The Blue Skies of Puerto Montt

In downtown Puerto Montt, along the water front there is a statue. It is a man and a woman sitting together on a bench. They are holding hands and sadly gazing out toward the ocean.

Unlike copper or weathered steel, this statue is not green or bronze, it is in full color. It looks like they are both wearing make up, or at least lipstick. And the graffiti on the woman's leg does not help the image. My mom doesn’t really want me to say this, but it is an ugly statue. I think she would rather I said something about how it is not the best art I have ever seen.

Here you can see me, Porter, Mama, and our friend Pete standing on the big bench when we first got to Puerto Montt a few weeks ago.

Don't you love the expressions on the statue's faces? I especially like the lipstick.

Later, I found out about the song that inspired people to build the statue. We had an HMI alumnus named Richard come visit for a few days. Richard is from RMS 15 and now lives in Santiago where he is an English teacher for sixty Chileans who work for one company. The company is trying to teach all of its employees to speak English fluently within three years. And they started from scratch so Richard has his work cut out for him.

While he was with us, Richard introduced us to the song that inspired the statue. He was glad to see that we already knew about the statue and song, even though we had never heard it. Then he went through it with me and Porter, line by line, helping us to translate the Spanish to English. At the end of this post, I will include the Spanish and English lyrics and a link to the song.

This is Richard, helping me translate the song.

It is a song full of irony. Here are some of the reasons. First, the band who wrote the song is called Los Iracundos, which roughly means the wrathful or the spiteful. This is funny because it is a mushy love song. Second, the lead singer had never been to Puerto Montt and the song is about Puerto Montt. They are all from Uruguay, not even from Chile. Third, in the song they refer to "the blue sky of Puerto Montt!" But this area is known for its rainy weather and since we got here three weeks ago, it has rained a little bit every single day. You should try listening to the song. It is hilarious! – Jack Rabbit

Here is a link for the song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TePzHvg_3g

The youtube video plays the song and shows a bunch of photos of Puerto Montt, so you can see that the area around the city is really quite beautiful.

And here are the lyrics:

Sentado frente al mar

mil besos yo le di

despues le dije adios

todo termina aqui

y ella me dijo asi

abrasame y veras

que el mundo es de los dos

salgamos a correr

busquemos el ayer

que Yo te hice feliz

PUERTO MOOONTT

PUERTO MOOONTT

Me aleje de ti

sin saber

porque

Y yo la deje

sola frente al mar

bajo el cielo azul

de puerto montt

Mil violines en su voz

susurro un adios

y un amor se quedo

perdido frente al mar

y el viento lo llevo

Silencio sin piedad

encontrare al volver

mas en la soledad

su voz me gritara

no! no! te vallas de mi

PUERTO MOOONTT

PUERTO MOOONTT

Me aleje de ti

sin saber

porque

Y yo la deje

sola frente al mar

bajo el cielo azul

de puerto montt

Lalalalala

lalalalala

lalalalala

lalalalala

lalalalala

Here is our rough translation into English:

Seated in front of the sea

thousand kisses I gave you

After I said goodbye

everything stops here

and she told me the same

hug me and you will see

that the world is for two

Let's go and run

We would search for yesterday

When I made you happy

Puerto Montt

Puerto Montt

I left you

without knowing

why

And I left her

Alone in front of the sea

under the blue sky

of Puerto Montt

Thousand violins in her voice

whisper goodbye

and love was left

lost in front of the sea

and the wind carried it away

Silence without piety

I will find

When I return

More than the solitude

her voice will cry to me

No! No! you trap me

Puerto Montt

Puerto Montt