"Soy rebelde" (English: "I am a rebel") is a Spanish pop ballad written by

Manuel Alejandro Manuel Álvarez-Beigbeder Pérez (born 21 February 1932), better known as Manuel Alejandro, is a Spanish composer of Latin love songs, which are better known as ''ballads''. He has written, composed, and arranged songs for the likes of Luis Migu ...

and Ana Magdalena. It was released by British-born singer Jeanette in 1971, and was her debut solo single. It has been re-recorded by Jeanette in English, French, and Japanese, and has inspired cover versions in diverse genres from flamenco to punk rock and rap.

Development

Following the dissolution of her former band

Pic-Nic Pic-Nic was a Spanish teenage folk-pop and sunshine pop band formed in Barcelona in the mid-to-late 1960s, composed of lead singer Jeanette, guitarists Toti Soler and Al Cárdenas, drummer Jordi Barangé and bassist Isidoro "Doro" de Montaber ...

in 1969, Jeanette remained with the Hispavox label and moved to

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ...

the next year. Songwriter

wrote the song for a Mexican singer, Sola, but offered it to Jeanette, who is half Spanish. Jeanette originally did not like the song; in an interview posted in ''Cha Cha Charming'' magazine, Jeanette said, "My style of music was folk music . . . but Hispavox wanted me to sing this romantic music that I could not relate to." They recorded the song that summer.

Composition

"Soy rebelde" is a quintessential sad song. The song uses a melody based on piano, wind instruments and violins that surrounds Jeanette's soft vocals. The song begins with a combination of piano and violin. The lyrics describe a solitary person, relating a life marked by pain, and focusing on a search for happiness, friendship and love. Jeanette's voice was an angelic whisper; Alejandro remarked it was "the tiniest voice I have ever heard", and that it would have been just another Mexican song if she did not sing it. The song is one of the greatest exponents of the "Torrelaguna Sound", named after the Torrelaguna Street in Madrid, where Hispavox Studios was based. This production style was influenced by

Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (born Harvey Philip Spector; December 26, 1939January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter, best known for his innovative recording practices and entrepreneurship in the 1960s, followed decades later by ...

Wall of Sound The Wall of Sound (also called the Spector Sound) is a music production formula developed by American record producer Phil Spector at Gold Star Studios, in the 1960s, with assistance from engineer Larry Levine and the conglomerate of sessio ...

, and experimented with the layering of instruments and

reverb Reverberation (also known as reverb), in acoustics, is a persistence of sound, after a sound is produced. Reverberation is created when a sound or signal is reflected causing numerous reflections to build up and then decay as the sound is abs ...

Release

When "Soy rebelde" was released, the record label misspelled her name (Janette) as "Jeanette", but after the single became a "runaway hit", the label decided to retain the latter spelling as her stage name. The single was played in Spain, but also extended to other countries, including: France, Belgium, England, Mexico, Italy, Argentina, and Venezuela. The B-side was "Oye Mama, Oye Papa" (Listen Mama, Listen Papa). In May 1972, Jeanette released the single in Japan as "", under

Nippon Columbia , often pronounced ''Korombia'', operating internationally as , is a Japanese record label founded in 1910 as Nipponophone Co., Ltd. It affiliated itself with the Columbia Graphophone Company of the United Kingdom and adopted the standard UK C ...

records. She sang it in Japanese; the lyrics and arrangement were done by J. Hamada, with Waldo de Los Rios and his orchestra providing supporting music. The B-side was still the Spanish version of "". In 1976, Jeanette released the album '' Porque te vas'', which consisted of French versions of her singles. "Soy rebelde" became "L'inconnu Qui M'aimera" (The Stranger Who Loves Me). She also released the song as a B-side to her single ''Je suis triste''. Jeanette's English version, "I Am a Rebel", was released in the United Kingdom as a B-side to her Spanish single.

Reception

"Soy rebelde" was a commercial success and redefined Jeanette's career to that of a

romantic ballad Latin ballad ( es, balada romántica) is a sentimental ballad derived from bolero that originated in the early 1960s in Los Angeles, California and Southern California. Some of the best known artists of the Latin ballad are Julio Iglesias, Moceda ...

ist. The

hit single A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single or simply a hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record' ...

topped the charts in Spain, staying on the charts for ten weeks. It also charted in the Top 10 of Latin American countries such as Argentina, Colombia and Peru. The song became a popular teen anthem throughout the

Spanish-speaking world Hispanophone and Hispanic refers to anything relating to the Spanish language (the Hispanosphere). In a cultural, rather than merely linguistic sense, the notion of "Hispanophone" goes further than the above definition. The Hispanic culture is th ...

. This generation "adopted Jeanette as a symbol of a desire installed like a scalpel in the subconscious of the collective memory."

Track listing

Spanish version

The Spanish version was released in 1971 by Hispavox, catalog #: HS-764.

Japanese version

The Japanese version was released in May 1972 by

, catalog #: LL-2543-H

French version

The French version was released as a B-side to the single, "Je suis triste", Hispavox catalog #: 2022 014

English version

Cover-versions/multiple-renditions

"Soy rebelde" has inspired cover versions and renditions: * In 1978, the Brazilian singer Lilian Knapp recorded a Portuguese version of the song titled "Sou Rebelde" (on the B-side, another version of a Jeanette song, " Porque te vas"). * In 1997, Albert Pla, a Catalan singer-songwriter, sang "Soy rebelde", and released it on his album ''Veintegenarios En Alburquerque''. It was also presented in the film ''

Airbag An airbag is a vehicle occupant-restraint system using a bag designed to inflate extremely quickly, then quickly deflate during a Traffic collision, collision. It consists of the airbag cushion, a flexible fabric bag, an inflation module, and a ...

'' as "Yo soy rebelde". * In 1998, Argentine group

Attaque 77 Attaque 77 ("Attack 77"), sometimes stylized as A77aque, is an Argentine punk rock group. The band was formed in 1987 as a group of friends who got together to play their favorite songs, most of them by The Ramones, their favorite band and the o ...

released their album ''Otras Canciones'', containing a punk rock version of "Soy rebelde". It was also featured on their live album, ''Trapos''. * In 2005, Esmirna sang "Soy rebelde" on his episode of Chilean animated series '' Diego and Glot''. * In 2007, Fernando Caro sang "Soy rebelde" on his debut album ''Rebelde''. Spanish flamenco singer

Pastora Soler María del Pilar Sánchez Luque (born 28 September 1978 in Coria del Río, Seville), better known by her stage name Pastora Soler, is a Spanish singer. She is also a songwriter and her compositions usually mix copla or flamenco with pop or elec ...

also sang "Soy rebelde" as a duet with India Martinez. * In 2008, French singer Nathalie Cardone did a version of "Soy rebelde" that features a guitar for the background music. * In 2009,

Rosario Flores Rosario del Carmen González Flores better known as Rosario Flores (; born 4 November 1963) is a two-time Latin Grammy Award-winning Spanish singer. She was born in Madrid, Spain, as the daughter of Antonio González ('El Pescaílla') and fam ...

covered "Soy rebelde" on her Spanish pop songs from the 1970s album, '' Cuéntame''. Mariano Prunes of ''

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

'' remarked that Flores's version is one of her best. Flores also released a video clip of the song. * In May 2012, rap music group Rebel Diaz sang "Soy rebelde" from its album ''Radical Dilemma''. Its version's message is "that struggle against the status quo has a history that needs to be continued." It samples Jeanette's version, calling hers "a late 60s Spanish pop ballad."

References

External links

* * * * {{authority control 1970s ballads 1971 songs Songs written by Manuel Alejandro Spanish-language songs Number-one singles in Spain Songs about loneliness