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Jorge Duany
Salsa: A Definition
What exactly is "salsa"?The term may refer variously to the musical
style of Cuba, Puerto Rico, or the entire Spanish Caribbean; it has even
been extended to the music of any "Latin" country. In this paper,
salsa will be reduced to a more specific and concrete phenomenon: popular Puerto Rican song and dance forms as they have evolved in the last
two decades. Salsacan be further characterizedas the typical musical
manifestation of the urban proletariat both on the island and in the
Puerto Rican neighborhoods of the United States (Cortes, Falc6n, Flores
1976). In fact, the genre's center of diffusion, in terms of commercial
production and distribution, has not been San Juan as much as New
York City. This has led some superficial observers to the exaggerated
conclusion that it is an exclusively "neo-Rican" or even North American
product. In fact, salsahas profound historicaland cultural roots in Puerto
Rico and the Caribbean.
The problem of defining and interpreting the significance of salsa
stems in part from the fact that the term is essentially a commercial
label, a kind of musical hodgepodge for anything that has an Afro-Latin
flavor. The word was first used as the title of a record in the 1960s and
gained universal currency after 1975, with the release of a popular
movie and record called Salsa(Rond6n 1980:33).
Salsa, however, is neither a musical style nor a particularrhythm, but
rather a hybrid genre performed mostly by Puerto Ricans in New York
and on the island. It is also very popular in the Dominican Republic,
Venezuela, Panama, Cuba, Colombia, and Peru. Essentially, it is an
amalgamation of Afro-Caribbean musical traditions centered around the
Cuban son. Its main characteristicsare a call-and-responsesong structure; polyrhythmic organization with abundant use of syncopation; instrumental variety with extensive use of brass and percussion, and strident orchestral arrangements;jazz influence; and, above all, a reliance
on the sounds and themes of lower-classlife in the Latin American barrios
of U.S. and Caribbean cities. The following sections trace its most important antecedents.
Historical Background
My point of departure is that salsa is a mixture of mixtures, the result of
a long process of syncretization. Puerto Rican music, like any other
Caribbean folk music, is "a mixture of rhythmic figures, melodic movements, and harmonic formulas due to the contact between diverse cultures" (L6pez Cruz 1967:ix). Nothing survives of the music of the
190 : JorgeDuany
proletariatof the plantations, as opposed to the highland hacienda communities (Mintz 1974).
192 : JorgeDuany
of as African and are often linked to witchcraft in Puerto Rican lore.
Mintz (1974: 128) finds that "darker people are believed to be inherently more skilled mechanically." They are also supposed to carry rhythm
in their blood ("llevar el ritmo en la sangre," "tener la salsa por dentro"). I would argue that the bombawas not entirely accepted by many
Puerto Ricans precisely because of their perception of race and the stigma of African features. In a country where one's customs and beliefs
largely determine one's racial identity, to dance the bombais a sign of
lowly status, a confession of degrading ancestry. It is what negrosdo.
At the other end of the spectrum, the Puerto Rican danzawas also
often rejectedas the society dance of the blanquitos
(upper-class"whites").
The danza,originated within the nineteenth-century creole aristocracy,
has fared somewhat better than the bomba,however, precisely because it
is associated with the Europeanized bourgeoisie. Some classical danzas,
such as those written by Morell Campos, have been assimilated by the
lower classes. But the popular definition of what constitutes acceptable
music in Puerto Rican society today lies somewhere in between the two
poles of the danzaand the bomba.It would take a mulatto synthesis such
as the plena-or, later on, salsa- to reach a wide audience among the
Puerto Rican working classes.
the factory replaced the sugar centralas the basic unit of the economy
(Lewis 1963: 167-187). The quiet, rural, agriculturalisland of former
days was gone.
198 : JorgeDuany
national fame in the 1920s, was influenced by successive migrations of
Africans, Spaniards, Haitians, Jamaicans, Puerto Ricans, and other
Caribbean peoples to Cuba. That is to say, the son is a typically Caribbean musical form, which, for instance, has its equivalents in the calypso
of Trinidad, the Haitian meringue,and the Puerto Rican plena(Urfe
1981). Perhaps this is why the son received such a warm welcome in
the Hispanic colony of New York City, especially among Puerto Ricans:
Caribbean migrants to the United States recognize themselves musically
in the son.
The main pattern for salsa music remains the son montuno,built on the
alternation between soloist and chorus. Its formal arrangement is a fixed
choral scheme and features the improvisation of the singer within a basic
motive. As in the son, salsalyrics often employ the Spanish copla.Both
use the tres or the cuatro, the two creole versions of the guitar, extensively. These are not exclusively Cuban elements, however. As noted above,
the plenais also performed in call-and-responsefashion, and for the seis,
the cuatro is a cornerstone of the musical style.
As a result, the tradition of the Cuban son was far from alien to the
musical taste of Puerto Ricans in New York. In fact, Cuba and Puerto
Rico had developed musically along similar lines, due to their close cultural contact throughout the colonial period. Not surprisingly, the typical
orchestrasof both islands had the same instruments and played the same
song and dance types, such as the guarachaor the bolero.
There are significant differences as well between the son and salsa.
Most important, salsa has a stronger metallic sound, provided by the introduction of the trombone, than the smoother son, which employs one
or two trumpets at most. At the same time, the salsa orchestra reinforces the classical percussion of the bongo and the conga with the timball or the cencerro (something that was not done by Cuban orchestras
in the 1950s), often in substitution for the clave and the giiro (Diaz
Ayala 1981). In comparison with the older son or the cha-cha-cha, salsa's
distinctive sound is less subdued, more violent, even strident. Some of
this is due to the influence of jazz, with its use of chromaticism and dissonant harmonies.
Salsais, in any case, the unmistakable voice of the Puerto Rican barrio.
It reflects the sorrows and dreams of the rapidly growing urban proletariat of the last four decades. It combines indigenous folk traditions
such as the plenaand the Afro-Caribbean bombawith foreign musical
elements such as the Cuban son and American jazz to express the problems and aspirations of this underprivileged sector of society.
El barriode guapos
I propose to look now at three salsa songs written and sung by Ruben
Blades. Analysis of song texts is undertaken as a means of exploring the
psychological processes of the people to whom this music is directed
(Merriam 1964:201). The main questions I shall be asking of this material are: What does it communicate, and how does it communicate?
The hit single "Pedro Navaja" was released in 1978 as part of the
album Siembra,which has broken salsa sales records (see the appendix for
a transcriptionof the lyrics). It has since been sung and danced in numerous dance halls, house parties, and other places where groups of
Puerto Ricans congregate to celebrate and socialize. It is still popular
both on the island and on the mainland. In fact, it has become part of
Puerto Rican folklore, like some all-time favorite bolerosby Rafael Hernandez. The only satisfying way to explain the song's continuing popularity seems to be to posit a deep connection between the writer, the
lyrics of his song, and the people for whom he writes. In short, Blades's
lyrics reflect the prevailing concerns of his reference group: Puerto
Ricans in New York.
What is this song about? Character, situation, atmosphere, and language in "Pedro Navaja" all have a concrete sociological referent: an
urban lower-class community in the United States. The protagonist,
Pedro Navaja, represents a familiar figure in this environment: the guapo
or maton,the bully. Rond6n (1980) notes that this is the classic malandro
type of many Cuban sones.The setting is the Puerto Rican ghetto in
New York City; the language is colloquial and streetwise; the tone of the
narrator, conversational and ironic, reminds one of the Spanish picaresque tradition.
Although the main character is depicted as an individual, the sketch
aims to be emblematic. The title itself (navaja,switchblade) is significant.
202 : JorgeDuany
Pedro Navaja incarnates the criminal villain; the unnamed woman (a
prostitute) represents his innocent victim. The final irony lies in the reversal of these roles, as the apparently defenseless streetwalkershoots
her assailant. Dagger and gun, man and woman, guapoand puta are
contrasting pairs of elements that blend only in death, their common
destiny. The whole song is built on this binary structure, and from there
derives its metaphorical meaning. First delivered by a drunkard, the
chorus tells the moral of the story: "La vida te da sorpresas" ("Life is
full of surprises"). "Pedro Navaja" has all the elements of a folktale,
and its didactic, fablelike intention draws it close to the genres of satire
and allegory.
The song is narrated in the third person by an observer who stands
by ("I saw him passing"), but, who like the rest of the barrio,does not
get involved in the action of the story; hence, the point of view is testimonial but detached. The narrator sees with the eyes of his peers and
thus becomes their accomplice in keeping the crime quiet. When the
police arrive toward the end of the story, the murder remains a mystery,
because they are outsiders. The implicit author voices his criticism of
this situation in the second part of the song especially, through the use
of proverbs that tend to invalidate the impersonal perspective of the
first part. This technique, however, places the source of criticism in the
anonymous power of the collectivity.
Why did "Pedro Navaja" strike a cord in Puerto Rico as well as in
the Hispanic barriosof the United States? Clearly, the lyrics are meaningful and relevant to an audience composed largely of working-class
people. Policemen, prostitutes, drunkards, and bullies are part of the
social scenario of the urban poor, and bloody events such as the one
narrated here are widely reported in the newspapers. The ending of the
song-simulating a radio broadcast about the crime-further accentuates
the realism of the story. I think the key to why this song works lies in
the combination of its formal resources-rhyme, rhythm, structural
opposition, dramatic ending-and the folk wisdom embodied in the
grandmother'swords: "El que uiltimorie se rie mejor" ("He who laughs
last, laughs best"). Blades seems to suggest that the time-tested knowledge transmitted by means of oral tradition is not superseded by the
new and more complex situations that arise in the metropolis. On the
contrary, "Pedro Navaja" provides a linkage between Hispanic folk
beliefs and the present realities of modern urban life; it reinforces a continuity of thought and behavior between the people's past and their
goals. The song condemns social indifference and collective anomie and,
conversely, incites slum dwellers to organize and commit themselves to
the welfare of their community.
tion: "Pablo Pueblo, Pablo hermano" ("Pablo Pueblo, Pablo my brother"). This is an unequivocal statement of social solidarity with the urban
poor whom Pablo represents.
Puerto Rican migrants in New York and other large U.S. cities have
seen their traditional lifestyles transformedby the experience of industrialization, proletarianization, and bureaucratization(Cortes, Falc6n,
Flores 1976), and it is this situation that forms the core of "Pablo Pueblo." The text functions on two primary levels: first, it documents the
material conditions of an alienated existence; second, it stresses the contrast between the present surroundings and the customary ways of
coping with daily life. Pablo Pueblo works, votes, prays, buys lottery
tickets, bets on horses, plays dominoes, and drinks. But he is unable to
change his or his family's situation. He remains trapped in the vicious
cycle of poverty, much like many of his compatriots who came to the
United States with many dreams but few skills and little money. The
culture of the Puerto Rican barriowould seem to be reduced in this song
to a number of ritualized gestures that express-but also provide an
escape from-the depression and desperation of living marginally.
206 : JorgeDuany
mulatto who synthesizes Caribbean musical currents transplantedto a
North American urban-industrialcontext. IncorporatingCuban, Puerto
Rican, and Panamanian styles, he dominates the slow tempo of the bolero,
the confessional love song, the popular ballad, and the fast-moving son.
Conclusion
Salsais an amalgamation of Caribbean folk traditions, musical styles,
and rhythms. Its most characteristictrait is precisely this transculturation of songs, instruments, and dances from various groups of Caribbean migrants to the United States. The North American contribution
should also be noted in the influences of jazz and soul, especially. Salsa
thus represents a new phase in the evolution of Afro-Hispanic culture:
that of the urban-industrialworking class. The backbone of salsa music
is the Puerto Rican proletariat-and its counterparts in other major
Caribbean cities-which uses the Cuban son, the Dominican merengue,
or
the Puerto Rican plenato represent symbolically the multifaceted universe of the urban ghetto.
The best salsa songs voice the problems of this disadvantaged class.
Scarcity, violence, inequality, marginality, and desperation are translated into the words and music of the popular singers and performers
from the barrio.Street fights and love affairs marked by treason and
suspicion have replaced the romantic themes of the jibaritoand the coqui
and the smell of freshly ground coffee from the mountain as meaningful
reference points. Instead, the world of salsa is full of allusions to the
factory, the supermarket, welfare programs, or urban decay.
Musically, salsa is as far removed from the cha-cha-cha as is the trombone from the violin: the carefully arranged sound of the latter has
yielded to the violent orchestrationof the former. The pace of life has
quickened, and so has the rhythm of the music. The traditional genres
of Puerto Rico have been urbanized along with the other customs of
rural migrants. Some salsa groups have even begun to experiment with
the electric piano, thus increasing the distance from those simple trios of
guitars and giiiros that sang Christmas aguinaldosand love serenades
from door to door. In short, salsa communicates, reproduces, and elaborates the social order in which the Puerto Rican urban proletariat is
inserted (cf. Williams 1981).
Salsaprovides models of behavior for facing the realities of economic
dependence and the social marginality of the barrio.The messages range
from Ruben Blades's spirited indictments of inequality and injustice, to
the humorous depiction of these issues by El Gran Combo, to the alienated tropical babble of many salsa songs. But these are all inside views of
the lower-class community, views that have their own inner logic and
express their own values. What is vulgar or meaningless from an outside
perspective (especially in terms of the language of salsa) is from another
standpoint-that of the audience-nothing more than an accurate reflection of daily life, at its worst, and folk poetry, at its best. It should
not be forgotten that, for the vast majority of Puerto Ricans, salsalyrics,
along with the bolero,make up their only poetry as well as a major source
of public morality. Salsa songs propose a complex, alternative image of
Puerto Rican culture that directly contradicts its trivialization and idealization in the mass media (for example, WestSideStory).
It is plain, then, that the Puerto Rican popular sectors-the so-called
cocolos-define musical performanceaccordingto a set of concepts derived
from creole culture. Salsa represents a sort of reconciliation between the
two basic sources of Puerto Rican folk music: the predominantly mulatto
plenaand the black bomba,on the one hand, and the predominantly white
seis on the other. Or, to put it another way, it reflects a synthesis of
Afro- and Hispano-Puerto Rican trends, of the coastal lowlands and the
inner highlands. Of course, these have been fused with some foreign
musical currents, but that does not invalidate its basically nationalistic
appeal. At any rate, one should worry less about the precise origins of
cultural practices than about their use and meaning in interpersonal
encounters.
Salsa is as much a part of the Puerto Rican heritage as the typical
asopaosoup or the popular cockfight. Bloch's (1973:181) dictum, "Puerto
Rican music is the most convincing evidence of the existence of the
Puerto Rican people's own cultural personality," makes one wonder
why this fact was ever questioned. It is well to remember that this socalled cultural personality may be a hybrid cross primarily between Hispanic and African elements, and that it may have been eroded by American assimilationpolicies as much as by the massive migration movements
to and from the island; but there is no doubt that in their popular music
the Puerto Rican masses express and celebrate a coherent sensibility, a
distinctly creole identity that has not falteredbut, if anything, has been reaffirmed in the recent history of their nationality.
208 : JorgeDuany
APPENDIX
Three Songs by Ruben Blades
PEDRO NAVAJA
Por la esquina del viejo barrio lo vi pasar
con el tumbao que tienen los guapos al caminar.
Las manos siempre en los bolsillos de su gaban,
pa' que no sepan en cual de ellas lleva el puiial.
Usa un sombrero de ala ancha de medio lao,
y zapatillas por si hay problemas, salir volao.
Lentes oscuros, pa' que no sepan que esta mirando,
y un diente de oro que cuando rie se ve brillando.
Como a tres cuadras de aquella esquina una mujer
va recorriendo la acera entera por quinta vez.
Y en un zaguan entra y se da un trago para olvidar
que el dia esta flojo y no hay clientes pa' trabajar.
Un carro pasa, muy despacito, por la avenida,
no tiene marcas pero to's saben que es policia.
Pedro Navaja, las manos siempre dentro del gaban,
mira y sonrie y el diente de oro vuelve a brillar.
Mientras camina pasa la vista de esquina a esquina,
no se ve un alma, esta desierta toa la avenida.
Cuando de pronto esa mujer sale del zaguan,
y Pedro Navaja aprieta un puno dentro del gaban.
Mira pa' un lado, mira pa'l otro y no ve a nadie,
y a la carrera, pero sin ruido, cruza la calle.
Y mientras tanto, en la otra acera, va esa mujer
refunfuiiando pues no hizo pesos con que comer.
Mientras camina del viejo abrigo saca un revolver, esa mujer,
y va a guardarlo en su cartera pa' que no estorbe:
un treinta y ocho, Smith and Wesson, del especial
que carga encima pa' que la libre de todo mal.
Y Pedro Navaja, pufial en mano, le fue pa' encima,
el diente de oro iba alumbrando toa la avenida, iguiso facil!
JUAN PACHANGA
Son las cinco 'e la maniana y amanece,
Juan Pachanga bien vestido aparece.
Todos en el barrio estan descansando
Y Juan Pachanga en silencio va pensando
Que aunque su vida es fiesta y ron, noche y rumba,
Su plante es falso igual que aquel amor que lo engafi6.
Y la luz del sol se ve alumbrando
Y Juan Pachanga el mamito va penando,
Vestido a la ultima moda y perfumado
Con zapatos 'e colores ye-ye bien lustrados.
Los que encuentra en su camino lo saludan, hey men!
Que feliz es Juan Pachanga, todos juran.
Pero lleva en el alma el dolor de una traici6n
Que s6lo calman los tragos, los tabacos y el tambor.
Y mientras la gente duerme aparece
Juan Pachanga con su pena y amanece.
Coro: Oyeme Juan Pachanga, olvidala.
Aparece con la pena
Coro: Oyeme Juan Pachanga, olvidala
No no no no te quiere la morena
Coro: Oyeme Juan Pachanga, olvidala
Mira que esta amaneciendo
Coro: Oyeme Juan Pachanga, olvidala
Por amor, por amor te estas muriendo
Coro: Oyeme Juan Pachanga, olvidala
Olvidala que olvidala que olvidala
olvidala
olvidala
olvidala
olvidala
olvidala
PABLO PUEBLO
Regresa un hombre en silencio
De su trabajo cansado,
Su paso no lleva prisa,
Su sombra nunca lo alcanza.
Lo espera el barrio de siempre,
Con el farol en la esquina,
Con la basura alla en frente
Y el giiro de la cantina.
Pablo Pueblo llega hasta el zaguan oscuro
Y vuelve a ver las paredes
Con las viejas papeletas
Que prometian futuros
En lides politiqueras.
Y en su cara se dibuja
La decepci6n de la espera.
Pablo Pueblo, hijo del grito y la calle,
De la miseria y el hambre,
Del callej6n y la pena.
Pablo Pueblo, tu alimento es la esperanza.
Su paso no lleva prisa,
Su sombra nunca lo alcanza.
Llega al patio pensativo y cabizbajo
Con su silencio de pobre,
Con los gritos por abajo.
212 : JorgeDuany
La ropa alla en los balcones
El viento la va secando.
Escucha un trueno en el cielo,
Tiempo de lluvia avisando.
Entra al cuarto y se queda mirando
A su mujer y a los nifios,
Y se pregunta Chastacuando?
Toma sus sueniosraidos,
Los parcha con esperanza.
Hace del hambre una almohada
y se acuesta triste de alma.
[Se repite Pablo Pueblo, hijo del grito, etc.]
Coro:Pablo Pueblo, Pablo hermano
Trabaj6 hasta jubilarse y nunca sobraron chavos
Coro:Pablo Pueblo, Pablo hermano
Votando en las elecciones, pa' despues comerse un clavo
Coro:Pablo Pueblo, Pablo hermano
Pablo con el silencio del pobre, con los gritos por abajo
Coro:Pablo Pueblo, Pablo hermano
Echa pa'lante Pablito y a la vida mete mano
Coro:Pablo Pueblo, Pablo hermano
A un crucifijo rezando y el cambio esperando en Dios
Coro:Pablo Pueblo, Pablo hermano
Mira a su mujer y a los nenes y se pregunta hasta cuando
Coro:Pablo Pueblo, Pablo hermano
Llega a su barrio de siempre cansao de la factoria
Coro:Pablo Pueblo, Pablo hermano
Buscando suerte en caballos y comprando loteria
Coro:Pablo Pueblo, Pablo hermano
Ganandose un dinerito en domin6 y tomandose un par de tragos
Coro:Pablo Pueblo, Pablo hermano
Hijo del grito y la calle, de la pena y el quebranto
Coro:Pablo Pueblo, Pablo hermano
Ay Pablo Pueblo, ay Pablo hermano
Note
1. I am grateful to Marian Z. Sugano and to Thomas Turino for many
helpful criticisms of an earlier draft of this paper. I am also indebted
to Prof. Michel S. Laguerre for his insights into Caribbean ethnohistory.
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