Camilo Sesto and Roberto Carlos, both balladeers that were as much a part of my childhood as my Wonder Woman doll. My Puerto Rican parents preferred ballads over Salsa and Merengue, and those songs defined my early years. In fact, Roberto Carlos’ Yo Quiero Apenas was somehow to me the Spanish version of Coke’s I’d like to Buy the World a Coke commercial.
But a move to the U.S. and eventual life in American suburbia steered me away from Spanish music all together. I was way too cool for any music my Mom liked, preferring instead mix tapes of Culture Club, A-Ha, Tears for Fears, and of course any song from a John Hughes movie–Simple Minds anyone?–in the mid 80s, and Chicago House music in the mid 80s to early 90s.
Much like the fashion of that time, those defined those years for me. But for me, as for many,music isn’t just about memory recollection, or even about singing and dancing. Music is also inspiration and used to illustrate life lessons.
As an adult I’ve learned to appreciate Roberto Carlos and his music takes up space in my iPod. And while I didn’t grow up with Salsa, I’ve made a concerted effort to acquaint myself with the music and its artist in the last ten years. So much so, that through the ups and downs of the last year I used use some very popular Salsa songs and lines of songs, taken out of context, to illustrate some life lessons with a Salsa beat.
Yo No Se Mañana
As much as we’d like to control the world around us and the things that happens, sometimes we just have to give in to the fact that we don’t know what tomorrow will bring and sadly, if it will come.
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