"," ("Until Forever, Commander" in English) or simply "", is a 1965 song by

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

n composer

Carlos Puebla Carlos Manuel Puebla (; 11 September 1917 – 12 July 1989) was a Cuban singer, guitarist and composer. He was a member of the Trova movement, who specialized in boleros and patriotic songs. Biography Born into a modest family, he did sev ...

. The song's lyrics are a reply to revolutionary

Che Guevara Ernesto "Che" Guevara (14th May 1928 – 9 October 1967) was an Argentines, Argentine Communist revolution, Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, Guerrilla warfare, guerrilla leader, diplomat, and Military theory, military theorist. A majo ...

's farewell letter when he left

, in order to foster revolution in the Congo and later

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, where he was captured and killed. The lyrics recount key moments of the

Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution () was the military and political movement that overthrew the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, who had ruled Cuba from 1952 to 1959. The revolution began after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état, in which Batista overthrew ...

, describing Che Guevara and his role as a revolutionary commander. The song became iconic after Guevara's death, and many left-leaning artists did their own cover versions of the song afterwards. The title is a part of Guevara's well known saying "''¡Hasta la victoria siempre!''" ("Until victory, always!"). The song has been covered numerous times.

Metrical structure

Like many of the songs of the author and in line with the tradition of the Cuban and Caribbean music, the song consists of a refrain plus a series of five verses (

quatrain A quatrain is a type of stanza, or a complete poem, consisting of four Line (poetry), lines. Existing in a variety of forms, the quatrain appears in poems from the poetic traditions of various ancient civilizations including Persia, Ancient India ...

), rhyming ABBA, with each line written in octosyllabic verse. ;3rd stanza: : (1)Vie-(2)nes (3)que-(4)man-(5)do (6)la (7)bri-(8)sa : (1)con (2)so-(3)les (4)de (5)pri-(6)ma-(7)ve-(8)ra : (1)pa-(2)ra (3)plan-(4)tar (5)la (6)ban-(7)de-(8)ra : (1)con (2)la (3)luz (4)de (5)tu (6)son-(7)ri-(8)sa

Lyrics

;Original lyrics in Spanish :Aprendimos a quererte :desde la histórica altura :donde el Sol de tu bravura :le puso cerco a la muerte. ::Chorus: ::Aquí se queda la clara, ::la entrañable transparencia, ::de tu querida presencia, ::Comandante Che Guevara. :Tu mano gloriosa y fuerte :sobre la Historia dispara :cuando todo Santa Clara :se despierta para verte. :: ''Chorus :Vienes quemando la brisa :con soles de primavera :para plantar la bandera :con la luz de tu sonrisa. :: ''Chorus :Tu amor revolucionario :te conduce a nueva empresa :donde esperan la firmeza :de tu brazo libertario. :: ''Chorus :Seguiremos adelante, :como junto a ti seguimos, :y con Fidel te decimos : :«¡Hasta siempre, Comandante!» ;Translated English lyrics :We learned to love you :from the historical heights :where the sun of your bravery :laid siege to death ::Chorus: ::Here lies the clear, ::dear transparency ::of your beloved presence, ::Commander Che Guevara :Your glorious and strong hand :over History it shoots :when all of Santa Clara :awakens to see you (Your glorious efforts throughout history resound like gunfire awakening Santa Clara.) :: ''Chorus :You come burning the breeze :with springtime suns :to plant the flag :with the light of your smile :: ''Chorus :Your revolutionary love :leads you to new undertaking :where they are waiting for the firmness :of your liberating arm :: ''Chorus :We will carry on :as we followed you then :and with Fidel we say to you: :"Until forever, Commander!"

Versions

There are more than 200 versions of this song. The song has also been covered by

Compay Segundo Máximo Francisco Repilado Muñoz Telles (18 November 1907 – 13 July 2003), known professionally as "Compay Segundo", was a Cuban trova guitarist, singer and composer. Biography Compay (meaning ''compadre'') Segundo, so called because he was a ...

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, Nathalie Cardone,

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, Ángel Parra,

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, Veronica Rapella (whose performance is attributed to

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by a common mistake),

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, Los Calchakis (commonly wrongly attributed to

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, Apurimac, Giovanni Mirabassi and

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, Verasy, Interitus Dei among others. Although

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never sang this song, many attribute the Carlos Puebla version to him by mistake.

Nathalie Cardone version

The most commercially successful version of the song was that made by singer Nathalie Cardone and produced by Laurent Boutonnat. Released as "Hasta Siempre", it reached number 2 on the French Singles chart and the top of the Belgian francophone Wallonia charts. The song stayed 38 weeks on the French charts. A music video was also released.Nathalie Cardone YouTube Channel: Nathalie Cardone - Hasta siempre (Official Video HD)
/ref> ;Tracklists *Single-CD #"Hasta siempre" - 4:12 #"Hasta siempre (Guitar Mix)" - 4:17 *Single-Maxi #"Hasta siempre" - 4:18 #"Hasta siempre (Steve Baltes Extended Club Mix)" - 5:30 #"Hasta siempre (Steve Baltes Remix)" - 6:12 #"Hasta siempre (Steve Baltes On Air Mix)" - 3:45 #"Hasta siempre (Guitar Mix)" - 4:17 ;Charts

Inés Rivero version

Simultaneously with Nathalie Cardone, Argentine model

released her own version under the title "Che Guevara (Hasta Siempre)". Released on the EMI label and reached number 18 on the French Singles chart. It spent 15 weeks on the French charts. This version was included in the compilation album ''Hit Express 4'' in 1998. ;Charts

In popular culture

The first 8 lines of the song have been rendered as prologue to a melody song in the Malayalam socio-political movie '' Left Right Left''.

References

External links

Poems & speeches about Che Guevara
- English & Spanish lyrics * performed live by Nathalie Cardone * performed live by

''All versions of Some musics''
- 200 versions of {{authority control Songs in Spanish Songs about revolutionaries Songs about revolutions 1965 songs Cuban songs Political songs Cultural depictions of Che Guevara Communist songs