Víctor Lidio Jara Martínez (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈbiktor ˈliðjo ˈxaɾa marˈtines]) (September 28, 1932 – September 16, 1973[1]) was a Chilean teacher, theatre director, poet, singer-songwriter, political activist and member of the Communist Party of Chile. A distinguished theatre director, he devoted himself to the development of Chilean theatre, directing a broad array of works from locally produced Chilean plays, to the classics of the world stage, to the experimental work of Ann Jellicoe. Simultaneously he developed in the field of music and played a pivotal role among neo-folkloric artists who established the Nueva Canción Chilena (New Chilean Song) movement which led to a revolution in the popular music of his country under the Salvador Allende government. Shortly after the Chilean coup of 11 September 1973, he was arrested, tortured and ultimately shot to death with 44 bullet shots by machine gun fire. His body was later thrown out into the street of a shanty town in Santiago.[2] The contrast between the themes of his songs, on love, peace and social justice and the brutal way in which he was murdered transformed Jara into a symbol of struggle for human rights and justice across Latin America.
Víctor Jara was born in the locality of Lonquén, near the city of Santiago, to poor peasants Manuel Jara and Amanda Martínez. Jara's father, Manuel, was illiterate and wanted his children to work as soon as they could rather than get an education, so by the age of 6, Jara was already working on the land. Manuel Jara was unable to extract a livelihood from the earnings as a peasant in the Ruiz-Tagle estate nor was he able to find stable work to support his large family. He took to drinking and became violent. His relationship with his wife deteriorated, and Manuel left the family when Víctor was still a child to look for work elsewhere. Amanda persevered in raising Víctor and his siblings by herself, insisting that all of them should receive a good education. Amanda, a mestiza with deep Araucanian roots in the south of Chile, was not illiterate, she was autodidactic; played the guitar, the piano and was a singer in her town, singing traditional folk songs at local functions like wedding and funerals for the locals.[3]
Jara's mother died when he was 15, leaving him to make his own way thereafter. He began to study to be an accountant, but soon moved into a seminary instead, studying to become a priest. After a couple of years, however, he became disillusioned with the Church and left the seminary. Subsequently he spent several years in the army before returning to his home town to pursue interests in folk music and theater.
Jara was deeply influenced by the folklore of Chile and other Latin American countries; he was particularly influenced by artists like Violeta Parra, Atahualpa Yupanqui, and the poet Pablo Neruda. Jara began his foray into folklore in the mid-1950s when he began singing with the group Cuncumen. He moved more decisively into music in the 1960s getting the opportunity to sing at Santiago's La Peña de Los Parra, owned by Ángel Parra. Through them Jara became greatly involved in the Nueva Canción movement of Latin American folk music. He published his first recording in 1966 and, by 1970, had left his theater work in favor of a career in music. His songs were drawn from a combination of traditional folk music and left-wing political activism. From this period, some of his most renowned songs are Plegaria a un Labrador ("Prayer to a Worker") and Te Recuerdo Amanda ("I Remember You Amanda"). He supported the Unidad Popular ("Popular Unity") coalition candidate Salvador Allende for the presidency of Chile, taking part in campaigning, volunteer political work, and playing free concerts.
Allende's campaign was successful and, in 1970, he was elected president of Chile. However, the Chilean right wing, who opposed Allende's socialist politics, staged a coup with the help of the Chilean military on September 11, 1973, in the course of which Allende was killed (See Death of Salvador Allende). At the moment of the coup, Jara was on the way to the Technical University (today Universidad de Santiago), where he was a teacher. That night he slept at the university along with other teachers and students, and sang to raise morale.
On the morning of September 12, Jara was taken, along with thousands of others, as a prisoner to the Chile Stadium (renamed the Estadio Víctor Jara in September 2003[4] ). In the hours and days that followed, many of those detained in the stadium were tortured and killed there by the military forces. Jara was repeatedly beaten and tortured; the bones in his hands were broken as were his ribs.[5] Fellow political prisoners have testified that his captors mockingly suggested that he play guitar for them as he lay on the ground with broken hands. Defiantly, he sang part of "Venceremos" (We Will Win), a song supporting the Popular Unity coalition.[5] After further beatings, he was machine-gunned on September 16, his body dumped on a road on the outskirts of Santiago and then taken to a city morgue where they found 44 bullet shots on his body.
Jara's wife Joan was allowed to come and retrieve his body from the site and was able to confirm the physical damage he had endured. After holding a funeral for her husband, Joan Jara fled the country in secret.
Joan Turner Jara currently lives in Chile and runs the Víctor Jara Foundation. The Chile Stadium, also known as the Víctor Jara Stadium, is often confused with the Estadio Nacional (National Stadium).
Before his death, Jara wrote a poem about the conditions of the prisoners in the stadium, the poem was written on a paper that was hidden inside a shoe of a friend. The poem was never named, but is commonly known as Estadio Chile.
In June 2008, Chilean judge Juan Eduardo Fuentes re-opened the investigation into Jara's death. Judge Fuentes said he would examine 40 new pieces of evidence provided by the singer's family.[6] On May 28, 2009, José Adolfo Paredes Márquez, a 54-year-old former Army conscript was arrested the previous week in San Sebastian, Chile, and was formally charged with Jara's murder. Following Paredes' arrest, on June 1, 2009, the police investigation identified the name of the officer who first shot Víctor Jara in the head. The officer played Russian roulette with Jara, by placing a single round in his revolver, spinning the cylinder, placing the muzzle against Jara's head and pulling the trigger. The officer repeated this a couple of times, until a shot fired and Víctor fell to the ground. The officer then ordered two conscripts (one of them Paredes) to finish the job, by firing into Jara's body.[7][8][9] A judge ordered Jara's body to be exhumed in an effort to determine more information regarding his death.[10]
On December 3, 2009, a massive funeral took place in the "Galpón de Víctor Jara" across from "Plaza Brazil". Jara's remains were honoured by thousands. His remains were re-buried in the same place he was buried in 1973
Although the military regime managed to burn the vast majority of master recordings of Jara's music, Joan Jara managed to sneak recordings out of Chile, which were later copied and distributed worldwide. Joan Jara later wrote an account of Víctor Jara's life and music, titled Víctor: An Unfinished Song.
On September 22, 1973, the Soviet/Russian astronomer Nikolai Stepanovich Chernykh named a newly found asteroid 2644 Víctor Jara, in honor of Víctor Jara's life and artistic work.
American folksinger Phil Ochs, who met and performed with Jara during a tour of South America, organized a benefit concert in his memory in New York in 1974. Titled "An Evening With Salvador Allende", the concert featured Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger, Arlo Guthrie and Ochs.
An East German biographical movie called El Cantor (the Singer) was made in 1978. It was directed by Jara's friend Dean Reed, who also played the part of Jara.
Dutch-Swedish singer-songwriter Cornelis Vreeswijk recorded "Blues för Victor Jara" on his album Bananer - bland annat in 1980.
In the late 1990s British actress Emma Thompson started to work on a screenplay, which she planned to use as the basis for a movie about Víctor Jara. Thompson, a human rights activist and fan of Jara, considered the political murder of the Chilean artist as a symbol of human rights violation in Chile. She believed a movie about Jara's life and death would make more people aware of the Chilean tragedy.[12] The movie would feature Antonio Banderas – another fan of Víctor Jara – as Jara himself where he would sing some of his songs and Emma Thompson as Víctor Jara's British wife Joan Jara.[13] The project has not yet been made into a film.
The Soviet musician Alexander Gradsky created the rock opera Stadium (Стадион, Stadion) in 1985 based on the events surrounding Jara's death.[14]
The Southwestern American band Calexico open their 2008 album Carried to Dust with the song "Victor Jara's Hands".
Portuguese folk band Brigada Víctor Jara is named after him.
Songs mentioning Víctor Jara
• The Chilean group Inti-Illimani dedicated the song "Canto de las estrellas" to Víctor Jara.
• In 1975, Norwegian folksinger Lillebjørn Nilsen included a tribute song entitled "Victor Jara" on his album Byen Med Det Store Hjertet. The same year the Swedish band Hoola Bandoola Band included their song "Victor Jara" on their album Fri information.
• Belgian singer Julos Beaucarne relates the death of Víctor Jara in his song "Lettre à Kissinger".
• French singer Pierre Chêne also wrote a song about Jara's death entitled "Qui Donc Est Un Homme?"
• In 1976, Arlo Guthrie included a biographical song entitled "Victor Jara" on his album Amigo.[15] The words were written by Adrian Mitchell and Arlo Guthrie wrote the music.[16]
• On Barnstormer's album Zero Tolerance, Attila the Stockbroker mentions Jara in the song "Death of a Salesman", written just after the 11 September attack on the World Trade Center. "You were there in Chile, 11 September '73. 28 years to the day - what a dreadful irony. Victor Jara singing 'midst the tortured and the dead. White House glasses clinking as Allende's comrades bled."
• Former German folk duo Zupfgeigenhansel (Thomas Friz and Erich Schmeckenbecher) featured a live performance of their song "Victor Jara" as a last track on their 1978 LP Volkslieder III.
• The Clash sing about Jara in the song "Washington Bullets" on their 1980 album Sandinista!. Joe Strummer sings: "As every cell in Chile will tell, the cries of the tortured men. Remember Allende in the days before, before the army came. Please remember Victor Jara, in the Santiago Stadium. Es Verdad, those Washington Bullets again."
• In 1987, U2 included the track "One Tree Hill" on their album, The Joshua Tree where Bono sings: "And in the world a heart of darkness, a fire zone. Where poets speak their heart, then bleed for it. Jara sang, his song a weapon, in the hands of love. Though his blood still cries from the ground."
• Jackson Browne recorded "My Personal Revenge" on his CD "World in Motion" in 1989 as a tribute to Víctor Jara. The lyrics include "My personal revenge will be to give you... these hands that once you so mistreated."
• Holly Near's "Sing to me the Dream" is a tribute to Víctor Jara.
• Chuck Brodsky wrote and recorded "The Hands of Victor Jara." [17] This 1996 tribute includes these words:
The blood of Victor Jara
Will never wash away
It just keeps on turning
A little redder every day
As anger turns to hatred
And hatred turns to guns
Children lose their fathers
And mothers lose their sons
• Irish folk artist Christy Moore recorded the song 'Victor Jara' on his 'Live at the Point' album
• Rory McLeod's title song on his album "Angry Love" is about Jara.[18]
• Ismael Serrano, a Spanish singer included Jara's name and the name of the song "Te Recuerdo Amanda" in his "Vine del Norte" song from album La Memoria de los Peces, released in 1998.http://www.ismaelserrano.com/discografia/lamemoriadelospeces.htm
• Marty Willson-Piper, who plays guitar for The Church, included "Song for Victor Jara" on his 2009 solo album, Nightjar.
• The Argentine rock group, Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, remember Víctor Jara in their hit song, "Matador", with the lyrics "Que suenan, son balas me alcanzan, me atrapan, resiste, 'Víctor Jara' no calla... Matador!! Matador!!"
• Heaven Shall Burn made a song about him and his legacy called "The Weapon They Fear".
• Spanish ska group Ska-P dedicated a song called "Juan Sin Tierra" to Jara (the song was originally written by Jorge Saldaña, and previously recorded by Jara), with the chorus going:
"No olvidamos el valor de Víctor Jara/
dando la cara siempre a la represión/
le cortaron sus dedos y su lengua/
y hasta la muerte gritó revolución."
"We won't forget Victor Jara's courage/
always fighting oppression/
They cut off his fingers and his tongue/
And right up to his death he shouted 'Revolution'."
• Tucson, AZ-based Calexico include a song called Víctor Jara's Hands on their 2008 album Carried to Dust.
• Cuban rap group Eskuadron Patriota mentions Jara in their song "Decadencia". The song goes: "Como Víctor Jara diciendole a su pueblo: La libertad esta cerca"
• The Peruvian ska band Psicosis mentions Jara in their song "Esto es Ska". The chorus goes "Lo dijo Víctor Jara no nos puedes callar".
• Soviet, Byelorussian composer Igor Lutchenok wrote a song "In memory of Victor Jara" on lyrics of Boris Brusnikov which first time was performed in 1974 by Byelorussian singer Victor Vuyachich and afterwards this song was performed by Byelorussian folk-rock group "Pesniary" in the arrangement of Vladimir Mulyavin. Please visit http://krasnoetv.ru/node/6853 http://krasnoetv.ru/node/6855 to listen to the song.
• The Glasgow/Irish folk group The Wakes included a song about Víctor Jara on their album These Hands in 2008.
• The San Francisco post-rock band From Monument to Masses samples excerpts from a reading of Jara's poetry on the track "Deafening," a song from their 2005 remix album Schools of Thought Contend.
• German singer Hannes Wader published his song "Victor Jara" on his album Wünsche in 2001.
• Scottish singer/songwriter Bert Jansch had written his "Let Me Sing" about him.
• Venezuelan singer/songwriter Alí Primera wrote his "Canción para los valientes" ( Song to the courageous ones ) about Victor Jara. The song was included in the album of the same name in 1976.
• British musician Marek Black's 2009 CD "I Am A Train" features the song "The Hands of Victor Jara" written by Marek Black
• Scottish Group, Simple Minds, Released an album with the title track called "Street Fighting Years" dedicated to Victor Jara in 1989
• Welsh folk singer/songwriter Dafydd Iwan wrote a song called "Can Victor Jara" (Victor Jara's song) that was released on his 1979 album "Bod yn rhydd" (Being free). Here are the original Welsh lyrics.
• In 2011, London-based band Melodica, Melody and Me released a track titled "Ode to Victor Jara" as the B-Side to their limited release vinyl single "Come Outside".
• American singer-songwriter Rod MacDonald wrote "The Death Of Victor Jara" in 1991, with the refrain "the hands of the poet still forever wave." The song is on his "And Then He Woke Up" cd (Gadfly Records); a May 2011 performance in Norderstedt, Germany is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y35it7hWZ5A. MacDonald met Phil Ochs on the eve of the 1973 concert, and sang for him a song he had just written about the Chilean coup. MacDonald has often introduced "The Death Of Victor Jara" by saying "I wish I could have played it for Phil."
American folk icon, the singer-songwriter and performer, Jack Hardy (1947–2011), mentioned Victor Jara in "I Ought to Know," a song recorded on the album Omens in 2000. (song lyrics: http://jackhardy.com/JHIOughtToKnow.html, and live performance http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xT16T-Ms3Is)
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