Guantanamera

(English version)

Words & Music:

Joseito Fernandez

 

In some versions, the chorus is repeated at the beginning & end of each verse.  This song, surprisingly, dates from 1928.  Its Cuban composer honed his musical talents as a newsboy on the streets of Havana, making up jingles to better hawk his papers.  I do not know who provided the English version.

 

D    Em    A    D    Em    A

 

CHORUS:

G             A       D       A

Guantanamera, guajira guantanamera,

D         Em  A       D      Em  A

Guantanamera, guajira guantanamera.

 

          D      Em       A        D        Em   A

Yo soy un hombre sincero, de donde crece la palma,

          D      Em       A        G             A

Yo soy un hombre sincero, de donde crece la palma,

            D       Em    A           D         Em  A

Y antes des morirme guiero, echar mis versos de alma,

 

CHORUS:

 

I'm just a man who is trying to do some good before dying,

To ask each man and his brother, to bear no ill toward each other.

This life will never be hollow, to those who listen and follow.

 

CHORUS:

 

I write my rhymes with no learning, and yet with truth they are burning,

But is the world waiting for them or will they all just ignore them?

Have I a poet's illusion, a dream to die in seclusion?

 

CHORUS:

 

A little brook on a mountain, the cooling spray of a fountain,

Arouse in me an emotion, more than the vast boundless ocean,

For there's a wealth beyond measure, in little things that we treasure,

 

CHORUS: