His Hands Were Gentle: Selected Lyrics of Víctor Jara: Selected Lyrics of Victor Jara - Softcover

His Hands Were Gentle brings together, for the first time in both Spanish and English, the best of Víctor Jara s lyrics, from early songs like El arado ( The Plow ) to Estadio Chile ( In the Stadium ), written in the hours before his execution there. They reveal Jara as an ardent political poet, an eloquent advocate for the peasantry from which he arose, a socialist visionary and a poetic balladeer of the highest order.

Víctor Jara (1932-73) was a legendary Chilean singer, songwriter, guitarist and theatre director. Between 1966 and 1973 he released eight albums, such as Canto libre (Free Song) and El derecho de vivir en paz (The Right to Live in Peace). He was a member of the Communist Party of Chile, a prominent supporter of Salvador Allende s Popular Unity government, and a leader of the New Song Movement during the cultural renaissance of the Allende years. In the days following the US-backed military coup of September 11, 1973, Jara was arrested, imprisoned and murdered. His recordings were banned for many years in Chile.