Lalo Guerrero and Silvio Rodríguez: resistance to comercial music

Abstract

The historical and musical conditions of the Chicanos and Cubans interrelate during the mid-twentieth century. Both groups perceive the expanding musical and ideological influence by the United States as dangerous, which is exposed through the same song-artefact: a split song. The structure and lyrics in “Elvis Pérez” and “Debo partirme en dos” show the authors’ divided nature, a division that stems from their resistance towards the strategical machinery of capitalism during the Cold War. Authors Lalo Guerrero and Silvio Rodríguez, as founders of their own musical genres, Chicana and Nueva Trova, use their songs as a means to unveil their in-between position, the American harassment, and the author´s commitment towards its art and community.