"Arriba en la Cordillera" (translanted: "Up in the Mountain Range") is a song by the Chilean singer-songwriter

Patricio Manns Iván Patricio Eugenio Manns de Folliot (3 August 1937 – 25 September 2021) was a Chilean singer, composer, author, poet, novelist, essayist, play writer and journalist. He is known for his 1965 song " Arriba en la Cordillera". Life and car ...

released as single in 1965 and included in the 1966 studio album ''Entre Mar y Cordillera.'' It reached #1 on the Chilean charts and was chosen as the most popular song at Huaso de Olmué Festival in 2009.

Background

In 1965, he left several of his jobs to settle in

Santiago de Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

as a journalist for Canal 9 of the

University of Chile The University of Chile ( es, Universidad de Chile) is a public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843.

. In it, Manns met Luis "Chino" Urquidi, a composer and arranger who worked with Los Cuatro Cuartos, a group that cultivated neofolk. In April of that year, the ''Peña de los Parra'' was inaugurated and he met the most important Chilean producer of the time, Camilo Fernández, an Demon label executive (later called Arena) who had the intention of recording with all the musicians of the peña, including Manns. Fernández proposed the idea of recording a disk and promote him as a key figure of the

Nueva canción chilena Nueva is the Spanish feminine form of the word for "new" and may refer to: * Isla Nueva, an uninhabited island in Chile * The Nueva School The Nueva School is a private school, with two campuses—the lower and middle school in Hillsborough, ...

Composition and recording

He wrote the song in a single night using as inspiration the memories he had of different moments in his young life. Especially one in which Manns and his cousin, emboldened by alcohol in their hometown, Nacimiento, decided to burn down the sawmill of a relative with whom "they were at odds". Although they did not get to perpetuate the act, the police went after them. Both started on horseback towards the Andean hills during weeks. They first entered the interiors of

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, to then leave the place and travel towards the Atacalco pass, settling in Laguna del Laja—known as ''lagos cumbrereros''—where they lived and knew the experiences of a group of muleteers, those who earned their living as rustlers steal Argentine cattle to sell them to Chilean territory such as Los Angeles or

Mulchén Mulchén is a city and commune in Bío Bío Province of Bío Bío Region, Chile. It was first settled in 1871 by soldiers during the so-called Pacification of Araucania. In 1875 Mulchén was officially founded. The city is surrounded by a meand ...

. One of them told Manns that his father had been shot dead in Atacalco by Argentine gendarmerie while stealing cattle from their territory. Manns also captured through the song's

huapango is a family of Mexican music styles. The word likely derives from the Nahuatl word that literally means 'on top of the wood', alluding to a wooden platform on which dancers perform dance steps. It is interpreted in different forms, the most c ...

rhythm his Mexican music lessons learned during childhood. The next day, Manns recorded it on the Demon label thanks to Camilo's initiative. It featured the chorus of Los Cuatro Cuartos, and two members from Las Cuatro Brujas, both summoned by Urquidi.

Release

The song was released as single in 1965 on Demon label, it began to play on radio stations not accustomed to folk music and several copies of the single were sold out in almost all the record stores in

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whos ...

, becoming the label's best-selling disk. It also reached No. 1 on the Chilean music charts, and then it was included along with other songs of his such as "Bandido" or "Los mares vacios" in 1966 album ''Entre Mar y Cordillera'' (Between Sea And Mountain Range), which was also released on said label and "which marked the development of nueva canción as an increasingly distinctive musical genre and exposed a wider public to this form of musical expression."

Music video

The official music video was released in October 1972 under the direction of Hugo Arévalo, who is considered «the father of the video clip in Chile». In it, Patricio rides on horseback in Andes Mountains with a group of muleteers that both Manns and Arévalo obtained from the area of

Farellones Farellones is a village and ski resort located 36 km from Santiago, Chile. It was founded during the 1930s, nestled in a small valley in the Andes mountains close to other ski areas such as Valle Nevado, La Parva, and El Colorado. Location Lo ...

. According to the Arévalo words: "He had made this same story, this same section, he only tells his real experience, what he lived".

Legacy

Manns after the success of "Arriba en la Cordillera", he was recognized as one of the main figures of neofolk. It was performed by various bands and singers such as Quilapayun,

Inti-Illimani Inti-Illimani (; from Quechuan ''Inti'' and Aymara '' Illimani)'' are an instrumental and vocal Latin American folk music ensemble from Chile. The band was formed in 1967 by a group of university students and it acquired widespread popularity in ...

Mon Laferte Norma Monserrat Bustamante Laferte (born 2 May 1983) is a Chilean musician, singer, composer and painter. She is known for her musical versatility, having composed songs in a wide variety of genres such as pop, rock, bolero, cumbia and salsa. In ...

or Los Miserables. Ginette Acevedo achieved great success for his respective version of "Arriba en la Cordillera". Antuco declared Manns as an illustrious citizen for this song. In 1987, the Chilean rock band Emociones Clandestinas released the album ''Abajo en la costanera'', with a parody title of the song. It is considered one of the songs most representative of the Nueva canción chilena and one of the most important Chilean popular music of the 20th century as well as other such as "

Gracias a la vida "Gracias a la vida" (Spanish for "''Thanks to life''") is a song written, composed and performed by Chilean Violeta Parra, one of the artists who was part of the movement and musical genre known as the Nueva Canción Chilena. Parra composed "Gra ...

" by

Violeta Parra Violeta del Carmen Parra Sandoval (; 4 October 1917 – 5 February 1967) was a Chilean composer, singer-songwriter, folklorist, ethnomusicologist and visual artist. She pioneered the Nueva Canción Chilena (The Chilean New Song), a renewal an ...

or "Te recuerdo amanda" by

Victor Jara The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

. In January 2009, it was chosen as the most popular song in the history of Chile at Huaso de Olmué Festival, and as award, Manns received the Golden Guitrapin and 4 million

peso The peso is the monetary unit of several countries in the Americas, and the Philippines. Originating in the Spanish Empire, the word translates to "weight". In most countries the peso uses the same sign, "$", as many currencies named "dollar" ...

s. Surpassing other compositions nominated as "Si somos americanos" by Rolando Alarcon, "Te recuerdo amanda" by

Víctor Jara Víctor Lidio Jara Martínez (; 28 September 1932 – 16 September 1973) was a Chilean teacher, theater director, poet, singer-songwriter and Communist political activist. He developed Chilean theater by directing a broad array of works, ran ...

, " Volver a los 17" by

and "Viva Chile" by Luis Bahamonde.

References

External links

Arriba En La Cordillera
at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arriba En La Cordillera 1965 singles 1965 songs Spanish-language songs Chilean songs Chilean folk songs Nueva canción Chilean pop songs