To New (Musical) Loves

I have fallen in love with Juan Gabriel.

I was listening to a podcast tribute to him, on NPR's Alt.Latino. I had read some articles about him shortly after his death, but this was my first time actually listening to his music.

And oh my, this one song just blew me away.

Do listen to the whole thing if you can. Oh, the build, the build!

In the podcast they only played a snippet, but the discussion of it got me intrigued (fun fact: I knew one of the commentators, Carolina Miranda, from college), and after I finished the podcast I went back to listen to the whole song.

And then again, and again. And then to other songs of his, and then to other versions of that song, and now I can say I am a full-on convert to the magic that is Juan Gabriel.

The whole podcast is worth listening to, but if you just want the discussion of that song, go to 13:20 on it.

And if you're now intrigued too, these articles are good places to start to understand the cultural phenomenon he was:

• Caroline Miranda, in the LA Times: "Juan Gabriel was a songwriter who knew how to channel the struggles of modern life and the hurt of the wounded"
• Gustavo Avellano, also from the LA Times: "As a boy, I was taught to ridicule Juan Gabriel. As an adult, I revered him"
• Marcelo Baez, from Splinter News: "Then God Said, Let Heterosexuals Enjoy Juan Gabriel"

Now the only question is, for my Saturday morning cleaning, which CD do I subject the boys to?

Got my headphones on,
Annie