Interesting story behind this song. Paul Simon has mostly written both the music and lyrics of his own songs. "El Condor Pasa" is a very rare case of his providing lyrics for a previously existing melody. He heard the Peruvian group Los Incas playing it and was taken with the melody, for good reason. He provided English lyrics in collaboration with them.
Later he got sued by the family of the original composer, Daniel Alomia Robles, for not crediting him. Simon had been under the impression that it was a traditional tune, the author lost in the mists of time.
It all got settled amicably. It's good that he got the music to a wider audience, any which way.
2 comments:
Given a moment to think about it I would also have surmised that the melody for 'El Condor Pasa' was a traditional one. It's good to know the situation was settled in a way that made everyone happy.
It really is a wonderful piece of music even without the lyrics - maybe especially so. Jer managed to get a copy of the double album Los Incas made before all the free music sites were shut down. A couple of weeks ago one of their pieces played on our i-pod when we were out driving and I was sure it was a composition done by the Chieftans. There was definitely a similarity.
It does have that feel of having been passed down from generation to generation a few times. Which is a testament to the man who did write it. Nice to know all the credit has been settled.
You know what? Until just now I hadn't realized Los Incas and Urubamba were the same band. I remember hearing that record in Vancouver when I was a kid. They do have a similar quality to the Chieftains, although they seem a little more percussive to me. Definitely a good find on Simon's part.
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