Monón

Annotation — Puerto Rican Songs

Roy Brown, born 18 July 1945 in Orlando, Florida, USA - his mother came from Ponce, a city in Puerto Rico, his father was a US naval officer. He studied at the University of Puerto Rico in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He released the politically charged Yo protesto album in 1969 on a label called Disco Libre, owned by the Puerto Rican Socialist Party. The album became a symbol of the protest movement at the university and throughout the country. This provides a look at an under-represented area of Vietnam War research.12 Several songs referenced the Vietnam War: in the song "No me sulfuro más" ("I Don't Suffer Anymore"), he used Vietnam, and other places, to compare to the suffering in Puerto Rico: "there in Santo Domingo, Haiti, and in Vietnam, there are thousands of others who also suffer badly". The song "Monón" attacked the US for its use of power across the world. The song also featured on the 1978 compilation Viva Puerto Rico Libre (Paredon Records # P-1035), which contained another Vietnam War song, discussed below. Sources1unionpenumbra.org: Wp content↩2Wikipedia: Yo Protesto↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Annotation — Peace, Protest, & Anti-War Songs

Roy Brown, born 18 July 1945 in Orlando, Florida, USA - his mother came from Ponce, a city in Puerto Rico, his father was a US naval officer. He studied at the University of Puerto Rico in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He released the politically charged Yo protesto album in 1969 on a label called Disco Libre, owned by the Puerto Rican Socialist Party. The album became a symbol of the protest movement at the university and throughout the country. This provides a look at an under-represented area of Vietnam War research.12 Several songs referenced the Vietnam War: in the song "No me sulfuro más" ("I Don't Suffer Anymore"), he used Vietnam, and other places, to compare to the suffering in Puerto Rico: "there in Santo Domingo, Haiti, and in Vietnam, there are thousands of others who also suffer badly". The song "Monón" attacked the US for its use of power across the world. The song also featured on the 1978 compilation Viva Puerto Rico Libre (Paredon Records # P-1035), which contained another Vietnam War song, discussed below.Sources1unionpenumbra.org: Wp content↩2Wikipedia: Yo Protesto↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: Because the man of destiny, / The one who never came, / Goes around dropping bombs, / Goes around digging graves, / With their electronic forces, / With their nuclear minds, / They dig a shaft in Lares, / They drop bombs in Vietnam, / They throw bombs in Nigeria, / They dig graves in Siberia … / And a young man doing penance / Cries in outrage: Fire, fire, fire, / The world is in flames, fire, fire, / The Yankees want fire __________ Spanish: Pues el hombre del destino, / Aquél que nunca vino, / Anda tirando bombas, / Anda cavando tumbas, / Con sus fuerzas electrónicas, / Con sus mentes nucleares, / Cavan un pozo en Lares, / Sueltan bombas en Vietnam, / Tiran bombas en Nigeria, / Cavan tumbas en Siberia … / Y un joven en penitencia / Grita indignado: Fuego, fuego, fuego, / El mundo está en llamas, fuego, fuego, / Los Yanquis quieren fuego

Notes

US issue on Vanguardia VR-1001 (the Puerto Rican issue is on Libre), "Yo Protesto", Roy Brown, red label, 33 1/3 RPM; Side A track 1: "Monón" (Rock). [From the record sleeve and labels]

About the artist

Born 18 July 1945, Orlando, Florida, USA. Currently Mayagüez, Puerto Rico

Themes

Anti-War

In collections

Peace, Protest, & Anti-War Songs [War Years] · Puerto Rican Songs