Mexico is not only the cradle of ancient civilizations and the birthplace of tequila, a country of natural and social contrasts and centuries-old culture, it is also the cradle of beautiful musical traditions, welded together on Indian and Spanish-Portuguese roots. This genre of music got its name – mariachi (mariage – fr.), and it was originally born as religious chants since the 18th century.
Mexicans believe that a singing person finds a common language with God more easily, and if he is also a little drunk, then God himself adds the words to his song.
Eslabon Armado (“Armed (Combat) Link”) is not only one of the youngest Mexican bands, it is also one of the most popular. And not only in Mexico!
However, this team initially received love and recognition not at all in the North American Mexican States, but in the United States of America – three young people from the group are natives of California, where their parents emigrated before they were born. And only the fourth member of the group, Damian Pachecho, is a native Mexican who arrived in the United States as a teenager.
The team was created in 2017, and initially the musical gang (from the Spanish “banda” – group) included five people:
- Pedro Tovar (vocalist – leader of the group);
- Brian Tovar (bass guitar);
- Ulises Gonzalez (acoustic guitar);
- Damian Pachecho (rhythm guitar);
- Gabriel Hidalgo (lead guitar)
However, Gabriel left the group after recording the first few albums in an attempt to establish a solo career.
Young fans of the music and songs of Ariel Camacho* recorded their first compositions in the style of the regional Mexican genre.
* José Ariel Camacho Barrasa (July 8, 1992 – February 25, 2015) was a Mexican guitarist, singer, mariachi songwriter , in the style of corridos, ranchara and sierreños.
But after a short time, Eslabon Armado’s composition, in addition to the strong influence of the ranchera (ranchera) *, began to intertwine notes of cowboy country (country) * – the music of the northern states of America, which their parents loved.
* Ranchera is a genre of traditional Mexican music, a melodramatic and emotional style of singing, with characteristic Mexican cries made during singing.
* Country (from English country-music) is a generalized name for a style of music that arose among the white population of rural areas of the south and west of the United States, based on song and dance melodies brought to North America by early settlers from Europe.
It was the mixture of these styles, their rethinking, the interweaving of the vocal harmony of the hoarse voice of Pedro Tovar and guitar picks, that gave the songs of Zven that recognition and originality, thanks to which this banda musical more than once occupied the first places in the top music charts.
The mariachi style is not a separate direction of the musical culture of Mexico, it includes halienses, huapangos, boleros, waltzes, and corridos, but a ballados occupies a special place in it – a romantic sad story about love, betrayal, parting, heartache and smoldering hope.
Ballados, as a rule, is performed to the accompaniment of an el nato acoustic guitar, sometimes with the addition of other musical instruments. But the main thing is the mood and voice of the vocalist performing the love ballad.
It is in the style of a love ballad that the song “Diciembre” (“December”) was written, which appeared in the repertoire of the Armado Link group on December 18, 2020.
On 12/19/2020, the video clip for this song was premiered, a week later, by the number of likes, the song entered the top 10 best songs and stayed there for five whole weeks! Which is not surprising, because the ballad is filled with deep meaning, and each listener recognizes in it his own little tragedy of the soul.
No wonder Pedro Tovar himself, the author of the music and words of “December”, described his creation as follows: “! Se la dedico a todas las chicas, y no la dedico a nadie por separado!”
(“I dedicate it (ballad) to all the girls, and at the same time I don’t dedicate it to anyone in particular!”)
The original title of the 17th song from Eslabon Armado’s 24-song album “Corta Venas” (“Cut the Veins”) is “Visualizer” (“Visualizer”): Diciembre Eslabon Armado.
The ballad itself is unusually lyrical, despite the tragedy of the situation – a break with a loved one and longing for the impossibility of being together.
The young man yearns for the girl who left him, his soul is overwhelmed with sadness and memories of the past happy days. This is a monologue in which a young man turns to a departed girlfriend, talking about the depth of his feelings, that he is ready to give her a whole world inside himself and hopes that his beloved will hear him, appreciate his loyalty and openness of soul, and they will have a chance live a long happy life together.
There is no definite plot in the text, but it is not for nothing that the album itself has another name – “Visualizer”. Visualization is the translation of mental ideas into visual images. In lyrical songs, images arise due to the combination of words and music, which are inseparable from the feelings, thoughts and experiences of the abandoned lover.
The state of the young man is understandable without translation, causing the listeners to sympathize and empathize with his fate.
The song is a dream, the song is a complaint, the song is hope, the song is pure bright sadness …
A.S. once wrote about such a tender and deep feeling. Pushkin:
“… my sadness is light;
My sorrow is full of you
By you, by you alone…”
But in the song “December” the author is in no hurry to give any advice or draw conclusions – the listener must draw the conclusions!
