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“Fusil contra fusil” (“Weapon against Weapon,” 1968); in
Cuando digo futuro, Memorias, and Érase que se era

The assassination of Ernesto “Che” Guevara in the Bolivian jungle inspired two of Rodríguez’s earliest successes, “Fusil contra fusil” (1968) and “La era está pariendo un corazón” (1968). These early examples, written before Rodríguez received training in music at ICAIC, already show several characteristics of his compositional devices.

“Fusil contra fusil” consists of two sections: a somber verse that speaks of mourning (Ex. 1A, “El silencio del monte va”) and a chorus that sounds like a rallying cry, carrying the song title (“Se perdió el nombre de este siglo allí”).  In later songs, Rodríguez would expand on this multipartite structure to set sections in different tonalities, particularly the relative major.

Ex. 1A – “Fusil contra fusil,” Verse
 

Particularly interesting is Rodríguez’s use of modal mixture in this song, which seems closer to E Dorian than E minor. On the one hand, the melody of the verse seems more in keeping with E minor, particular in its first lines, as it contains flatted sixths (C natural); on the other, the accompaniment contains more A major chords (IV) than A minors. Such modal mixtures, particularly with the parallel majors or minors of iv and vi, are a frequently occurring feature in Rodríguez’s songs.

Ex. 1B-“Fusil contra fusil,” Chorus

This use of A major seems to increase the pull to the relative major G in this song, as the A major is used to lead into the dominant of G, D major at the end of the verse, at “su adiós” and “explosión”; however, this dominant resolves not to the G major that has been set up, but to the E minor for the start of the chorus, in the familiar VII-i pattern of rock music.  The second half of the chorus (Ex. 1B), starting at “Se quebró la cáscara del viento al sur,” is in G, leading to a sequence of rising thirds (A - C - E) that underscores the words, “despierta la verdad,” ending in a Picardy third. This progression of rising thirds, as well as the i-VII-i progressions in the chorus, seems more reminiscent of rock and folk-rock in 1960s Britain or the United States and demonstrates their influence on Rodríguez’s music at this time; the Picardy third ending may also reflect the influence of Renaissance music, of which Rodríguez is an admirer.  

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