In the past few days it has come to light that the PP in Badalona prohibited the performance of the song "L'estaca"(1), by Lluís Llach, in a festival. In response, the audience sang it a cappella. According to ARA, this happened during the closing ceremony of Filmets, a short-subject film festival held in Badalona. Martí Serra, one of the musicians in "The Filmets Band" announced to the audience that "someone who thinks they are in charge has forbidden us to sing 'L'estaca'. I thought you should know". The audience then responded by singing the song a cappella.
That "someone who thinks they are in charge" could decide that a song –be it 'L'estaca' or 'Bulería Bulería'– cannot be sung in a festival, doesn't mean that he has the authority to prohibit it. And the performers at the festival should know this. Who is this person who thinks they are in charge? The mayor? If so, he should explain in writing why the heck the song can't be performed. We're not in the time of Franco anymore. You can't prohibit songs "just because". If you prohibit them, if you censor the performers and citizens, then they must know the reason. For example, if the song was sexually explicit and inappropriate for young audiences (perhaps Garcia Albiol (2) believed that he saw a phallus in Old Uncle Siset's "estaca" -stake-), or racist or offensive to some group. I remember that, not long ago, the song "Fucking Romanians", by the unforgettable DJ Syto, was prohibited because it is a disgustingly racist song (aside from the fact that it bothered linguists because it rhymed "Rumanians" with "hands"). This is not the case with 'L'estaca'.
How did this come about? Did some man appear and tell the musicians "You can't sing that one" and they answered "Okay"? To sing 'L'estaca' a cappella is great, but it's a defiant act that shouldn't be necessary. To prohibit a song is shocking and we shouldn't act as if it were normal, or it will end up being so.
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1 N.T. 'L’estaca' (The Stake) is a popular Catalan song by singer and songwriter Lluís Llach written during General Franco’s regime. It soon became closely associated with the struggle against the Spanish dictator.
2 N.T. Xavier Garcia Albiol is the PP mayor of Badalona, the Catalan city where the festival was held.
