Customer Rating: 
Summary: The tragic loss of Mexico's singing martyr
Comment: In Mexico there is a genre of music somewhat related to the ballad. It's called the 'corrido'. It's a way of reporting news, usually through some sort of biographical lyrics. Most 'corridos' are with someone's name, such as "El corrido de Juan Charasqueado'. It has been a very serious form of communication in Mexico and in the Hispanic culture for many decades. A lot of times the stories are about injustice of some sort, rich vs poor, or romantic betrayal/drama of some sort. The genre has taken on a new and dangerous mission, to expose drug traffickers. I have my own unconventional opinions on the 'drug war'. But there is no question that the world of drug trafficking has created a horrible war in Mexico.
Valentín (in Spanish, 'valentîn' means 'the courageous one' -interesting linguistic tie to the Cupid guy, huh?) Elizalde started a cultural war on the drug traffickers by exposing them through his 'corridos'. In late November of 2006, he and his manager were killed by some twenty-plus bullets by one of the drug cartels he exposed.
[...]
Elizalde's voice is powerful and sweet. He was called the Golden Rooster, enormously charismatic and dynamic. There is tremendous feeling in his songs, and he is mourned in his culture the way we've mourned John Lennon. What a horrific and tragic loss.
This news didn't make it into the US media. I want to spread the word. I wish the drug war were over. I am certain that all sorts of economies could be strengthened by this apparently inevitable biological urge to alter our consciousnesses. In a very cold way, I think it's a great way to 'clean up the gene pool' - if you wanna waste your life and spirit checking out of this wondrous world - by all means, peace be with you and go away.) But I think drugs can have a powerfully healing place too, if used respectfully and cautiously, as shamans use them. Meanwhile though, great and visionary spirits like Elizalde's are being sacrificed, only for trying to 'do the right thing.' Please help get the word out.
|
