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(crowd cheering)

(Varela speaking Spanish)

(crowd cheering)

(Varela singing in Spanish)

(man speaking Spanish)

(speaking Spanish)

(laughs)

(speaking Spanish)

If we look at Tom Waits, Jackson Browne,

Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty...

Carlos is definitely part of a group

that is grounded in that truth...

of passing a message, of telling a story,

of making you think.

It's almost like they went to the subconscious

and they just tapped into something that I had thought,

but couldn't verbalize it, couldn't even see it.

When Carlos wanted to come to the United States

and we had a few gigs for him,

and we wanted to host him there,

and his visa was denied.

It was a hard thing to go through,

to make all the preparations for a tour,

and then to find out that you actually don't have permission to come.

And it was right at the same time

that Manuel Galbán and Ibrahim Ferrer

also received Grammys

for the work they had done with Ry Cooder.

And they were denied acc-- entrance to the United States

even to go pick up a Grammy.

He is a man who believes in his country,

and even though at some point he was...

uh, not allowed to play on the radio,

the people still responded to his music.

And he opted for the fact that he's Cuban,

that's his land, that's where he comes from,

he doesn't need to go anywhere.

Carlos is an example of many people that I know,

that I met there, that are like--

they love their country

and they still...

look for change.

(light guitar playing)

(crowd cheering)

Woman: Okay.

(speaking Spanish)

Woman: So, the first question...

(speaking Spanish)

Man: So, Carlos,

I think we'll probably have a couple of interviews.

-Okay. Okay. -(woman speaking Spanish)

Man: When did you first become aware of--

or meet Carlos Varela?

(woman speaking Spanish)

Salud.

(Varela speaking Spanish)

(Varela speaking Spanish)

-(guitar music playing) -(crowd cheering)

(Varela singing in Spanish)

(Varela speaking Spanish)

(singing continues)

(speaking Spanish)

-(laughs) -Ah.

-Oh. -(speaks Spanish)

(Varela speaking Spanish)

(Ivan Lins speaking Spanish)

(speaking Spanish)

(Varela singing in Spanish)

(Diana Fuentes speaking Spanish)

Wow.

(Eduardo Cabra speaking Spanish)

(speaking Spanish)

(Varela singing in Spanish)

(Luis Enrique speaking Spanish)

Browne: I first heard of Carlos

when a friend of mine traveled to Cuba,

a really good musician friend of mine.

He said, "When you go to Cuba, you'll have to meet this guy Carlos Varela."

You can be sitting somewhere and start singing one of his songs

and everybody knows the words.

I really think that North Americans

looking at a Carlos Varela concert

are going to see themselves.

Say, "I love that song!"

It's partly his prowess as a writer

and it's partly his generosity as a human being, you know.

As a figure, you know, he's, you know...

(speaking Spanish)

(crowd cheering)

-(woman shouts in Spanish) -(Varela speaking Spanish)

(Varela singing in Spanish)

(speaking Spanish)

(Varela singing in Spanish)

(speaking Spanish)

(Varela singing in Spanish)

(Varela speaking Spanish)

(Varela singing in Spanish)

(Varela speaking Spanish)

(singing in Spanish)

(Varela speaking Spanish)

(Varela singing in Spanish)

(Varela speaking Spanish)

(Varela singing in Spanish)

(Varela speaking Spanish)

-(Varela singing in Spanish) -(crowd cheering)

(Varela speaking Spanish)

(Varela singing in Spanish)

(Varela speaking Spanish)

(singing in Spanish)

(Varela speaking Spanish)

(singing in Spanish)

(Varela speaking Spanish)

(crowd cheering)

(Varela speaking Spanish)

♪ ♪

(Varela speaking Spanish)

(singing in Spanish)

-(singing in Spanish) -(crowd singing along)

Del Toro: The first time I heard his music was in--

it was a CD, it was a compilation CD

I think that David Byrne put together.

I forgot the title, and it had different songs

from different artists from Cuba.

And I remember the CD closed with this song called "Guillermo Tell."

And that's the first time I heard his name,

and it was a great song, it was like--

It was, it was the star song of the CD,

and there were a lot of great songs in that CD.

(singing in Spanish)

(crowd cheering)

You could use that song for many other things.

It's David talking to Goliath.

It could be authority. It could be a teacher.

(singing in Spanish)

At the time that I listened to that song,

I was going through that with my dad.

You know, "Hey, you know, you made your choice"--

in my case my dad became a lawyer

and he did it his way.

Well, he wanted me to follow in his steps.

(singing in Spanish)

And I went that way.

I couldn't hit the books,

but I knew I could get to point B.

But it had to be my way.

(singing in Spanish)

(cheering)

It's a punk song.

You know, it's punk.

It's a-- it's a statement.

(cheering continues)

It's like "Blowing in the Wind" by Dylan, or--

it's just, it's just that kind of song.

(speaking Spanish)

♪ ♪

(speaking Spanish)

(speaking Spanish)

(speaking Spanish)

(singing in Spanish)

Del Toro: He is a product of the revolution

and he's revolutionary himself in his own way.

There is a tradition of his type of music in Cuba,

so he follows that.

He's a great example of, in my opinion,

the best of the revolution.

(singing in Spanish)

(Cabra speaking Spanish)

His work is a great illustration

of the humanity of the Cuban people.

His value as a writer and as a speaker,

as a narrator is undeniable, and it's instant.

I mean, you only have to know

the beginnings of what he's talking about

to have your heart kind of crack open.

(singing in Spanish)

(speaking Spanish)

Carlos had hit a nerve in the Cuban people.

(speaking Spanish)

(Jorge Perugorría speaking Spanish)

(singing in Spanish)

Letting out what people are experiencing,

what people-- the suffering of the people,

the questions of the people.

And it's a channel, that one person has that light.

I don't know how that happens, you know.

Bob Dylan was a product-- Pete Seeger, you know.

It's just something that like, boom,

it just breaks out and just...

And I think that that's the power in his music.

(Varela singing in Spanish)

(crowd cheering)

(speaking Spanish)

(speaking Spanish)

It's very difficult in Cuba. At some point it got really difficult.

I think I went there just around el Periodo Especial,

what they call el Periodo Especial.

The Special Period is when the Soviet Union

abandons its help towards Cuba

and then leaves Cuba completely alone.

And I do remember the lack of food,

the lack of gasoline.

And, you know, most people were moving--

really moving about in bicycles for the most part.

You know, I think that most of the bicycles were coming from China.

(Varela speaking Spanish)

(guitar music playing)

(men speaking Spanish)

(Cabra speaking Spanish)

(plays Theremin)

(chatter in Spanish)

(speaking Spanish, laughs)

(music playing)

(Varela speaking Spanish)

(speaking Spanish)

(music continues)

(singing in Spanish)

(speaking Spanish)

(singing in Spanish)

(speaking Spanish)

(singing in Spanish)

(Relaba speaking Spanish)

(Varela singing in Spanish)

(Wendy Guerra speaking Spanish)

(Varela singing in Spanish)

(Guerra speaking Spanish)

(Guerra speaking Spanish)

(singing in Spanish)

(speaking Spanish)

(Camacho speaking Spanish)

(piano music playing)

(speaking Spanish)

-(music continues) -(Varela vocalizing)

(speaking Spanish)

(music, vocalizing continue)

(speaking Spanish)

-(singing in Spanish) -(crowd cheering)

(speaking Spanish)

♪ ♪

(Fuentes speaking Spanish)

(singing in Spanish)

(Fuentes speaking Spanish)

(singing in Spanish)

(chatter in Spanish)

(speaking Spanish)

(chatter in Spanish)

(rhythmic clapping)

(playing bass notes)

-(band playing) -(crowd clapping)

(Varela speaking Spanish)

(speaking Spanish)

(Varela singing in Spanish)

(Farrell speaking Spanish)

(all speaking Spanish)

(Lins speaking Spanish)

(Varela speaking Spanish)

(chatter in Spanish)

(Lins speaking Spanish)

(Varela singing in Spanish)

(speaking Spanish)

(singing in Spanish)

(speaking Spanish)

(singing in Portuguese)

(speaking Spanish)

(singing in Spanish)

(crowd cheering)

Del Toro: I come to meet Carlos face-to-face

on my second trip to Cuba.

You know, I saw this guy dressed in black

with, like, a black hat...

kind of like reminiscent of, like,

Robert Mitchum in "The Night of the Hunter."

Very like... (vocalizes)

Browne: I first heard of Carlos when a friend of mine

came back and said, "When you go to Cuba,

you'll have to meet this guy, Carlos Varela."

And then when I was taking my first trip to Cuba,

we arranged to get together.

You know, I think that I remember sitting,

being in the Nacional, and, you know,

we immediately stroke a friendship.

Carlos and I immediately had a connection.

Even though we weren't speaking the same language,

we wound up sitting in a hotel room

sharing a bottle of rum and playing each other's songs.

And the hotel was filled with various film directors

and actors and artists and writers

and musicians, and-- and word got out

that Carlos was upstairs singing in some room,

and, really, very steadily the room filled up with people.

Del Toro: The two, Jackson and Carlos, had this common language

which is-- their music is very similar emotionally.

You could see it clear. You could cut it with a knife.

You could see that they were, like, popping to communicate.

Carlos doesn't speak that much English.

Jackson spoke a little bit of Spanish,

but not-- not that much,

and I became kind of like the translator between Carlos and Jackson.

I was the fuse for that beautiful friendship that the two of them have.

So this was my introduction to him,

so it's really an ongoing mission, you know, of mine

to let others experience his songs

the way I first experienced them, which is, you know,

to have someone explaining them as they're sung.

It was an improvised concert, you know, Cuban style.

A great night with, you know, high art.

It's a funny thing because you can tell somebody

that this is an important writer.

But unless you can tell them what they said,

it doesn't mean anything to you.

You know, the context of why it's important to people.

(guitar music playing)

(Varela singing in Spanish)

(people cheering)

(singing in Spanish)

Del Toro: A lot of the problems between Cuba and the U.S.--

you could say a lot of it is lost in translation.

I find myself sometimes in a situation where, like,

you know, something is completely misunderstood

because of-- one word is not really put there.

And you would not understand Carlos' music

if you don't understand the meaning.

I think, most important, you won't understand the story.

(singing in Spanish)

The funny thing about the United States' embargo with Cuba

is that it's designed to isolate Cuba,

but in fact it's probably been more effective

to isolate the United States from Cuba.

All of our allies-- England and Canada

and Australia and Spain and Sweden--

all travel to Cuba.

They know the Cubans very well,

and it's the United States that imagines

that Cuba has been isolated.

(speaking Spanish)

(chatter in Spanish)

(Varela speaking Spanish)

(singing in Spanish)

(Varela speaking Spanish)

(Varela singing in Spanish)

(speaking Spanish)

♪ Of what use is the moon ♪

♪ When you don't have the night? ♪

♪ Of what use is a windmill ♪

♪ With no Quixote left to fight? ♪

♪ Ah, but this, my love ♪

♪ Is something you already knew ♪

♪ At some point on the horizon ♪

♪ The sky can be confused with earth ♪

♪ Some people dream of God ♪

♪ And others dream of wealth ♪

♪ But of course, my love ♪

♪ This is what you see out on the street ♪

♪ That's how it's always been ♪

♪ And I know you know it ♪

♪ There can be freedom ♪

♪ Only when nobody owns it ♪

♪ Let me say that again ♪

♪ Oh, yeah ♪

♪ 'Cause I know you know it ♪

♪ There can be freedom ♪

♪ Only when nobody owns it ♪

♪ Oh, yeah ♪

(singing in Spanish)

If you start reading Latin American history

with the United States' involvement in Latin America,

it comes face-to-face with one's feelings of responsibility

for what one's government has done in the name of one's freedom.

You have to get over your guilt, you know.

And the thing is, if anybody knows the difference

between the people and the government, it would be Cubans, you know.

I mean, the one thing Cubans really have in common,

whether they're from the right or the left, you know,

is that they have this burning desire for freedom.

Yeah, sí, sí, sí, sí.

Do you want a harmony on, uh...

(speaks Spanish)

A little bit of--

(strumming guitar)

(Varela singing in Spanish)

(Varela speaking Spanish)

Browne: This is a political town,

and I think that it is important

and the purpose of our U.S.-Cuba policy initiative

is to demonstrate and to show how idiotic it is

to have a cold war going anywhere in the world,

and this is Barack Obama's historic chance

to finally end a Cold War that should not be going on.

(singing in Spanish)

(Varela speaking Spanish)

(continues singing in Spanish)

It just doesn't work. It's time to stop.

I don't know if he'll see it.

I hope he does. I hope I see it.

His attempt and his efforts are not in vain.

Yeah, we gotta do something. I mean, yeah.

It's just between governments, not between the people.

But the people are the ones who suffer, you know,

especially the people in Cuba.

'Cause he is Cuban and he is exactly what everybody hopes a patriot would be.

And not a grandstanding person who's trying to get something for it.

(singing in Spanish)

But someone who simply is able to express

his love for country and his hope for the future

and his-- his, you know, belief in his fellows, you know,

that things can be made positive.

(singing in Spanish)

(speaks Spanish)

(crowd cheering)

♪ ♪

Del Toro: Many people have-- that have never been to Cuba--

is that once you go against the government, that's it for you.

Either you leave or you end up in jail.

They might have their ups and downs,

but Carlos is an example that the system can bend,

that it's not as rigid as you get the impression

of the system in Cuba is completely rigid.

And I think, in a way of looking at it,

you can see that the system is not just black or white.

(singing in Spanish)

The idea of change, I think, is something very Ché.

It's like, just because something is written in some law,

that doesn't mean that it can't be changed.

Time changes, everything is changing all the time.

(Varela continues singing in Spanish)

(Perugorría speaking Spanish)

Browne: He just really is very representative

of people here and what they have.

They want to rejoin the world.

They want to be able to travel.

They want the things that this, you know--

that this age could offer.

They say, "Okay, it's time. It's time to move forward."

And I think that they're very much

like everybody else in the world.

They want to move into the future.

They want everything that-- you know,

that a modern life would bring a country.

But they don't want to go back

and they certainly don't want to give up

any of the things that they fought so hard to have.

(Varela singing in Spanish)

(crowd cheering)

(music playing)

(Varela speaking Spanish)

(singing in Spanish)

(Varela speaking Spanish)

(singing in Spanish)

Browne: I think there's a really excellent chance

that as the political process unfolds and goes forward,

that the more people are able to know Cubans

through Cuban music.

But you have to ask yourself, what would it'd have been like

if you had to travel to Ireland to hear U2?

If your favorite band was in Ireland

and the only way you could hear them was to go there?

How much of an impact would that band have on your culture?

(singing in Spanish)

(Varela speaking Spanish)

(Varela singing in Spanish)

(Varela speaking Spanish)

(Varela singing in Spanish)

(Varela singing in Spanish)

(Varela speaking Spanish)

(crowd cheering)

(singing in Spanish)

(Varela speaking Spanish)

(chatter in Spanish)

-Woman: I love you. -I love you.

-I love you! -(speaks Spanish)

(Varela speaking Spanish)

Del Toro: Many people from all over the world admire Cubans

for their poise under such difficult circumstances.

It immediately puts Cuba in a position of being an underdog.

And, you know, it's hard to root against the underdog.

(Varela speaking Spanish)

(crowd clapping, chanting): Cuba! Cuba! Cuba!

(Varela speaking Spanish)

(chanting continues): Cuba! Cuba! Cuba!

(Varela speaking Spanish)

♪ ♪

(crowd clapping rhythmically)

-(crowd cheering) -(Varela speaks Spanish)

♪ ♪

(speaking Spanish)

Man: In the name of this university

and by authority of royal charter,

I admit you to this degree

with all its rights, privileges, and responsibilities.

Felicidades.

(applause)

(Varela speaking Spanish)

(singing in Spanish)

(crowd shouts in Spanish)

(crowd cheering)

(Varela singing in Spanish)

-(crowd cheering) -(speaking Spanish)

(crowd cheering)

(guitar music playing)

(singing in Spanish)

(continues singing in Spanish)

(children chattering in Spanish)

(music playing)

(Varela singing in Spanish)

-(crowd cheering) -(singing continues)

(crowd cheering)

-(song ends) -(cheering continues)