Victor Jara: The man who folked himself to death
While much folk music explores the vulnerable, emotional inner workings of the human consciousness (Big Thief, Joni Mitchell, etc.), there lies another side to the genre in which political ideals are put to the test, forged in the fires of sonic splendour and cast as a dangerous weapon. While we initially think of Bob Dylan and Neil Young in this light, one man who took political folk music to the limit was Victor Jara.
Jara was a Chilean poet, musician and political activist who played a vital role in the establishment of the New Chilean Song movement, which took the traditions of Chilean folk music and examined the consequences of the political regime that was occurring in the South American country in the 1960s and 1970s.
Primarily, the New Chilean Song movement artists had been great proponents and supporters of the Chilean President Salvador Allende, who served as the leader of a socialist government in Chile from 1970 until his death in 1973. It was that same year that Jara himself was brutally murdered.
In 1973, General Augusto Pinochet led a military coup and brought about the end of Allende’s government. The day after the coup, Jara was one of 5,000 people detained in Estadio Chile in Santiago because they were known supporters of Allende and his socialist ideals.
As Jara was a known musician, he was singled out among the 5,000 detainees and was beaten and tortured. However, the revolutionary spirit continued to burn bright in the folkster, and he defiantly sang ‘Venceremos’, which had served as Allende’s election song. Shortly after, Jara was shot dead, and his body lay lifeless in the streets of Santiago.
Jara’s spirit inspired a number of future generations of musicians, though, including The Clash on ‘Washington Bullets’ and U2 on The Joshua Tree’s ‘One Tree Hill’. James Dean Bradfield of the Manic Street Preachers also recorded an entire album about Jara’s life. “He died defiantly but with grace, too,” Bradfield said. “It takes your breath away every time. If you just focus on his death, you ignore the journey, you ignore the ambition, you ignore the songs, and you kind of ignore Chile. That immovable image of his murder can be a red herring.”
Bradfield also notes that Jara’s music is subtle in its approach to reinforcing his communist ideals. “The truth isn’t rammed down your throat; it floats to you like a dream,” he said. “That wasn’t what I expected at all. He’s one of the only truly Marxist musicians, but he doesn’t sound Marxist at all to me.”
However, Jara was a divisive figure in politically turbulent Chile. At one appearance at a university, he was derided by an anti-communist organisation, who pelted him with stones. Although even after his death, Jara remains a figure of the struggle for human rights through his wonderful music.
In 2016, Pedro Barrientos, a Chilean Army officer, was found guilty of murdering Jara, and two years later, eight retired military officers were sentenced to 15 years in prison. Thankfully, justice was (eventually) brought about to rectify the horrors of 1973.
Jara himself explained once his own importance from a political perspective. “We’ve had enough of that music that doesn’t speak to us, that entertains us only for a moment but leaves us empty,” he said. “We began to create a new kind of song. It was music that was born out of total necessity.” He may have died an untimely death at just 40 years old, but his spirit will live on for eternity.