José José - Gavilan O Paloma gavilan o paloma pablo abraira djrally73 2019 was a tragic year for melodic Spanish songs. Indeed, just twenty days apart, we lost Camilo Sesto (ubiquitous in the jukeboxes of the '70s and a key figure in the Iberian version of Jesus Christ Superstar) and the Mexican José José.
Defined 'El Príncipe de la Canción' par excellence, José José was for a long time the world's leading interpreter of ballads and boleros. Naturally, they were sentimental in nature, with that tragic/pathetic vein that all connoisseurs of the genre still attribute to him.
'Gavilán o Paloma,' a composition by the Spaniard Pérez-Botija, is one of his timeless hits. A film of the same name was even made around the song in 1985. The protagonist was none other than José José himself—already a victim of alcoholism and other health troubles that, at the dawn of the new millennium, would leave him voiceless.
In Spain, however, the version that all those over fifty know by heart is not José José's but Pablo Abraira's. The song is not as well-known here, except for an Italian version by Julio Iglesias titled 'Amico,' from the album 'Sono un pirata sono un signore.'
The song tells of how, at the end of a 'noche de copas,' the predatory male is fatally ensnared by a mysterious (and lonely) woman who has enchanted him with her gaze. The adventure is inevitable.
However, at the first contact with the seductress, the male senses something unusual. Something unexpected comes between him and the object of his desire.
The warmth of the encounter suddenly turns to ice.
"Upon looking closely at you, I felt betrayed. Your appearance had deceived me."
And the predatory male, convinced that he was the hawk and she the dove, realized that the roles had reversed.
Julio could never have sung such a text. The lyrics of 'Amico,' in fact, have nothing to do with the original: the birds, hawks, and doves are gone, leaving behind a very simplistic love triangle, a given passing, and a cuckolded friend to whom Julio (repentant) turns in the heartfelt refrain.
..."for what I've done to you, I feel like a rag..."
But for once, we can say, the Number One was not Julio.
