“Memoria, sin tu equipaje no alces el vuelo”: las geografías panamadas de Rómulo Castro

Abstract

According to Rómulo Castro, the Caribbean “should have its own passport.” In the Caribbean converges the multi-heritage of this Spanish, Mexican, Cuban and Panamanian singer-songwriter. This historical, cultural and personal convergence defines not only his life but the rhythmic fusion that characterizes his music. Like the Caribbean itself his heritage and his music are places loaded with personal and universal encounters and stories. There is a fraternal sonority that is recognized in his songs and which goes beyond Central America and reaches Europe, Asia, Africa and the North American folk tradition. One of the central themes in his music is a constant search for a historical, cultural and personal identity, which is what happens in songs that are an essential part of his repertoire, such as “La Rosa de los Vientos,” “El puente del mundo,” “Retorno” and “La herencia del pela’o.” If in “Retorno” he goes back to Santiago de Cuba, in “La herencia del pela’o” he rediscovers the geography of Panama and wants to share it with his son to help him shape his own identity. His songs are written as utopian projects that are at times hindered by failure, the most striking example of which is the fall of the Torrijos project. These themes are key to understand a body of work that rests upon a remarkable musical and discursive complexity and which reflects Castro’s political, artistic and literary education. This article is based on the analysis of some of his most emblematic songs and stems from an interview that took place in Panama in 2014.