"Hasta Siempre, Comandante," ("Until Forever, Commander" in English) or simply "Hasta Siempre," is a 1965 song by

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

n composer

Carlos Puebla Carlos Manuel Puebla (; 11 September 1917, Manzanillo – 12 July 1989, Havana) was a Cuban singer, guitarist, and composer. He was a member of the old trova movement who specialized in boleros and patriotic songs. Biography Born into a mo ...

. The song's lyrics are a reply to revolutionary

Che Guevara Ernesto Che Guevara (; 14 June 1928The date of birth recorded on /upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Ernesto_Guevara_Acta_de_Nacimiento.jpg his birth certificatewas 14 June 1928, although one tertiary source, (Julia Constenla, quot ...

's farewell letter when he left

, in order to foster revolution in the

Congo Congo or The Congo may refer to either of two countries that border the Congo River in central Africa: * Democratic Republic of the Congo, the larger country to the southeast, capital Kinshasa, formerly known as Zaire, sometimes referred to a ...

and later

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, where he was captured and killed. The lyrics recount key moments of the

Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution ( es, Revolución Cubana) was carried out after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état which placed Fulgencio Batista as head of state and the failed mass strike in opposition that followed. After failing to contest Batista in cour ...

, describing Che Guevara and his role as a revolutionary commander. The song became iconic after Guevara's death, and many left-leaning artists did their own cover versions of the song afterwards. The title is a part of Guevara's well known saying "''¡Hasta la victoria siempre!''" ("Until victory, always!"). The song has been covered numerous times.

Metrical structure

Like many of the songs of the author and in line with the tradition of the Cuban and Caribbean music, the song consists of a refrain plus a series of five verses (

quatrain A quatrain is a type of stanza, or a complete poem, consisting of four lines. Existing in a variety of forms, the quatrain appears in poems from the poetic traditions of various ancient civilizations including Persia, Ancient India, Ancient Gre ...

), rhyming ABBA, with each line written in octosyllabic verse. ;3rd stanza: : (1)Vie-(2)nes (3)que-(4)man-(5)do (6)la (7)bri-(8)sa : (1)con (2)so-(3)les (4)de (5)pri-(6)ma-(7)ve-(8)ra : (1)pa-(2)ra (3)plan-(4)tar (5)la (6)ban-(7)de-(8)ra : (1)con (2)la (3)luz (4)de (5)tu (6)son-(7)ri-(8)sa

Lyrics

;Original lyrics in Spanish :Aprendimos a quererte :desde la histórica altura :donde el Sol de tu bravura :le puso cerco a la muerte. ::Chorus: ::Aquí se queda la clara, ::la entrañable transparencia, ::de tu querida presencia, ::Comandante Che Guevara. :Tu mano gloriosa y fuerte :sobre la Historia dispara :cuando todo Santa Clara :se despierta para verte. :: ''Chorus :Vienes quemando la brisa :con soles de primavera :para plantar la bandera :con la luz de tu sonrisa. :: ''Chorus :Tu amor revolucionario :te conduce a nueva empresa :donde esperan la firmeza :de tu brazo libertario. :: ''Chorus :Seguiremos adelante, :como junto a ti seguimos, :y con Fidel te decimos : :«¡Hasta siempre, Comandante!» ;Translated English lyrics :We learned to love you :from the historical heights :where the sun of your bravery :laid siege to death ::Chorus: ::Here lies the clear, ::dear transparency ::of your beloved presence, ::Commander Che Guevara :Your glorious and strong hand :over History it shoots :when all of Santa Clara :awakens to see you (Your glorious efforts throughout history resound like gunfire awakening Santa Clara.) :: ''Chorus :You come burning the breeze :with springtime suns :to plant the flag :with the light of your smile :: ''Chorus :Your revolutionary love :leads you to new undertaking :where they are waiting for the firmness :of your liberating arm :: ''Chorus :We will carry on :as we followed you then :and with Fidel we say to you: :"Until forever, Commander!"

Versions

There are more than 200 versions of this song. The song has also been covered by

Compay Segundo Máximo Francisco Repilado Muñoz Telles (18 November 1907 – 13 July 2003), known professionally as "Compay Segundo", was a Cuban trova guitarist, singer and composer. Biography Compay (meaning '' compadre'') Segundo, so called because ...

, Soledad Bravo, Óscar Chávez, Nathalie Cardone,

Robert Wyatt Robert Wyatt (born Robert Wyatt-Ellidge, 28 January 1945) is a retired English musician. A founding member of the influential Canterbury scene bands Soft Machine and Matching Mole, he was initially a kit drummer and singer before becoming p ...

Nomadi Nomadi (or I Nomadi, meaning " Nomads") is an Italian band formed in 1963 and still present on the music scene. Career Origins In 1961, Beppe Carletti and Leonardo Manfredini formed the group I Monelli (‘Urchins’). In 1962, Carletti met Franco ...

, Inés Rivero,

Silvio Rodríguez Silvio Rodríguez Domínguez (born 29 November 1946) is a Cuban musician, and leader of the Nueva Trova movement. He is widely considered Cuba's best folk singer and arguably one of Latin America's greatest singer-songwriters. Known for his in ...

, Ángel Parra,

Celso Piña Celso Piña Arvizu (April 6, 1953 – August 21, 2019) was a Mexican singer, composer and accordionist, mainly in the genre of cumbia, being one of the most important musicians in the style of "cumbia rebajada". Piña was a pioneer in the mixtu ...

, Veronica Rapella (whose performance is attributed to

Joan Baez Joan Chandos Baez (; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing more ...

by a common mistake), Rolando Alarcón, Los Olimareños, Maria Farantouri, Jan Garbarek,

Wolf Biermann Karl Wolf Biermann (; born 15 November 1936) is a German singer-songwriter, poet, and former East German dissident. He is perhaps best known for the 1968 song " Ermutigung" and his expatriation from East Germany in 1976. Early life Biermann was ...

Boikot Boikot is a Spanish left-wing punk rock band. History The band started in 1987 playing at bars, parties and every type of dive. After a pair of adjustments to the band's lineup they recorded two albums with the label Barrabás. They made th ...

, Los Calchakis (commonly wrongly attributed to Buena Vista Social Club),

George Dalaras George Dalaras ( Γιώργος Νταλάρας, 29 September 1949) is a Greek musician and singer. He is one of the most prominent figures of Greek musical culture. In October 2006, he was selected as a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Refugee Ag ...

, Apurimac, Giovanni Mirabassi and

Al Di Meola Albert Laurence Di Meola (born July 22, 1954) is an American guitarist. Known for his works in jazz fusion and world music, he began his career as a guitarist of the group Return to Forever in 1974. Between the 1970s and 1980s, albums such as ' ...

, Ahmet Koç,

Mohsen Namjoo Mohsen Namjoo ( fa, محسن نامجو) is an Iranian singer-songwriter, composer and musician. His style of music is influenced by blues and rock as well as Iranian folk music. Early life and education Namjoo was born on 4 March 1976 in Torb ...

Enrique Bunbury Enrique Ortiz de Landázuri Izarduy (born 11 August 1967), best known as Enrique Bunbury, is a Spanish singer and songwriter. He has been described as "by far the most international star of Spanish rock." He was propelled to fame as lead singer ...

Verasy Verasy (''Верасы́'') was a musical band created in Belarus (then Belarusian SSR The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, or Byelorussian SSR; be, Беларуская Савецкая Сацыялістычная Рэсп ...

, Interitus Dei among others. Although Victor Jara never sang this song, many attribute the Carlos Puebla version to him by mistake.

Nathalie Cardone version

The most commercially successful version of the song was that made by singer Nathalie Cardone and produced by Laurent Boutonnat. Released as "Hasta Siempre", it reached number 2 on the French Singles chart and the top of the Belgian francophone Wallonia charts. The song stayerd 38 weeks on the French charts. A music video was also released.Nathalie Cardone YouTube Channel: Nathalie Cardone - Hasta siempre (Official Video HD)
/ref> ;Tracklists *Single-CD #"Hasta siempre" - 4:12 #"Hasta siempre (Guitar Mix)" - 4:17 *Single-Maxi #"Hasta siempre" - 4:18 #"Hasta siempre (Steve Baltes Extended Club Mix)" - 5:30 #"Hasta siempre (Steve Baltes Remix)" - 6:12 #"Hasta siempre (Steve Baltes On Air Mix)" - 3:45 #"Hasta siempre (Guitar Mix)" - 4:17 ;Charts

Inés Rivero version

Simultaneously with Nathalie Cardone, Argentine model Inés Rivero released her own version under the title "Che Guevara (Hasta Siempre)". Released on the EMI label and reached number 18 on the French Singles chart. It spent 15 weeks on the French charts. This version was included in the compilation album ''Hit Express 4'' in 1998. ;Charts

In popular culture

The first 8 lines of the song have also been rendered as prologue to a melody song in a Malayalam socio-political movie entitled ''Left Right Left'' released in 2013, directed by Arun Kumar Aravind and composed by Gopi Sunder.

References

External links

Poems & speeches about Che Guevara
- English & Spanish lyrics * performed live by Nathalie Cardone * performed live by

''All versions of Some musics''
- 200 versions of Hasta Siempre, Comandante {{authority control Spanish-language songs Songs about revolutionaries Songs about revolutions 1965 songs Cuban songs Political songs Cultural depictions of Che Guevara Luis Miguel songs Communist songs