2. “El Gran Varón” — Who Was Simón?

La Brega

WNYC Studios and Futuro Studios

De, San, Noticias, Rico, Juan, Historia, Vieques, Podcast, Levittown, La, Society & Culture, Brega, Puerto

4.9 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 2 February 2023

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Gabby Rivera was 7 or 8 years old when Willie Colón released “El Gran Varón” in 1989. She remembers her father playing it while she sat in the backseat of their white minivan in the Bronx. The cinematic arc of the song would stick with her: the lyrics describe how a character referred to as Simón, depicted as a queer person who appears dressed as a woman, is shunned by their father, Don Andres, and dies alone of a disease assumed to be AIDS. “El Gran Varón” was initially banned by some radio stations but became a hit anyway — it’s considered by many to be one of the most well-known salsas of all time. Songwriter Omar Alfanno explains that the song was actually inspired by a rumor about a real-life friend. Only years later did he realize that his lyrics contained an eerie prophecy. The song’s chorus also includes an old saying: “Palo que nace doblao’, jamás su tronco endereza” / “Nature cannot be corrected, a tree that grows up crooked cannot ever be straightened.” Today, that phrasing is heard as outdated and even hateful — and indeed, the song has been rejected by some LGBTQ+ listeners. Still, the song resonated with Gabby — she remembers taking solace in the lyrics and in her father’s tender explanation of their meaning. When Gabby came out as a teenager, her father Charlie embraced her, and she credits that song: “Simón died alone so I didn’t have to.” Learn more about the voices in this episode: • Omar Alfanno, songwriter and musician • Ophelia Pastrana, Youtuber based in Mexico City • José Massó, host of WBUR’s Con Salsa • Read Gabby Rivera’s essay about what “El Gran Varón” means to her Our cover of “El Gran Varón” is by the artist Ana Macho (out this April). Listen to our Spotify playlist, featuring music from this episode – and this season. We’ll keep adding to it each week as new episodes come out. Special thanks this week to Khalila Chaar-Perez, Ophelia Pastrana, Carmen Alfanno, and Natalia Algarin. Fact checking this season is by Istra Pacheco and María Soledad Dávila Calero. This season of La Brega is made possible by the Mellon Foundation.

Transcript

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0:00.0	listener supported WNYC Studios. Futuro.
0:21.2	Ola, Wepa, a heads up that this episode contains curse words and use of some hateful language.
0:28.7	As kids, many of us had to sit in the backseat of a car and listen to our parents control the radio dial.
0:32.4	What is three-ball, great head bad. control the radio dial.
0:33.0	And depending on the decade, those music choices could be anything.
0:38.0	The best music.
0:40.0	For Gabi Dveda, growing up in the Bronx in the 1980s, she had the Fanya All-Stars.
0:46.0	When we went on car rise, we went to Florida to visit relatives, my dad always had his salsa music playing.
0:57.0	Gabi Rivera is a writer who was maybe best known for her work for Marvel Comics.
1:05.0	My dad always had his music playing.
1:08.0	Latin jazz, salsa, mowtown, you know, he's a child of like the 60s and 70s, you know what I mean?
1:15.0	And we had this one song that I would always put on when we left Archer Beach.
1:21.0	This is Gabby's dad, Charlie Rivera. That was Cosinando by Ray Beretto.
1:27.0	That was our leaving song for War Chibeechus.
1:36.4	Dad put on that song, we all were packing up and ready to rock and go back home.
1:40.9	There are songs that take him right back to the island where he spent his childhood.
1:45.6	There is a concern that there is a slavildio, a lokillo, or a luke, or-Jonke, or a wahataka.
1:55.0	They'd listen to all the classics, from Echter Labo to of course, Willie Colon.
2:12.0	One day, Gabby's in the family car, a white minivan, and her dad is driving. She's just a kid and this really notable salsa comes on. You know, there's salsa break right where all of a sudden it's like
2:15.2	da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da. Right? Like and it's like dance right. This was not a bulleto. This was salsa baby. This is get up and dance.
2:28.1	It's catchy. It's got a great groove. Then Gabby's young ears start to take in the words.
2:34.0	I'm sitting and I hear the lyrics tell Grambaron. And this seven or eight year old Gabi is trying to make sense of the unusual story being laid out in the salsa, using the pronouns the singer is using.
	...

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