Antonio Cabán Vale, Puerto Rican singer and creator of “Verde Luz”, dies – Metro Puerto Rico

Puerto Rican artist and singer-songwriter Antonio Cabán Vale, known as “El Topo”, He died at the age of 81. His famous musical works include “light green”, which is considered one of the most important issues for the Puerto Rican people.

“El Topo” was born on November 22, 1942 in the town of Moca. He wrote songs, poems and was also a teacher.

pass “Mole” From the author National Foundation for Popular Culture:

His childhood in the small town of Moca, located in the western region of Puerto Rico, awakened deep reflective and meditative tendencies within him.

In 1961, he moved to Rio Piedras to study at the University of Puerto Rico, where he began a new phase in his life. During these years, Antonio experienced all the tragedies that a small-town student might encounter in a large university. It was also in college that he acquired the nickname “El Topo”, by which he became known in the art world.

While at university he began to publish some poems in the magazine “Guajana”; which published the works of the most outstanding young people in poetry.

In 1966, he received a bachelor’s degree in arts and social sciences and subsequently worked as a public school teacher for two years.

It was during his didactic work that Antonio felt the concern to reach more people with his verses. Given how limited poetry was as a vehicle for popular expression, he began to set it to music in the 1970s. Many of these songs are included in the repertoire of the band Taoné, which he founded and to which he belongs. With them, the roots of his musical experience were strengthened and he began his career as a singer.

During the heyday of the new song in Puerto Rico, the name of Antonio Cabán Vale acquired an impressive presence in the music world. His laconic verses conquered the audience with the sounds of “Flor de amapola”, “Qué Bonita Luna”, “Los lirios del Campo”, “donde vás María” and “Solina, Solina”. There are countless versions of his romantic “Love Song”. The number “Show Your Feelings” became the theme of the activities of the Department of Addiction Services (now DESCA). His political denunciations sounded before the cry of “Antonia” and the singing of the classic “People’s Song”.

In addition, the dance “Verde luz” was consolidated as one of the greatest contributions of the new song movement to the popular Borinquen staff. This piece of El Topo has dozens of versions, including that of the Argentine Ginamaría Hidalgo, and is considered together with one of the Puerto Rican anthems, “Lamento borincano” and “En mi Viejo San Juan”.

In the 1990s, he released more than 20 albums, including works such as “La patria va” and “Unmeter de ternura”. Among the latter, the song “Amante corazón” stands out, produced and musically directed by Dominican music master Manuel Tejada, with supervision and selection of the tracks by Juan Luis Guerra.

He has also successfully published two poetry collections: A Place Beyond Time, in which he takes us to the Karaima community in Moka through poetry and prose, delighting us with his childhood experiences, and Penultima Exit, where a sense of pain and a desire to find a way out of the blindness and chaos of our lives prevail.

In a review of his art, Don Francisco Matos Paoli kindly noted: “He always gives his work a poetic height. It raises the poem to a transcendent peak. He is full of fantasy, like Rimbaud. He avoids strict logical links. He is undoubtedly the heir of Surrealism, but he also has an insular passage. His ability to dream is the hallmark of every true poet.”

El Topo is dedicated to the revival of Puerto Rican folk music genres. He currently works with a group of young Puerto Rican musicians, under the guidance of the young Adeán Cabán, who accompanies him in his activities. This Creole band includes the Puerto Rican cuatro, guitar, güiro and other percussion elements, giving it a fresh sound with a country flavor. Its repertoire contains various Caribbean Creole music genres such as décima, plena, bomb, son, bolero and fusions with other Caribbean rhythms such as reggaeton, vallenato, cumbia and merengue. It includes love themes, songs about the land, jokes and other content with historical and cultural content.

In 2001, the 6th International Book Fair was held at the Roberto Clemente Stadium in San Juan, with the Caban Valley as the theme. Likewise, his work “Las Manos del Campo” was used as the theme for the commercial product event.

In the summer of 2004, “El Topo” ventured again into the world of records, producing “Inmensamente”.