Back to Noriko Manabe's article

“Debo partirme en dos” (“I Must Split Myself in Two,” 1969),
in Al final de este viaje

Que muchas de sus grabaciones fueran borradas de los archivos de la radio y la televisión; que su imagen no apareciera ya semanalmente en la pequeña pantalla para el consumo de miles de espectadores, implicaría dentro del grupo de seguidores – jóvenes estudiantes e intelectuales - , no un estado de mutismo o de incomunicación con el artista sino, todo lo contrario, un incentivo de búsqueda y encuentro de mayor hondura con su obra y su actitud ético artística (Díaz Pérez 1996: 237).^[1]

Rodríguez developed a rapport with this following, for whom he says the song was written. He injected a bit of theatricality into the performance:

Esa cancion es de un sentido de burlarme de todo. En esa epoca yo hacía muchos conciertos en teatros pequeños. Y había un público que me iba ver, con quien yo mantenía una especie de complicidad de diálogo.  Era un publico que estaba tanto en mi, bronco en mis líos y todo eso. Y yo cantaba por esa gente que seguía lanzada de mí, conflicto con la burocracia y todo eso. Esas canciones todas fueron dirigidas a esa publico y algunos fueron muy teatrales. Yo cantaba muy lento, muy diciendo el texto-- “Que nadie se levante aunque mi ría “ (pausa)--y miraba la gente. Yo pegaba a veces la gente levantanda, y se empezaba a reír.  Había gente que se ponía incómodo.

Era para cantar al público para provocar a la gente (Rodríguez 2006, interview)^[2].

Rodríguez’s sense of humor notwithstanding, it is hard to ignore the acrid tone of the verses and chorus of this song. Beginning quietly in G minor, the verse immediately shifts to bII, and the tritone formed by the bass line between this chord and the ensuing V gives the words (“se levante, aunque me ría,” “me fue facil/que el público se agrupe y que me aclame”) an unsettled quality (Ex. 4A). As Rodríguez pictures himself fighting with people (“Hace rato que vengo lidiando con gente/ Que dice que yo canto cosas indecentes”), being misunderstood (”Y estoy temiendo ahora no ser interpretado:/ Casi siempre sucede que se piensa algo malo”), or being popular with the public (“’Fusil contra fusil,’ ‘La canción de la Trova,’/y ‘La era pariendo’ se puso de moda”), the harmony temporarily modulates to Bb major, moving the tessitura and dynamics up with it.

Ex. 4A-“Debo partirme en dos,” Verse

This modulation sets up the refrain (Ex. 4B, “Te quiero, mi amor”), a sarcastic stab at those sectors of the Cuban public who preferred to hear simple love songs. This refrain is a parody of a commercial love song, mimicking the facile poetry and harmonies of such songs. As Rodríguez recounts:

Aquella vez que me dieron consejo para que llegara a ser estrella, se me pedía que no hiciera canciones an raras, es decir, que escogiera el camino de lo fácil. Y lo fácil es tentador. Se es cómodo para componer como se puede ser cómodo para escuchar lo que se compone (Casaus 1984: 24).^[3]

Rodríguez sets this refrain in the relative major, Bb, in the stereotypical I-vi-IV-V progression.  The melody is so simple that it isn’t even an independent melody--it is a mere doubling of the bass line.^[4]

Ex. 4B-“Debo partirme en dos,” Refrain

After repeating the verse (back in G minor), the chorus begins, set off by a rock-oriented, power-chord like strumming style (Ex. 4C). Rodríguez pictures the audience as being separated into two camps, the intellectuals and those who want simple songs (“Unos dicen que aquí, otros dicen que allá”). He finishes the chorus in a challenge over the cancellation of his performances (“Y no importa que luego me suspendan la función”). Like the verse, this last line ends on F, the dominant to Bb major, with the voice on high F; unlike the verse, however, the F does not resolve to Bb, instead returning to G minor. Hence that dominant is never resolved, like the challenge implied by the underlying words.

Ex. 4C-“Debo partirme en dos,” Chorus

This song demonstrates several advancements in harmonic sophistication over the earlier examples. First, Rodríguez has set one section, the refrain or estribillo, in a different tonality, the relative major, to match the contrasting lyrics and tone. He has added chromatic chords, such as bII, to his harmonic vocabulary. In addition, the attempted but failed modulation to Bb at the dramatic end to the chorus provides a feeling of uncertainty.

• [1] That many of his recordings were being erased from the radio and televisión archives, that his image no longer appeared weekly on television in front of thousands of watchers, implied within a group of followers – young students and intellectuals – not a state of muteness or incommunicado with the artist but on the contrary, an incentive to look for and find the greater depths in his work and his attitude of artistic ethics.”
• [2] “This song has a sense of ridiculing everything. During those times, I was performing in many small theaters. And there was a following that was coming to see me, with whom I maintained a certain dialogue of complicity. They were so much into me, wild in my troubles and all. And I sang for those people who continued to throw themselves at me, conflicts with the bureaucracy and all. All those songs were directed at this following, and some songs were very theatrical. I would sing very slowly, really pronouncing the text-- “That no one gets up although they laugh at me“ (pause)—and I’d look at the people. Sometimes I would stare at people who happened to be getting up, and they would start to laugh. Some people would get uncomfortable. The song was for singing to this following, to provoke people.”
• [3] “At that time, I was advised that to become a star, I was asked not to write such strange songs--in other words, to choose the easy way. And the easy way is tempting. It’s as comfortable to compose for as it is comfortable to listen to what one has composed.”
• [4] I thank Richard Porterfield for this observation.

Los artículos publicados en TRANS están (si no se indica lo contrario) bajo una licencia Reconocimiento-NoComercial-SinObraDerivada 2.5 España de Creative Commons. Puede copiarlos, distribuirlos y comunicarlos públicamente siempre que cite su autor y mencione en un lugar visible que ha sido tomado de TRANS agregando la dirección URL y/o un enlace a este sitio: http://www.sibetrans.com/trans/index.htm No utilice los contenidos de esta revista para fines comerciales y no haga con ellos obra derivada. La licencia completa se puede consultar en http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/es/deed.es

All the materials in TRANS-Transcultural Music Review are published under a Creative Commons licence (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5) You can copy, distribute, and transmit the work, provided that you mention the author and the source of the material, either by adding the URL address of the article and/or a link to the webpage  http://www.sibetrans.com/trans/index.htm.  It is not allowed to use the contents of this journal for  comercial purposes  and you may not alter, transform, or build upon this work. You can check the complete licence agreement in the following link : http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/es/deed.en