“Si la Visa universal se extiende el día en que nacemos y
caduca en la muerte, porque te persiguen mojado si el cónsul de los cielos ya
te dio permiso.”
Ricardo
Arjona is one of the most talented singers from Latin America. I discovered him
years ago when someone dedicated a song from him to me. I fell in love almost
immediately of the lyrics of every one of his songs. They always tell a story
full of truths and I always think “He has just the right words”.
Now, I’m
aware of the fact that not everybody likes Arjona. Nevertheless, I wanted to
reflect a little bit about his last song “Mojado”.
When I
heard it for the first time I got caught by the tune, the music. Later on I started
paying attention to the lyrics. Mojados are those who try to cross illegally
the borders in order to get to the other country. They are in search for new
opportunities and a better life.
The song
describes pretty well what these people have to go through when they are trying
to cross to the other side. But, what I focused my attention on when I heard
the song was that particular phrase that I wrote above.
Somehow I
think that what the lyric is trying is point at is to the lack of freedom. We
need this Visa to live whenever we want freely. And thinking about it, we depend
upon a paper. We depend upon PAPERS! We live for them and die for them. We need
a paper to buy food; we are born and exist only if there is a paper that
corroborates it. Our own identity is written on paper.
We human
beings have developed a system that makes life (every aspect of it) possible
only because of a paper!
Maybe I’m
being too extreme but I feel that our life is meaningless without these
documents.
When I first started reading and I saw Arjona’s picture, I thought “Oh, this is not for me!” because I don’t like him ha ha! But then I thought, “Ok, let’s give him a chance”. I think that your reflection is right. The world is supposed to be from every person, but in fact we need many different papers, as you said, to be able to go, stay or live in a different country. It shouldn’t be like that; if we feel that there is a better opportunity in another place, we should have the freedom to decide and go there without so many problems.
ResponderEliminarI am part of the group that doesn't like Arjona as well.
ResponderEliminarAs you know, I'm travelling at the end of the year. And I have to ask for two passports in order to do that. The Argentinian passport for going out from the country and the Italian one (I have the Italian nationality as well) for entering Spain without any problem. Wouldn't be easier to present the DNI? Isn't it enough?
Nop. As you said, our lives depend on PAPERS. And that means waste of time and money.
I belong to the same group as Agustina does, I don't actually like Arjona, even though, I must admit, I do like some of his songs.
ResponderEliminarI kept on thinking of what you said about papers and our lives depending on them. It is true that for some things, relying on a paper, is absolutely silly since, sometimes, papers do not actually say anything about a person.
But, in the case of our existance being written in a sheet of paper and being registered, I have another opinion. I don't think it's totally crazy to be registered somewhere in a written form so as to have it for certain who you are and where you came from. But, it's just an opinion!
Yes, our lives depend on PAPERS!! I totally agree with you, girls! I remember something very funny that happened to an uncle (a friend of my father). He needed the passport to travel, and when he went to the office a lady told him that he had forgotten to bring one PAPER. So, he asked which the paper was. It was the birth certificate. And he then asked the use of that paper. The lady said that she needed that PAPER to check his sex. She cannot see that he is a man? It absurd!!
ResponderEliminarYes, it is true! bureaucracy (even the Word takes a long time to be said, isn't it ironic?) runs our life, and we depend on them even on the smallest paperwork we have to do. Wouldn't it be easier if every were interconnected and by a magic trick everything be solved without so many annoyances?
ResponderEliminarI liked Laura's phrase about our existance being written and registered to have it for certain who we are and where we come from.
I haven't Heard that song Valeria, I'll give it a try!
In my case, I really love Arjona and his lyrics, although he tends to be a bit chauvinist (do you agree with me?). Some of his songs talk about women who have betrayed him, or so. Otherwise, he is quite creative and his metaphores are exceptional. The music is quite enjoyable, too. He has created a new style, I think. Did you know that he used to be a street player in Florida Street, Buenos Aires?? (when he was quite poor, of course).
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