelligent people participate, with diverse visions and interests, and I publish things that are controversial but respectful."

CODA

Many things remain to be discussed, investigated and explored regarding Silvio's thought and work, without further comments because his own name is enough to identify him. Others, spoken in more than two hours of conversation, belong to various areas outside the central objective of this interview —from his experiences as a literacy teacher in 1961 and Military Service to his appreciation for jazz and the musicians who have accompanied him—. Throughout the dialogue there was agreement of views but especially on one point: the motor of revolutionaries is to walk toward the horizon, toward utopia, in the pursuit of which progress is made, even though there are difficulties, stumbles, imperfections and things to fight against.

Silvio is one of those who lives through that struggle, with the tools of a creator who is an example of fighting for his dreams.

Interview by José dos Santos