A Music Video by the Cuban Band”Qvu Libre”

Osmel Almaguer

HAVANA TIMES — They wear high, colorful hats. The music and style of the Cuban band Qva Libre is reminiscent of pop. Jose Rojas, the director of one of their recent music videos (titled Cuando tu dices que me amas, “When You Say You Love Me”), skillfully translated the musical language of the band into images. The lyrics are simple – the song does not imply anything, it says things directly. The band has worked meticulously on its image, making each of their performances distinctive.

The music video is divided into three moments:

LOVE:

We see a brightly-lit, almost heavenly green field dotted with small flowers. One of the band’s singers is sitting on the field next to a girl which invokes a character from children’s literature, Pippi Longstocking. The singer and Pippi seem to be falling in love. This is how the story begins. Boundless joy seems to emanate from the couple, infecting those who are enjoying the music video. The setting has a kind of refreshing innocence and naivety to it.

THE STREET

In this second moment, the song’s rhythm becomes more Caribbean. We are in a different set and the other singer is dancing with a young woman in tight-fitting clothes. They are at Havana’s Malecon ocean drive. Vintage cars are parked nearby, next to motorcycles and young people kissing uninhibitedly under the sun. I feel the director could have been more daring here.

GLAMOUR

We cut to a mansion as a man escorted by two women come out. The three are dressed in black and white, with red gloves, shoes and lipstick. They get on a 1950s American car, which is also red. This last moment is intercut with shots where we see the other two couples expressing love for one another. The main sequence is that of the two men and men dressed in black and white, driving through one of Havana’s tunnels in a convertible.

The lust in the scene doesn’t quite explode, what comes across, rather, is joy. This video is one in a series of recent productions where we see beautiful, brightly-dressed young people, in which enjoyment and spontaneous joy reign. I don’t want to say these music videos are evasive. On the contrary, they seem to be a reaction to so much theatrics, so much vanity being divulged by the media.

osmel

Osmel Almaguer:Until recently I would to identify myself as a poet, a cultural promoter and a university student. Now that my notions on poetry have changed slightly, that I got a new job, and that I have finished my studies, I’m forced to ask myself: Am I a different person? In our introductions, we usually mention our social status instead of looking within ourselves for those characteristics that define us as unique and special. The fact that I’m scared of spiders, that I’ve never learned to dance, that I get upset over the simplest things, that culminating moments excite me, that I’m a perfectionist, composed but impulsive, childish but antiquated: these are clues that lead to who I truly am.

One thought on “A Music Video by the Cuban Band”Qvu Libre””

  • That was a fun video, even if that sort of light pop music with a latin flavour, is not my cup of tea. I agree with Osmel, the mood is one of joy and optimism. So I wonder, does the video express a genuine sense of optimism among Cuban youth? Or was it produced and released by the authorities who control the music business in Cuba as an element of propaganda, and attempt to induce joy and optimism among the people?

    Contrast the video by Qva Libre with this one by Los Aldeanos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCR3PQm6KNI

    A very different mood and style.

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