Guantanamera

(Lady of Guantanamo)
An international success from 1966
Spanish words by Jose Marti
English adaptation by Bernard Gasso

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The sheet music:

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Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:

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Spanish lyrics

1. Guantanamera, guajira Guantanamera
   Guantanamera, guajira Guantanamera
   Yo soy un hombre sincere
   De donde crece la palma
   Y antes de morirme quiero
   Echar mis versos del alma
2. Guantanamera, guajira Guantanamera
   Guantanamera, guajira Guantanamera
   Mi verso es de un verde claro
   Y de un carmin encendido
   Mi verso es un cierro herido
   Que busca en el monte amparo
3. Guantanamera, guajira Guantanamera
   Guantanamera, guajira Guantanamera
   Con los pobres de la tierra
   Quiero yo mi suerle echar
   El arroyo de la sierra
   Me complace mas que el mar

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English lyrics

1. Guantanamera
   I care a lot for the lady
   My inspiration
   Guantanamo’s fairest lady
   I’m just a man who is trying
   To do some good before dying
   To ask each man and his brother
   To bear no ill toward each other
   This life will never be hollow
   To those who listen and follow
2. Guantanamera
   I write my rhymes to uncover
   My secret feelings
   The rambling thoughts of your lover
   I write my rhymes with no learning
   And yet with truth they are burning
   But ‘is the world waiting for them?
   Or will they all just ignore them?
   Have I a poet’s illusion
   A dream to die in seclusion?
3. Guantanamera, guajira Guantanamera
   Guantanamera, guajira Guantanamera
   A little brook on a mountain
   The cooling spray of a fountain
   Arouse in me an emotion
   More than the vast boundless ocean
   For there’s a wealth beyond measure
   In little things that we treasure

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Sung here by Laurence Rubenstein: