Jose Luis Perales 1982
One of the first songs I remember hearing upon arriving in Colombia was Cancion de Otoño (Autumn Song) and it was love at first listen. This is my ‘Desert Island’ Spanish song. I made a Family DVD for my son’s 3rd birthday and the first song I showcased was this song accompanied with family photos. Suffice to say I have a very strong emotional connection with this song. Cancion de Otoño was released on the Perales’ 1982 record Entre el agua y el fuego (Between the Water and Fire).
José Luis Perales Morillas (born 18 January 1945) is a Spanish singer-songwriter. He has performed some of his extensive work at Carnegie Hall, New York. Perales has recorded 27 albums with 50 million copies sold worldwide. One of the main reasons I started this Music Library Project was it allowed me the opportunity to promote these classic contemporary songs otherwise unknown to English speaking audiences. In Latin countries or Spain where the song originated there are few people who haven’t heard of this masterpiece and frankly it deserves greater recognition worldwide.
What entails the ‘Music Library Project’?
Below is a loose translation of the first 2 verses:
As the wind blows today
As it rains today
How empty the street is
As the sun diesThese grey Autumn days
Make me sad
Draws me to the warmth of my fireplace
I remember you todayI remember you today
To you, who is my whole life…
I don’t know how many times I have heard this song and each time how much I enjoy it more. This is easily in my top 5 favourite songs of all time. There are artists who are very good and then there are geniuses and José Luis Perales is one of those. To my mind, if romance could be bottled in just one song then Cancion de Otoño would be it.
“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand
Observation Blogger 
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