"En la Ciudad de la Furia" (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

for ''In the city of the fury'') is a song from the Argentine

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Soda Stereo Soda Stereo is an Argentine rock band formed in Buenos Aires in 1982 by Gustavo Cerati (lead vocals, guitar), Héctor "Zeta" Bosio (bass) and Carlos Alberto Ficicchia "Charly Alberti" (drums). As the first Hispanic group to achieve mainstream ...

, written by lead vocalist and guitarist

Gustavo Cerati Gustavo Adrián Cerati (11 August 1959 – 4 September 2014) was an Argentine singer-songwriter, composer and producer, considered one of the most important and influential figures of Ibero-American rock. Cerati along with his band Soda Stereo, ...

. It was released in 1989 as the first single from their 1988 album ''

Doble Vida ''Doble Vida'' (Spanish for ''Double Life'') is the fourth album recorded by Argentine rock band Soda Stereo, released on 15 September 1988. It was remastered in 2007 at Sterling Sound in New York. Track listing # "Picnic en el 4º B" (Cerati ...

''. The music video released in 1989 was a finalist in the

MTV Video Music Awards The MTV Video Music Awards (commonly abbreviated as the VMAs) is an award show presented by the cable channel MTV to honour the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards (in the video category) ...

Lyrics

The lyrics tells of a winged man, who is alone with himself, flying at night between the buildings ''"falling as a bird of prey"'', connected to "the city of fury" and is among many other winged men like him (''"yo soy parte de todos"'' (''"I am part of all"'')), who are susceptible, with their faces marked with a "destiny of fury". The chorus refers to the arrival of day and the rest of the winged man, when "the city of fury" let him sleep between her legs (an image powerfully sensual) and hide in the fog.

Music

The music style can be described as an

alternative Alternative or alternate may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki'' * ''The Alternative'' (film), a 1978 Australian television film * ''The Alternative ...

gothic rock Gothic rock (also called goth rock or simply goth) is a style of rock music that emerged from post-punk in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The first post-punk bands which shifted toward dark music with gothic overtones include Siouxsie a ...

sound with some new wave elements and shows the new sound that the band had adopted, changing from their previous albums. This song is a "harbinger" of the sound that the band was about to adopt as its own, especially alternative rock, the style in which this song was performed. The song starts with a

riff A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or accompani ...

that Gustavo Cerati created when he was 14 years old. When Cerati begins to sing, the guitar stops, and the drums are alone with the bass guitar so that it makes a strong chord. After a while, the riff comes back.

Music video

The music video, which was directed by Alfredo Lois, was photographed in ambient black and white. Filmed in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

(that appears to be "the city of fury" mentioned in the lyrics) shows several downtown areas and buildings and people moving in that landscape. The story revolves around an ordinary man who walks among the crowd, plagued by the conflicts created by urban life. This man is shown locked in a cage as a metaphor for being unable to escape from his issues. At the end of the video the locked up man turns out to be Cerati, then the full band appears, all playing in the same cage.

Notable live performances

The song has been played in most of the concerts by the band. One of the most significant performances was as the opening song of the ''last concert'' (''

El Último Concierto El Último Concierto (Spanish for ''The Last Concert'') is a live album recorded by Argentine rock band Soda Stereo. The album was released in 1997 (see 1997 in music) as two different albums, El Último Concierto A and El Último Concierto ...

'') by Soda Stereo on September 20, 1997, having a strong, distinctive final guitar solo. In the presentation at the

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

studios in

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on September 25, 1996, recorded as the live album '' Comfort y Música Para Volar'', the band completely changed the original version, with a

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

style, being much slower and complex musically. This performance had Colombian singer

Andrea Echeverri Andrea Echeverri Arias (born September 13, 1965) is a Colombian rock/ pop singer and guitarist. She holds a degree in Fine Arts from University of Los Andes and was a ceramist before becoming a musician. She is the lead singer in Aterciopelados ...

as a guest singer in the chorus. In the extensive ''

Gira Me Verás Volver Soda Stereo is an Argentine rock band formed in Buenos Aires in 1982 by Gustavo Cerati (lead vocals, guitar), Héctor "Zeta" Bosio (bass) and Carlos Alberto Ficicchia "Charly Alberti" (drums). As the first Hispanic group to achieve mainstream ...

'' of 2007 (You'll See Me Come Back tour), in which the band reunited after 10 years of not playing together, this song was performed at every concert.

Remix version

A remix version is included in the remix album '' Zona de Promesas'', called "En la Ciudad de la Furia ance Mix.

References

External links

"Doble Vida", AllMusic.com
{{authority control Soda Stereo songs 1988 songs 1989 singles Songs written by Gustavo Cerati