Jorge Drexler: Poetry, music and identity
חורחה דרקסלר: שירה, מוסיקה וזהות
Jorge Drexler is a musician and the first Uruguayan to win an Oscar. His music plays with genre and influence, combining subtle harmonies and regional styles with electronic effects. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
that you need to put into a song.
לכתוב איתן שיר.
was a circular coaster,
לכוסות בירה,
my teacher dictated.
שהמורה הכתיב לי.
שחי בין נוצרים
living among Christians
nor who my brothers are."
ולא מי הם אחיי."
an impression on me.
Joaquín. Did you write them?"
האם הן שלך?
named Chicho Sánchez Ferlosio,
but also a great poet.
משהו מזה זמן רב
to express something for a while,
and go home to write,
and said, "Hang on, hang on,"
sure what Décimas were,
to tell my teacher I didn't know.
שלא ידעתי.
"Yeah, I totally understand" face,
והלכתי הביתה
what Décimas were.
that we have in Spanish.
date of origin,
a musician and poet from Málaga.
הוא היה אותו אדם
he was the same guy
למה שמאוחר יותר יהיה הגיטרה הספרדית.
the Spanish guitar.
just like the Spanish guitar,
ממשיכה לחיות היום
from Mexico to Chile,
ממקסיקו ועד צ'ילה,
some form of the Décima
שומרות על איזשהו סוג של דסימה
a different name,
more than 20 in total on the continent.
יותר מ 20 בסך הכל, ביבשת.
it's called the "Son Jarocho,"
so integrated into our traditions,
from each place are completely convinced
הם לגמרי משוכנעים, בכל מדינה
הדסימה אצלם.
in their country.
that it developed independently
400 years after its creation,
יותר מ 400 שנה מאז שנוצרה,
syllable and line structure --
during the Spanish Baroque period.
and then later you can look online
איך זה הולך --
each line has eight syllables.
בנות 8 הברות כל אחת.
with the fourth and the fifth;
עם הרביעית ועם החמישית,
with the seventh and the tenth;
trying to write in Décimas.
with the same structure
an impressive musicality to it,
מוסיקליות מרשימה.
that I wrote for this song.
just on the musicality of the rhymes.
to the translation --
it you have them.
בבקשה הסירו אותן.
of the words for a few seconds,
של סאונד של הדסימה.
the choreography of sound of the Décima.
that does not cause me pain,
אין צד, שמנצח.
וחיים אחרים שנגוזו.
and another life blown away.
no matter what the disguise,
ולא משנה באיזו מסכה,
under any flag,
לשרת תחת שום דגל,
than a sad piece of cloth."
על פיסת בד עצובה."
your headphones back on.
לחבוש את האוזניות.
because here it is 426 years later,
מתקיימת באותה צורה בכל המקומות.
you just heard the second.
recently learned how,
in its current state.
a concert in Israel,
that hits really close to home,
ושנגעה בי מאוד,
are non-practicing Christians.
where the two traditions lived together
dressed as Santa Claus, for example,
סבי היהודי לבוש כסנטה קלאוס, למשל
בבית הכנסת כשהוא חובש כיפה,
at the synagogue wearing his kippah,
expression that I probably had
in that kind of environment,
the difficulty the opposing parties have
side's shoes even for a moment.
and the content.
where I'm from, to Spain.
who are away from home.
to be very, very Uruguayan,
there is -- the milonga.
כלומר ה"מילונגה."
and after finding out
כולם חשבו שהם המציאו אותה,
the Décima as their own,
the milonga is Uruguayan?
that we musicians call 3-3-2.
one two three, one two.
אחת שתיים שלוש, אחת שתיים.
in the brothels of Persia,
נשמע בבתי הבושת של פרס,
five centuries later,
with the African slaves.
it encounters the Roma scale --
to klezmer music,
bring to Brooklyn, New York.
an Argentine kid of Italian origin
of the second half of the 20th century
של המאה העשרים עם שלו...
אחת שתיים שלוש, אחת שתיים.
one two three, one two.
a 19th-century German instrument
כלי גרמני מהמאה ה 19
that weren't allowed to buy organs,
לרכוש אורגן
in Río de la Plata,
of the tango and the milonga,
just as important as the bandoneon did:
לבנדוניאון:
Vicente Espinel, in the 16th century,
are coming full circle.
דברים רבים אלה.
since the song was born
with four lines written on a coaster
על תחתיות לכוסות בירה
is infinitely dense,
after a concert.
and that everywhere I go I ask about it,
for me at their house.
של "סון "חרוצ'ו."
הוא אחד מסוגי המוסיקה
is one of the styles of music
finished playing
which is the son jarocho,
for their gift of music,
מתנת המוסיקה שלהם
of intentions -- he says,
alive the purest origins
השורשים המקוריים הטהורים כל כך
I didn't really know what to say.
I gave him a hug and left, but ...
נתתי לו חיבוק והלכתי, אבל ...
but at the same time,
and in the Décima,
from all over the place, like he said.
ממקומות אחרים, כמו שהוא אמר לי.
I thought about it for a while.
המשכתי לחשוב על זה,
אם מסתכלים עליהם מרחוק.
to know about our roots,
to understand our history.
as knowing where we're from,
כמו לדעת מהיכן הגענו
in Jerusalem the golden
בירושלים של זהב
for every commandment.
בעבור כל מצווה.
and although I bleed through your wound,
למרות שאני מדמם מפצעך,
has my deepest affection,
משמרת את אהבתי העמוקה,
worth more than a human life.
ששווה יותר מחיי אדם.
who lives among Christians
שחי בין הנוצרים
nor who my brothers are.
ולא מיהם אחיי
nor who my brothers are.
ולא מיהם אחיי
cause me pain, there are no winners
אין צד שמנצח.
and another life blown away.
וחיים אחרים שנגוזו.
no matter what the disguise,
לא משנה באיזו מסכה,
under any flag,
לשרת תחת שום דגל,
than a sad piece of cloth.
על פיסת בד עצובה.
who lives among Christians
שחי בין נוצרים
nor who my brothers are.
ולא מיהם אחיי
nor who my brothers are.
ולא מיהם אחיי.
to for killing in my name,
להרוג בשמי,
and if there is a God, this was his wish,
ואם יש אלוהים, זה היה רצונו.
will live on, once I am gone
תישאר, אני אלך:
will suffer the same fate,
אין תורה שלא נעלמת;
that has not proclaimed itself
שהוא העם הנבחר.
who lives among Christians
שחי בין נוצרים
nor who my brothers are.
ולא מיהם אחיי
nor who my brothers are.
ולא מיהם אחיי
who lives among Christians
שחי עם הנוצרים
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Jorge Drexler - Musician, poetJorge Drexler is a musician and the first Uruguayan to win an Oscar. His music plays with genre and influence, combining subtle harmonies and regional styles with electronic effects.
Why you should listen
Jorge Drexler doesn't lay claim to one identity over another. Born to a German-Jewish exile father and a Uruguayan mother, Drexler grew up in Uruguay, traveled widely across Latin America and eventually settled in Spain. Within his music, you can hear touches of milonga and bossa nova and even Bach, as his lyrics wrangle with notions of nationality and belonging, language, identity and love.
Like both of his parents, Drexler started his career as a physician, but at the age of 30, he decided to pursue music full-time. The release of his fifth album, Frontera, caught the attention of Brazilian director Walter Salles, who tapped him to write the closing song for the 2004 film Motorcycle Diaries. Titled "Al Otro Lado del Río" (The Other Side of the River), the song won Drexler an Academy Award for Best Original Song and propelled him into the international spotlight.
Over the course of his 25-year career, Jorge Drexler has produced 12 albums, received 15 Latin Grammy nomination (with two wins in 2014 Record of the Year and Best Singer-Songwriter Album), four US Grammy nominations, 5 ASCAP Latin Awards, and one Academy Award. He has also collaborated with musicians from Shakira to Mercedes Sosa to Neneh Cherry and Jovanotti.
Jorge Drexler | Speaker | TED.com