In 1924 Pablo Neruda published Veinte poemas de amor y una canción desesperada (Twenty Poems of Love and a Song of Despair). He was only twenty years old and was to become one of the greatest Spanish-speaking poets of all times.

One of the most memorable poems in this book is the one I bring you here. It’s poem number 20 and is called Puedo escribir los versos más tristes esta noche (Tonight I can write the saddest lines).

In the first video below you can hear Poem number 20 read out in Spanish. Of all the versions I’ve heard this is, in my opinion, the most beautiful one. The reader’s voice captures all the strength and sadness of the verses.

In the second video you can hear Poem number 20 in English. Poetry loses a lot of its beauty and mystery in translation, but in this video enough remains of it to be worth watching at least once.

Pablo Neruda was born in 1904 in Parral, Chile, and died in 1973 in Santiago de Chile, twelve days after general Augusto Pinochet’s military coup. Two years earlier he had been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

If you want to get the books Veinte poemas de amor y una cancion desesperada or Twenty Poems of Love and a Song of Despair, you can find them here.

Penelope Cruz first appeared in front of the cameras in this music video which dates from 1989. The song is called La fuerza del destino (Destiny’s force), and was written and performed by the Spanish group Mecano.

Mecano was a highly successful pop group from Spain. Their career expanded between 1981 and 1992. The lead singer was Ana Torroja, and the other two members were brothers Nacho and José María Cano.

Apart from making a large number of memorable movies, Penelope Cruz has also appeared in other music videos, mainly Cosas que contar by Eduardo Cruz in 2007, El patio by Nacho Cano in 1994 and El waltz de los locos by Nacho Cano in 1995.

The song La fuerza del destino in included in the album Descanso dominical.

Here I bring you one of my favorite Spanish songs. It’s called Sólo pienso en ti (I Only Think of You), by Víctor Manuel.

Víctor Manuel is one of the most popular Spanish singer-songwriters of all times. Born in 1947 in Asturias, Spain, he has composed and sang dozens of songs that have now become classics throughout the Spanish-speaking world.

Sólo pienso en ti dates back to 1979 and is considered by many to be his masterpiece. This powerful song describes the love between two mentally disabled people, their struggle, sadness and happiness.

If you want to get this song, you can find it here.

This is one of the most beautiful songs ever written. It’s called Mediterráneo and it’s by the Catalan singer and composer Joan Manuel Serrat. It was first released in 1971.

In 2004 it was nominated the best pop-rock song in the history of music in Spain. This is a chant to the Mediterranean sea and the land that touches it, from a man who loves them both.

I love this song because it’s as far from today’s cynicism as one could ever wish to get. Like all good things, it’s honest, pure and passionate.

If you want to buy the album, you can get it here.

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