Hasta Siempre, Comandante

"Hasta Siempre, Comandante," ("Until Forever, Commander" in English) or simply "Hasta Siempre", is a 1965 song by Cuban composer Carlos Puebla. The song's lyrics are a reply to revolutionary Che Guevara's farewell letter when he left Cuba, in order to foster revolution in the Congo and later Bolivia,^[1] where he was captured and killed.

"Hasta siempre, comandante"
Song by Carlos Puebla
Songwriter(s)	Carlos Puebla

The Che Guevara monument in Santa Clara, Cuba (detail)

The lyrics recount key moments of the Cuban Revolution, describing Che Guevara and his role as a revolutionary commander. The song became iconic after Guevara's death, and many left-leaning artists did their own cover versions of the song afterwards. The title is a part of Guevara's well known saying "¡Hasta la victoria siempre!" ("Until victory, always!").^[2]

The song has been covered numerous times.

Metrical structure

Like many of the songs of the author and in line with the tradition of the Cuban and Caribbean music, the song consists of a refrain plus a series of five verses (quatrain), rhyming ABBA, with each line written in octosyllabic verse.

3rd stanza

[1] (1)Vie-(2)nes (3)que-(4)man-(5)do (6)la (7)bri-(8)sa

[2] (1)con (2)so-(3)les (4)de (5)pri-(6)ma-(7)ve-(8)ra

[3] (1)pa-(2)ra (3)plan-(4)tar (5)la (6)ban-(7)de-(8)ra

[4] (1)con (2)la (3)luz (4)de (5)tu (6)son-(7)ri-(8)sa

Lyrics

Original lyrics in Spanish Aprendimos a quererte desde la histórica altura donde el Sol de tu bravura le puso cerco a la muerte. Chorus: Aquí se queda la clara, la entrañable transparencia, de tu querida presencia, Comandante Che Guevara. Tu mano gloriosa y fuerte sobre la Historia dispara cuando todo Santa Clara se despierta para verte. [Chorus] Vienes quemando la brisa con soles de primavera para plantar la bandera con la luz de tu sonrisa. [Chorus] Tu amor revolucionario te conduce a nueva empresa donde esperan la firmeza de tu brazo libertario. [Chorus] Seguiremos adelante, como junto a ti seguimos, y con Fidel te decimos : «¡Hasta siempre, Comandante!»

Translated English lyrics We learned to love you from the historical heights where the sun of your bravery laid siege to death Chorus: Here lies the clear, dear transparency of your beloved presence, Commander Che Guevara Your glorious and strong hand over History it shoots when all of Santa Clara awakens to see you (Your glorious efforts throughout history resound like gunfire awakening Santa Clara.) [Chorus] You come burning the breeze with springtime suns to plant the flag with the light of your smile [Chorus] Your revolutionary love leads you to new undertaking where they are waiting for the firmness of your liberating arm [Chorus] We will carry on as we followed you then and with Fidel we say to you: "Until forever, Commander!"

Versions

There are more than 200 versions of this song.^[3] The song has also been covered by Compay Segundo, Soledad Bravo,^[4][5] Óscar Chávez,^[6] Nathalie Cardone,^[7] Robert Wyatt,^[8] Nomadi, Inés Rivero, Silvio Rodríguez, Ángel Parra, Celso Piña, Ferhat Mehenni, Veronica Rapella (whose performance is attributed to Joan Baez by a common mistake),^[3] Rolando Alarcón, Los Olimareños, Maria Farantouri, Jan Garbarek, Wolf Biermann, Boikot, Los Calchakis (commonly wrongly attributed to Buena Vista Social Club^[3]), George Dalaras, Apurimac, Giovanni Mirabassi and Al Di Meola, Ahmet Koç, Mohsen Namjoo, Enrique Bunbury, Verasy, Interitus Dei among others. Although Víctor Jara never sang this song, many attribute the Carlos Puebla version to him by mistake.^[3]

Nathalie Cardone version

"Hasta Siempre"
Single by Nathalie Cardone
Released	7 July 1997
Recorded	1997
Length	4:12
Label	Columbia / Sony
Songwriter(s)	Carlos Puebla
Producer(s)	Laurent Boutonnat
Music video
"Hasta Siempre" on YouTube

The most commercially successful version of the song was that made by singer Nathalie Cardone and produced by Laurent Boutonnat. Released as "Hasta Siempre", it reached number 2 on the French Singles chart and the top of the Belgian francophone Wallonia charts. The song stayed 38 weeks on the French charts. A music video was also released.^[9]

Tracklists

• Single-CD

1. "Hasta siempre" - 4:12
2. "Hasta siempre (Guitar Mix)" - 4:17

• Single-Maxi

1. "Hasta siempre" - 4:18
2. "Hasta siempre (Steve Baltes Extended Club Mix)" - 5:30
3. "Hasta siempre (Steve Baltes Remix)" - 6:12
4. "Hasta siempre (Steve Baltes On Air Mix)" - 3:45
5. "Hasta siempre (Guitar Mix)" - 4:17

Charts

Chart (1997–1998)	Peak position
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[10]	1
France (SNEP)[11]	2
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[12]	99

Inés Rivero version

"Che Guevara (Hasta Siempre)"
Single by Inés Rivero
Released	1997
Recorded	1997
Length	3:20
Label	EMI
Songwriter(s)	Carlos Puebla

Simultaneously with Nathalie Cardone, Argentine model Inés Rivero released her own version under the title "Che Guevara (Hasta Siempre)". Released on the EMI label and reached number 18 on the French Singles chart. It spent 15 weeks on the French charts. This version was included in the compilation album Hit Express 4 in 1998.

Charts

Chart (1997–1998)	Peak position
France (SNEP)[13]	18

In popular culture

The first 8 lines of the song have been rendered as prologue to a melody song in the Malayalam socio-political movie Left Right Left.

See also

• List of socialist songs