Jul 24, 2020
(Alejandro Franov)
seen from United States
seen from Türkiye
seen from United States
seen from Netherlands
seen from United States
seen from Germany
seen from United States
seen from Hong Kong SAR China
seen from Türkiye
seen from Mexico
seen from United States
seen from China
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Canada
seen from Canada
seen from Malaysia
seen from United States
seen from Latvia
seen from United States
(Alejandro Franov)
"Idioma" from A∩B
When I was asked which was my favorite Juana Molina song I chose one that isn’t in her six albums, but it’s the opening track of A∩B, the album she did with Alejandro Franov. “Idioma” is a song that I always play whenever I’m not feeling well, in those moments of life when you get nervous, you can’t control yourself and you feel misunderstood. “Idioma” (“Language”) is the most soothing Juana Molina has ever been. I don’t mind if it was part of a collaboration album; this is still my favorite Juana Molina song -- partly because the first CD of A∩B is more similar to Juana’s music.
Still, this is very different to Juana Molina’s songs on her own albums. The soft and peaceful melody shows that it was written in the Tres Cosas era, but you can notice that there is an outside element in the music that isn’t her. She reaches a level of innocence and delicacy that I couldn’t find in any of her songs. Besides, that manipulation of her voice that sound as if she was being played backwards is something she never did before neither. And I’m not sure if this should be considered a uniqueness in between Juana Molina’s catalog or it was thanks to Alejandro Franov’s help, especially knowing all that he meant for Juana.
Part of why I choose “Idioma” as my favorite Juana Molina song is because the first time I heard it, it was the first time I saw her live at the ND Ateneo on March, 2012. That was a very challenging show for me since her Un día’s concert consisted of playing the same song for ten minutes. I was overwhelmed by the sound that was coming from everywhere and even at the end I might have felt a little bit dizzy. But this song was so different from the rest; it was home.
I don’t think she plays “Idioma” often. I like to believe that this was the only time she played it live and it was a mere coincidence that I came across it. I found the recording of the entire concert and I listened to “Idioma”, even though I didn’t let myself for a long time. Of course the recording didn’t transmit to me that protection and warmness that memory had built in my mind, but I don’t worry. That was just recording, I know that the performance was a lot more.
Three parter: 1) What is your favorite Juana Molina song? 2) Why are you so drawn to it and what does it mean? 3) Can you remember when you first heard it?
Juana Molina has released enough albums to choose a song from them, but “Idioma” has always been special for me. This song is actually the only one I know from A y B, the EP (or album?) she released with Alejandro Franov in 2004. Maybe the other songs are as nice as this one or maybe this is the only worth listening, I really don’t know — and maybe I don’t care? Although this was a collaborative release, I consider this a Juana Molina song and I’ve been wanting to write about it for a long time, so maybe this answer will be quite long.
You can notice that “Idioma” (“Language”) is different. The soft and peaceful melody shows that it was written in the Tres Cosas era — I’ve always considered Segundo to be more folkloric and terrenal. But you can notice that there is an outside element in the music that isn’t her. She reaches a level of innocence and delicacy that I couldn’t find in any of her songs and the manipulation of her voice that sound as if she was being played backwards is something she never did before. And I’m not sure if this should be considered a uniqueness in between Juana Molina’s catalog or it’s thanks to Alejandro Franov’s help. Vincent Moon, the Take Away Show’s creator, travelled through Latin America some years ago and he did a short kind of documentary about Juana Molina. In it, she explains the relationship with Alejandro Franov — “We had 14 million arguments, we change and everything transpires in the music” — and he actually appears and they play something together.
“Idioma”’s innocence is partly because of the lyrics. I haven’t found them online, but this is what I understand translated to English:
“All the words,
were more than wise
were stranger, were stranger
were like water.
And the family didn’t understand,
and her friends didn’t understand her,
they doubted
And the family didn’t understand
and her friends didn’t understand her
She told what she wanted
because she knew that it didn’t exist
a language that spoke better”
I think that these lyrics show one of Juana Molina’s main characteristic: the simplicity, not only in the vocabulary she uses but of the situation. She isn’t interested in writing about grandiose events, but she is an orserver of everyday feelings and situations. Now that I translated it, I realize that this song could be metaphorical: a woman that isn’t understood — maybe Juana Molina herself? —, but I always think of her lyrics as literal. Knowing Juana Molina, I think this could be about a girl who had created her own language, or a way of communicating, and nobody cared for it, but she was happy to have discovered it — again, Juana Molina herself? When I rationalize the lyrics, there is no reason for me to identify with it, but I still like to feel identified. And in some way, we all have our own world with our own language that only we can understand.
Part of why I choose “Idioma” as my favorite Juana Molina’s song is because the first time I heard it was the first time I saw her live at the ND Ateneo on March, 2012. That was a very challenging show for me since her Un día’s concert consisted of playing the same song for ten minutes. I was overwhelmed because the music was coming from everywhere, not just from the stage, and even at the end I might have felt a little bit dizzy. But this song was so different from the rest; it was soothing and familiar. Once I was home, I looked it up and I only found one video that now has even less than 10,000 views. For some reason it has an image of Totoro— maybe that’s why I sometimes think the lyrics are about a little girl? — which for me makes the song even more enigmatic.
I don’t think she plays “Idioma” often. I like to believe that this was the only time she played it live and it was a mere coincidence that I came across it. I found the recording of the entire concert and I listened to “Idioma”, even though I didn’t let myself for a long time. Of course the recording didn’t transmit to me that protection and warmness that memory had built in my mind, but I don’t worry. That was just recording, I know that the performance was a lot more.
(Edit: I was just talking with my friend Cüyén who is a big fan of Juana Molina like me (she has seen her live eight times), and she asked me: “how were you as a child?”. I told her that I didn’t learn how to speak until I was three, and as everyone, she was surprised. So I explained her that my family’s theory is that since I moved to the US when I was only nine months, I was confused by English, but I didn’t stay long enough to be bilingual, so when I came back after a year and a half I was still confused. And so Cüyén tells me: “Juani, you were so “Idioma”!)
Juana Molina con Alejandro Franov - A & B (2003)
La hermana errante: a portrait of Juana Molina by Vincent Moon
I love Juana Molina’s work.