Wave of the Present

Listening Post 334. Like ripples on the water or wrinkles in time, the songs of Mónica Giraldo’s seventh album radiate gently. Water and time, in fact, are central features of the Colombian singer-songwriter’s 10-track collection Hubo un Tiempo (There Was a Time), reflecting on the doubts of the pandemic era, the changes we weather alone or share with humanity, and the beauty and certainties that remain. While the daily human landscape these past two years has often stretched only from bedroom to kitchen, Giraldo takes us on a musical journey, rolling down rivers to the sea, cascading through folk, cumbia and bullerengue. She sings original compositions and Colombian classics as well as duets with artists from farther shores, pushing outward from the confines of the narrow and interminable NOW into comforts of the past and visions of the future. The voyage begins with Vamos por el Magdalena (Let’s Go to the Magdalena, video 1), taking her nation’s longest river, route of pre-Columbian peoples, conquistadores, Bolivarian revolutionaries and the characters of Gabriel Garcia Márquez. Giraldo travels light, carrying just Pajaritos de Oro (Little Golden Birds, video 2) to provide songs for the road. But a specter permeates the album: The virus that has rocked the planet is never mentioned but it’s between the lines in songs about change in our personal lives. It accompanies relationships in Algo va a cambiar (Something’s Going to Change, video 3), challenging us to navigate together. It’s also in the eternal turn, turn, turn of the world Giraldo explores with Portuguese singer-songwriter Mafalda Veiga in Todos las cosas (All Things, video 4). The big question—can we ever return to the world as we knew it?—hangs in the title track (video 5). As we wait for the endless wave of the present to break, there’s no better soundtrack than Giraldo’s warm voice and guitar.

Related post. Mónica Giraldo: Al Oído, Listening Post 202, May 20, 2019. https://worldlisteningpost.com/2019/05/20/al-oido-the-best-of-monica-giraldo/

Mónica Giraldo: Hubo un Tiempo
Mónica Giraldo: Vocals, guitar
Mauricio Pantoja: Vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar
Juan Sebastián Caicedo: Drums
Marco Vinicio Oyaga: Drums
Gilbert Martínez: Drums and percussion
Juan Pablo Rentería: Piano
Juan Ruiz: Clarinet
Orlando Barreda “Batanga”: Bugle
Edilberto Liévano: Trombone
Julio Panadero: Clarinet
Febe Merab Córdoba: Backing vocals
Stefany Cotera: Backing vocals
John Harbey Ubaque, “Dartañan”: Requinto
Children’s choir: Michelle Ruget, Talita Oyaga, Daniel Mendiwelson, Tomás Mendiwelson.
Special Guests: Mafalda Veiga, Mathieu Ruz, Gabriel J. Giraldo, Pantoja

Vamos por el Magdalena / Let’s Go to the Magdalena
Lyrics & music: Mónica Giraldo, Marco Vinicio Oyaga

(From the Spanish lyrics)
Along the way flow the golden years of my life
Reciting legends of droughts and crests/And of hopes and failures
They shine along the Magdalena/They shine along the Magdalena

Down the course it goes/The gold years of my past
Its voices speak of a future in my hands/Its hopes and its failures
They shine along Magdalena/They shine along the Magdalena

Upstream, downstream
Children still go/They are singing
Upstream, downstream
Children still go/They are playing

With their feet in the sand/Hands burning
Words in my mouth/Your dreams and my guitar
Let’s take the Magdalena

Upstream, downstream
Children still go/They are singing
Upstream, downstream
Children still go/They are playing

Let’s take the Magdalena/Let’s take the Magdalena
Let’s take the Magdalena

Pajaritos de Oro / Golden Birds
Lyrics: Mónica Giraldo, Marco Vinicio Oyaga/Music: Mónica Giraldo, Marco Vinicio Oyaga, Pedro Ramayá Beltrán

(From the Spanish lyrics)
I have little golden birds/Carried in my luggage
I’ve turned them into the songs/That will accompany your trip

I will sing/As each day arrives
I will dance/As life teaches me
I will live with joy/I will cry when my heart asks me

When life asks you/To leave your luggage
Just respond that they are little birds/That guide your journey

I will sing/As each day arrives
I will dance/As life teaches me
I will live with joy/I will cry when my heart asks me

I have little golden birds/Carried in my luggage
I have turned them into the songs/That will accompany your trip

Algo va a cambiar / Something Is Going to Change
Lyrics: Mónica Giraldo/Music: Mónica Giraldo, Mauricio Pantoja

(From the Spanish lyrics)
It took me a while to get here/To put everything in its place
But I know that in a second/Something’s going to change

There’s so much noise it’s hard to hear/Your eyes are fantasy and reality
But I know that in a second/It won’t be the same
Let’s imagine it together/We’ll know how to get there

Something’s going to change/It’s okay to stop
If I walk in your dreams/And you in my story
We’ll know how to get there
But I know that in a second/It won’t be the same
Let’s imagine it together/We’ll know how to get there

Something’s going to change/It’s okay to stop
If I walk in your dreams/And you in my story
We’ll know how to get there

Todas las cosas / Todas as coisas / All Things, feat. Mafalda Veiga
Lyrics & music: Mafalda Veiga/Spanish version: Mónica Giraldo

(From the Spanish and Portuguese lyrics)
All things pass/All things go
All things take us away/Or elevate our heart
All things concrete/Become empty, or not
All things eternal/Die for some reason

All things are ours/All things are not
All things are ours/All things are not

All things pass/All things go
All things take us away/Or land lightly in our heart

All the concrete things/Become empty, or not
All things eternal/Die for no reason

All things are ours/All things are not
All things are ours/All things are not

All things are ours/All things are not
All things are ours/All things are not

Hubo un Tiempo / There Was a Time
Lyrics & music: Mónica Giraldo

(From the Spanish lyrics)
There was a time
In which we sailed
When there was no wind

There was a time/In which everything stopped, hopelessly
You left at the perfect time
And there was a time when life changed/And we sidestepped our fears

There was a time/When we faced the uncertain
And we pushed forward slowly
I had the good fortune to see you grow up/To imagine your dreams

And there was a time/When we said goodbye
And we cried inside

There was a time
When we traveled back

I was certain of your love/We sidestepped fears
I had the joy of a song/From a time without time
Our heart were intact/We cried inside

There was a time
When we traveled back