Open the window, breathe and press play
I confess that this article has something therapeutic for me: these days of forced confinement it is hard to find the concentration to put together a text that can distract, inform, entertain and interest a reader in quarantine, riddled with information in the media and social networks.
That's why today I propose something different, an interactive journey where you are the one in control and you can move at your leisure through each and every one of its lines. I propose a return to Spain in songs, a sound and visual journey through some of the places in the Spanish geography that were once the protagonists of a musical theme.
Just like in the Decameron of Bocaccio, where 10 young people, fleeing from the plague that devastated the city of Florence, took refuge in a house and fought boredom singing and dancing and telling each other stories, I have chosen a set of stories to tell you (or sing to you) in your confinement: a massive virtual Decameron.
The instructions are simple: imagine that you are back in your car (or on the train, or on the plane). You have a terrible desire to launch yourself towards the horizon, to get out of those four walls that have watched you for days. The road is yours and the Spanish geography, your playground.
Go forward, go back, go north, go south, listen to a copla or a bit of indie, or maybe some heavy music seasoned with flamenco, pop and classical music. You don't have to worry about looking for information on each destination you arrive at, they will take care of showing you their corners: Jorge Drexler, Carlos Núñez, Joaquín Sabina, Carmen París, Manolo Tena, Medina Azahara, M Clan, Isaac Albéniz, Xoel López, Pablo Alborán, Gabinete Caligari, Amaral, Carlos Sadness…
Guided by these artists, you will learn that chirigotas and Uruguay go hand in hand or that Bertolt Brecht made the city of Bilbao the protagonist of a musical. They will talk to you about the poetry of Lorca in cities like Cuenca or Santiago de Compostela, they will make you feel the strength of the Galician landscapes or They will recite a poem that could only be recorded after Francisco Franco died.
“You are my favorite corner of Madrid” , the group Pereza sang in their song Madrid (absent, by the way, on this map). Now I ask you What is your favorite corner of Spain?
I'll let you think about the question while I hand over the helm of this article to you.
**Welcome to the interactive music map of places in Spain: **