Yesterday Mexico lost one of its national treasures to the pandemic. Armando Manzanero, one of the nation's greatest songwriters, died from COVID at the age of 85. Shortly after testing positive on December 17th, he was hospitalized in Mexico City. His cremated remains will be taken to his hometown of Mérida, Yucatán.
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| (image taken from the web) |
Manzanero composed more than 400 songs which were sung and recorded by an international array of vocalists. Since the 1950s he has been considered Mexico's premier writer of romantic music and one of the most successful composers in all of Latin America. In 2014 he received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
For us in the United States (at least for those of us of a "certain age"), his most familiar song is probably "Somos Novios" (We Are a Couple). It was reissued in the U.S. with new English lyrics as "It's Impossible", and it became a #1 hit for Perry Como.
Here is a link to a YouTube video of a much younger Manzanero singing the original Spanish version...
My favorite song by Manzanero is a beautifully melancholy song called "Te Extraño" (I Miss You). The lyrics, although they do not translate very well to English, are very poetic...
I miss you
When I walk,
When I cry,
When I laugh,
When the sun shines,
When it's cold,
Because I feel you
As a part of me.
Here is another link to YouTube with a video of a concert performance of that song by Andrea Bocelli...
Rest in peace. Your music will live on after you.
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