"Fusil contra fusil" (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

for "Rifle Against Rifle") is a song written and recorded by

Silvio Rodríguez Silvio Rodríguez Domínguez (born 29 November 1946) is a Cuban musician, and leader of the Nueva Trova movement. He is widely considered as Cuba's best folk singer and arguably one of Latin America's greatest singer-songwriters. Known for his ...

in 1968 as a tribute to

Ernesto "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 ...

, who had died in 1967. It was first released by

Casa de las Américas Casa de las Américas is an organization that was founded by the Cuban Government in April 1959, four months after the Cuban Revolution, for the purpose of developing and extending the socio-cultural relations with the countries of Latin America, ...

on the 1971 album ''Hasta la victoria siempre, Che querido''. The lyrics of the song praise revolutionary heroism, as was commonplace in the incipient

nueva trova Nueva Trova (, "new trova") is a movement in Cuban music that emerged around 1967–1968 after the Cuban Revolution of 1959, and the consequent political and social changes. Nueva Trova has its roots in the traditional trova, but differs from it ...

movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. "Fusil contra fusil" was written before Rodríguez received formal musical training at ICAIC. The song was included in the third compilation album by the Grupo de Experimentación Sonora del ICAIC, an ensemble featuring the leading figures of the nueva trova movement. Lyrically, the words "fusil contra fusil" refer to Guevara's "name and his last name". The melody is composed in

Dorian mode The Dorian mode or Doric mode can refer to three very different but interrelated subjects: one of the Ancient Greek music, Ancient Greek ''harmoniai'' (characteristic melodic behaviour, or the scale structure associated with it); one of the mediev ...

and uses the VII-I progressions and common tone

third progression Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (dis ...

s that were usual in the

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

genre of that period. The song also uses a modal mixture for a

Picardy third A Picardy third, (; ) also known as a Picardy cadence or Tierce de Picardie, is a major chord of the tonic (music), tonic at the end of a musical Musical form, section that is either musical mode, modal or in a minor scale, minor key. This is ach ...

ending. The song has been popular in Cuba and was covered by several artists, such as Raquel Hernández and

Blaak Heat Blaak Heat (formerly known as Blaak Heat Shujaa) is a French-American musical group whose recordings blend psychedelic rock with a number of outside sources, such as traditional Middle Eastern music, progressive rock, surf rock, spaghetti wester ...

. The song was included in the first part of the 2008 film '' Che''. "Fusil contra fusil" is considered one of the most popular songs by Silvio Rodríguez.

References

{{authority control 1968 songs Cuban songs Cultural depictions of Che Guevara Nueva trova

See also

References