# Questions about 2 foreign language Rock 'n Roll hits. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 29, 2002, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-2-foreign-language-rock-n-roll-hits/134424 "2002-10-29T18:08:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2002, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-2-foreign-language-rock-n-roll-hits/134424/1 "2002-10-29T18:08:20Z")
I was given a Rock 'n Roll trivia game recently Thanks guys! and these two songs were mentioned. First: Soul Makossa by Manu DiBango. What language is this song? What is he saying? (I may have asked this before here, but I never got an answer). Second: La Guantanemera by Joseito Fernandez. This song is in Spanish. I know because I can kinda speak a strange form of Spanish (Nuevo Rican Spanglish) and most of this song makes sense to me. Except for the chorus. When I was younger I thought the words were “Aguanta la mela, Juanita” and always wondered what a 'mela" was and why was Juanita holding it. The words, I believe, are “guantaramera guajira”. What does this mean? ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2002, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-2-foreign-language-rock-n-roll-hits/134424/2 "2002-10-29T19:39:35Z")
Here’s the original folk song _Guantanamera_, with a translation. Because of the Batista rightist dictatorship in teh 1950s, the song became identified with the leftist agitation against it and was adopted by Castro’s revolutionary forces. But it has a history dating well before that. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2002, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-2-foreign-language-rock-n-roll-hits/134424/3 "2002-10-30T01:46:10Z")
The song is based on a poem by José Martí. [Here](http://www.josemarti.org/temas/guantanamera/sencillos.htm) is a page (in Spanish) with the poem and more information about José Martí and his work. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2002, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-2-foreign-language-rock-n-roll-hits/134424/4 "2002-10-30T01:59:26Z")
But what what do the words _guantaramera guajira_ mean in English? [siz=1]What about Soul Makossa?[/size] ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2002, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-2-foreign-language-rock-n-roll-hits/134424/5 "2002-10-30T06:36:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Biggirl \* > **But what what do the words _guantanamera guajira_ mean > in English?** "Guantanamera means a girl from Guantanamo. Guantanamo, where the U.S. has maintained a naval base for over a hundred years, is a constant sore point in U.S.-Cuban relations, with or without Castro. “Guajira is a colloquial term used in Cuba for a country girl.” [http://www.platiquemos-letstalk.com/Monthly%20Features/canciondelmes/guantanamera.htm](http://www.platiquemos-letstalk.com/Monthly%20Features/canciondelmes/guantanamera.htm) As a college freshman, I went to Cuba with a group of professors and students. Upon “deplaning” at (appropriately enough) Havana’s Jose Marti Airport, we were greeted by the song. One of my “fellow travelers” misheard “Guantanamera” as “One-Ton Tomato”, much to everyone else’s amusement. > [@](#): > > **What about Soul Makossa?** I couldn’t find any translations of lyrics, but it appears that the backup vocals are sung in French (the official language of Cameroon, Dibango’s homeland): [http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000501LY/ref=m\_art\_li\_1//103-0800874-9214245?v=glance](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000501LY/ref=m_art_li_1//103-0800874-9214245?v=glance) ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2002, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-2-foreign-language-rock-n-roll-hits/134424/6 "2002-10-30T10:50:13Z")
There actually IS a paradoy of Guantanamera called “One Ton Tomato”. It’s about a one ton tomato. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2002, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-2-foreign-language-rock-n-roll-hits/134424/7 "2002-10-30T14:06:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Biggirl \* > First: Soul Makossa by Manu DiBango. What language is this song? What is he saying? (I may have asked this before here, but I never got an answer). Douala. Some of the vocals are in French. I’ll have to listen again, haven’t heard this in years.