¿Wappin? From one soul to others / Desde un alma a otras

August 30, 2019

The honorable Martha Reeves, former Detroit city councilwoman whom you may better know as a musician. The soul music scene was part of the civil rights movement scene, helped score some victories and is passing on the torch to younger generations to defend what remains, regain what has been lost and move ahead. Whatever generation you are, if you are a US citizen living in Panama and your soul is in the right place, register and vote from abroad.

From the editor’s soul to yours
Del alma del redactor a la tuya

Soul music – in the greater sense, with all of its precursors, successors, covers and derivatives – can save your life. It has kept your editor going through some horrendously bad times. Perhaps it’s buzzardly old stale, something to which the younger generation just can’t relate. But I think it will cycle around again, especially among the smarter and most tasteful of today’s youth.

Does it translate? Perhaps it’s difficult to transliterate. But the range of emotions, the basic human conditions and yearnings, those are universal. Is “blue-eyed soul” iimproper cultural appropriation? Is it fitting to notice the sleazy operators who produced so much of this wonderful music, and so miserably exploited those who composed and performed it? Or those investors who took the exclusive rights in court cases, or by having the most powerful search engine monopoly that nobody could afford to challenge? Don’t miss the hypocrisy in this playlist, either.

But enjoy. Understand. Get inspired and dedicate yourself to a better world.

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La música soul, en el sentido más amplio, con todos sus precursores, sucesores, reproducciones y derivados, puede salvarle la vida. Ha mantenido a su editor pasando por momentos terriblemente malos. Tal vez es la música de buitres ancianos, algo con lo que la generación más joven simplemente no puede identificarse. Pero creo que volverá a circular, especialmente entre los jóvenes más inteligentes y de buen gusto de la actualidad.

¿Se traduce? Quizás es difícil transcribir. Pero la gama de emociones, las condiciones humanas básicas y los anhelos, son universales. ¿Es el “alma de ojos azules” una apropiación cultural inadecuada? ¿Es apropiado notar a los operadores sórdidos que produjeron tanta música maravillosa y explotaron tan miserablemente a quienes la compusieron y la interpretaron? ¿O aquellos inversionistas que tomaron los derechos exclusivos en casos judiciales, o por tener el monopolio de programas de búsqueda tan poderoso que nadie podía desafiarlos? Ni te pierdas la hipocresía en esta lista de reproducción.

Pero disfruta. Entiende. Inspírate y dedícate a un mundo mejor.