This song will definitely be in my San Diego Fringe show, “International Man of Mystery.” I’ve been working on it since January 2017 when I first had the idea to write a song about running away to Uruguay. I wanted to incorporate elements of actual music from Uruguay…but I realized that I did not know a damn thing about Uruguayan music…
…so I started following Guru’guay, a Welsh woman who runs a bed and breakfast in Montevideo and blogs about all things Uruguay tourism, and I’m completely addicted. I have the poor thing on “see first,” and I comment on all of her stuff. I’m sure she’s terrified of me. I promise I’m not creepy; just really enthusiastic and intense (which is perhaps the same thing?).
Anyway, not long after devoting myself to the Guru, I discovered murga. I can’t tell you how excited I was when I first found Agarrate Catalina on YouTube and saw them come out with their white-painted faces, four-part harmonies, exaggerated pantomime, crazy costumes, and yes…drums. I felt like I’d found my long lost South American cousins or something. I felt especially lucky to find La Cata (the group’s nickname) first because they are a murga that includes two women, the Gomez-Iriarte sisters (traditionally murga is a dude thing…like everything else that’s ever exciting or cool…). I also found Murga Cero Bola, an all-female murga, and this interesting documentary about them. Note that all three women they interview say that they think dude choirs sound better than girl choirs. Don’t get me wrong…I LOVE dudes. And I LOVE dude choirs…I think it’s seriously hot. But I think there’s a prejudice that values men’s voices more than women’s…and probably even I have internalized that to some degree.
Then I found Tabaré Cardozo, the former director of Agarrate Catalina, who has his own solo career where he combines rock and murga. I really like Cardozo’s lyrics; I’ve seen many comments on YouTube comparing him to Chico Buarque, and I can see why. On the other hand, Cardozo isn’t hot like Chico Buarque…but his voice is much better…and his brothers Yamandú and Martín are pretty cute. I’ve listened to his albums “El Zoológico de mi Cabeza” and “Malandra” an embarrassing number of times. Cardozo gets a lot of crap in the murga world because he and La Cata recorded a jingle for Pepe Mujica, the former president of Uruguay. Murgas are supposed to criticize politicians…not support them. However, Cardozo doesn’t apologize; he says Mujica is a figure akin to Nelson Mandela, and that it makes sense to use murga to support such a cause. I admire Cardozo for sticking to his guns in a world that really gets off on the celebrity apology. Also, someday I am going to open a nightclub and call it “Cabaret Tardozo”…and no one will get it except for the three people that have read this blog post.
And then I found Jaime Roos. I have a hard time with Jaime Roos, because his voice is SO SEXY…and his mustache is so…not. But I forgive him, because I love his music. His music also features a lot of murga harmonies, but he goes one step further and includes rhythms from candombe, the Afro-Uruguayan style of drumming. I first heard of candombe when I was in Buenos Aires in 2009 for a week. I even bought a candombe bass method book, which referred to the style as “Rioplatense”…leading me to believe candombe is also from Argentina. Even if that might be true, NEVER tell a Uruguayan that candombe is from Argentina. I may have made that faux pas once and written a song about it…
Anyway – one of the things that murgas do is borrow from popular songs and write new lyrics to them. That is why I included moments from “Montevideo” by Tabaré Cardozo and “Amor Profundo” by Jaime Roos in my Uruguay song. I’ll embed both videos at the end of this post.
ALSO – these are only TWO artists from a country with SO MUCH wonderful music. I feel guilty for not mentioning Ruben Rada (who really has more to do with candombe than Roos does, since he is Afro-Uruguayan), Ana Prada, Eduardo Mateo, Gustavo Pena, Bajofondo Tango Club, and Diego Janssen (speaking of candombe – check this dude out! He is badass)…so if you want to learn more, listen to them, and read this Guru’Guay blog post that talks about up-and-coming Uruguayan musicians. Part of my homework is to finish listening to all of them…see if you can beat me to it.
Anyway…here are the songs I quoted in my song. Are you Uruguayan and know of something else I should listen to? Leave me a comment. Are you obsessed with Uruguay, too? Please talk to me so I know I am not the only crazy gringa running around.
I loved your song and the post. I think you’re so funny and talented! I can’t believe you think you lack social skills! I’m a Uruguayan in love with Uruguay but I also love the English language -so much I became an EFL teacher- and I have American friens who are like family. In fact I’ll be travelling to Vancouver, WA for a surprise birthday party at the end of this month. I’ll be spending a few days in San Diego too. Will you happen to be playing there? I didn’t check the date of the San Diego Festival you mentioned. Maybe I get lucky and can get to see you live. I have a cousin -Gaby- who is a musician and lives in San Diego. She’s American but both her parents are Uruguayan. Her music is also a mix of rythms. I’m leaving you a link. https://youtu.be/YbOwlNfchvs
Well, hope I can see you play one day.
HI, Gringa, you are such a good musician, Its incredible you are interested in Uruguay, I’m from Uruguay and I saw you on Tiranos Temblad, and I said to myself poor woman…
Talking about Uruguayan music you should try to know Negro Rada, he is very good and has a song that is Mi Pais, that was an newspaper advertising, of course about Uruguay. Attach you this song, try and search for more about him, oh, Mike Jagger went to Rada´s friend birthday walking in the Barrio Sur, the place where Candome born.
Thanks for this comment – I am so embarrassed that it took me so long to reply to it! I have not been the greatest at keeping up with this website lately. I was in Uruguay briefly in March, and I really enjoyed it. I can’t wait to go back. Rubén Rada is great, and I will make sure to listen to more of his music. Thanks again for your kind words about my song!
Hi Catherine. I’m so sorry I couldn’t make it yesterday to see your open mic in Uruguay.First, I’m Fernanda’s colleague and friend. We are both teachers. she highly recommended your show to me. I just wanna congratulate you on the video “Uruguay”. I gonna show it to my students and I’m sure we’ll have a lot of fun in class. Second, Thank you for all your comments about my country. I fell deeply moved when people refer to my country so enthusiastically. Hope you come back soon with your open mic. I won`t miss it out. I promise.
Hi Mariela, thanks for this comment! Sorry it took me so long to reply – I have been a little lazy with this website. Fernanda is one of my favorite people ever, and if you are her friend, I’m sure you’re also great. No problem about the open mic – the next time I come to Uruguay, I will make sure to do another one, and you are of course, invited. Uruguay is a GREAT country, and I look forward to meeting you the next time I am there!