Songs That Make the Whole World Sing

I absolutely love the way Ricardo Arjona fuses styles from throughout the Caribbean and Central American region to create a very distinctive and unique sound. Just listen to some of these songs and try to pick out the merengue, the salsa, and the reggae. Listen to the way that these sounds just meld into one another and merge with Arjona's deep passionate voice. Truly remarkable!

Singer Songwriter
There's a heck of a lot of singers in the world whose voices I love hearing, but I can't help but save my deepest respect for the people who not only can sing, but who actually create the works themselves. I like singers who write their own songs and who have the guts to stand behind them by pouring their soul into every performance of their works. I like people with enough of an ear to produce their own work. People who can combine these skills are, in my opinion, the people who deserve to be called "musicians".

Ricardo Arjona is definitely in that elite club. Scan through the credits on this CD and you'll see next to almost every song "Letras y musica por Ricardo Arjona" (lyrics and music by...) Check out the credits in the liner notes: yep, Arjona's name is listed next to "Produccion" too.

When you buy a Ricardo Arjona CD, you really get something that represents the artistic soul of an individual. I like that idea...not that it should really matter ultimately since cool sounds are cool sounds, but to me it does matter. At least in the realm of respect...and Arjona is definitely a guy I can respect, and not just for his artistic integrity, but for his ethics as well.

Ricardo Arjona has often been called a "songwriter with a conscience" and you don't have to listen to too many songs before you start catching on to how he earned that moniker. The guy is a moral champion of the poor underclass of Central America. He sympathises with the indios, the blacks, the paisanos, and the economically disenfranchised. But Arjona doesn't preach. He observes. He describes the human condition. He tells stories.

High Points of Galeria Caribe
One of the coolest songs on this CD is Mujer de Guanahani. I love the fast salsa beat and the sing-song sound of the lyrics. This is also a perfect example of Arjona's social conscience rearing its head since the song is a sort of allegory of the Caribbean everyman, or in this case, maybe everywoman would be more like it. Cerebral lyrics -- not the ditzy, substanceless pablum that you get from pop music. Here, I'll translate a few verses so you can check it out...
Times of colonization, subjugation, and the fusion of liberties and death.
These are drawn on your skin, Woman of Guanahani, the payment of fate.
You have the body of a dream of a story that lies in your belly,
daughter of this sea, of slavery, of a conqueror of the tanned indians, and of the times.
You are an invention of the sea that shouldn't think, that kills the vision.
If the past is wrong in your story, you can't hide the sun behind a finger.
Princess of copper, seaweed, and heart, bring me a message from Guanahani...

I also like the poignant lyrics of Un Caribe en Nueva York. When I hear the tune, I can just imagine a guy laying back in the grass, watching the clouds float by as he ponders the fate of immigrants who come to the city with huge dreams of becoming the next Sammy Sosa. This is a great story that evokes powerful images, and it's a great tune to listen to if you want to get an idea of what Arjona's music sounds like. It sounds like Jim Croce on salsa.

When I reviewed Si El Norte Fuera El Sur a few months ago I talked quite a bit about how Arjona sounds like Jim Croce, and I still just can't get that comparison out of my mind. In most of his tunes he sounds like a friggin' dead ringer for Croce's kind of deeply melodic voice. His songs also are story-oriented in the same way as Croce's were, and if it weren't for the salsa beat, the congas, and the bright horn sounds that typify Caribbean music, you'd swear that you were listening to a latin Jim Croce!

Cuando is a perfect example of this. Listen to it. Now tell me that voice isn't Jim Croce....tell me. Okay, okay, I know it's really Ricardo Arjona but...whew!

Cuando is also probably Arjona's biggest hit off this CD. I hear it played an awful lot, and I think its because the song is softer, slower, and more romantic and passionate than a lot of his other stuff. It plays to the emotional female audience who seem to love Arjona's deeply passionate singing voice. Of course the lyrics play to that too....rough translation: When was the last time you fell in love and felts so free? when was the last time you kissed so passionately while mumbling my name? When was the last time your pride made you choose to cry for not forgiving me? .... Chicks love that stuff! (And this is a pretty good CD to play when romancing the latina babes...)

When I first got this CD, I didn't really care for the song Mesias, which opened slow and had a lot of really slow-moving parts to it interspersed with a smattering of fast riffs. But the song grew on me. I liked listening to the story of Arjona's take on the typical yuppie New Yorker lifestyle with kung-fu classes, a beeper, chatting with Bill Gates over coffee in a jazz club, and chatting with God via the internet. It's kind of funny, and the song really grew on me to the point where I now think of this song as one of my favorites.

One of the things I really like about this CD is the inclusion of different versions of some of the songs, particularly acoustic remixes, which I always really like since they feel more intimate and heartfelt to me. I love the acoustic remix of Receta, especially the slow guitar plucking of the opening. It almost makes me feel like I'm in a cozy little pub having a tall glass of stout by the fireplace as I listen to live music by a talented young guy perched on a bar stool with his guitar...

Tracks in Wax...
This is one of the longest CDs I've heard -- a whopping 77 minutes of tunes on a single disc. Here's what you get in those minutes:

1. Carabelas
2. Mujer de Guanahani
3. Lo Poco Que Queda de Mi
4. Un Caribe en Nueva York
5. Cuando
6. Receta
7. Solo Queria un Cafe
8. Mesias
9. Te Enamoraste de Ti
10. Lo Poco Que Queda de Mi (version acustica)
11. Si Usted la Viera (el Confesor)
12. Receta (version acustica)
13. Pensar en Ti
14. Pensar en Ti (version acustica)
15. Cuando (version pop)
16. Te Enamoraste de Ti (version acustica)
17. Solo Queria un Cafe (version acustica)
18. Porque Hablamos (dueto con Ednita Nazario)

About Ricardo Arjona...
Ricardo Arjona is from the beautiful old city of Antigua Guatemala. Arjona is a fascinating character with a lot of varied life experiences. He once played basketball for the Guatemalan national team, taught primary school, and played guitar in Buenos Aires and Mexico City, before landing a contract with Sony Records. Some of his best-selling albums include Sin Danos a Terceros, Si El Norte Fuera El Sur, and Animal Nocturno (1993 was evidently Arjona's "Big Hair" period...hehehe....love that cover photo).

Bottom Line
Galeria Caribe is a great album. It doesn't pack quite the volume of powerhouse hits as Si El Norte Fuera El Sur, but I think it makes up for it with some more intensely passionate tunes and it makes up for it in spades with that awesome mix of acoustic remixes. All in all, an outstanding collection from an immensely talented artist. Arjona fans would do well to snag this CD!

Read Another Ricardo Arjona Review...
Si El Norte Fuera el Sur