Cara al Sol

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The circumstances of its creation are unusual. The Falangists needed a stirring song of their own to counter the popular appeal of "El Himno de Riego" (the national anthem of the Second Spanish Republic) and "A Las Barricadas" (a very popular Anarchist song). The Falange had nothing suitable of its own so it had been borrowing from the German Nazi and the Italian fascist repertoire.

To solve the problem, Primo de Rivera formed a committee [http://revista.libertaddigital.com/articulo.php/1276226351] , meeting on 2 December 1935 in the home of Marichu de la Mora Maura. Those present included José María Alfaro, Rafael Sánchez Mazas, Agustín ("Así") de Foxá, Mourlane Michelena, Dionisio Ridruejo, Agustín Aznar, and Luis Aguilar. The result of their efforts, following a period of sub-committee review (at the "Cueva del Orkompon", a Basque bar in "Calle Miguel Moya", Madrid) was provisionally entitled the "Himno de Falange Española". It was first performed in Madrid in 1936.

Its popularity was boosted by Primo de Rivera's execution on 20 November 1936 and his subsequent glorification by the Spanish Nationalists.

In Spain under Franco, "Cara al Sol" became a semi-official anthem, often played alongside the official anthem, the Marcha Real, and was regarded as the battle song of the Spanish far right.

The lyrics

Written by committee

The lyrics were a collaborative effort, under the editorship of Primo de Rivera. Authorship of individual lines are attributed as follows: 1-4 Foxá, Primo de Rivera, Alfaro; 5-10 Foxá; 11-12 Ridruejo; 13-14 Primo de Rivera; 15 Alfaro; 16 Mourlane; and 17-18 Alfaro. Lines 19-22 were existing Falange slogans.

Imagery in the lyrics

*Line 1: The reference to shirts relates to the Falangist uniform, a blue shirt which was embroidered with red yoke and arrows upon the chest. "New shirts" does not refer to Falangists who joined during the war ("Old shirts" joined before it), since this expression came up only after the song was composed.
*Lines 13-14: The reference to arrows is an allusion to the Falange "Yoke and Arrows" symbol and to the Falangist youth movement.
*Lines 19-21: "España Una, Grande y Libre" was a frequently used slogan in Francoism.
*Line 22: Falangists use "Arriba España" ("Onward Spain") instead of the more usual "Viva España" ("Long live Spain").

Alternate lines

In Line 5, "mis compañeros" ("my companions") is sometimes replaced by "los compañeros" ("the companions") or "otros compañeros" ("other companions").

"Amanecer"

This version of the song appeared well after the civil war, and is a slow-motion version of "Cara Al Sol", sometimes sung by a female voice, almost a ballad. This is a very different version, given the fact that "Cara Al Sol" was originally a battle song, and "Amanecer" is almost a love ballad. It was produced and conducted by A. Velázquez

External links

* [http://newswww.bbc.net.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4357373.stm BBC news story] about the removal of the last statue of Franco from Madrid, during which a group of Francoist demonstrators sang "Cara al Sol".
* [http://www.rumbos.net/cancionero/ant_001.htm Spanish website] featuring lyrics and mp3 files