In the songbook left by the Cuban singer-songwriter Paul Milanes some compositions of singular richness stand out, among these, Yolandea romantic song dedicated to his partner Yolanda Benet, with whom he had three daughters, Lynn, Liam and Suylendied last January, aged 50.
Ten days after Lynn’s birth, Milanés composed one of those songs that reach the heart quickly; the song manages to convey a fullness of love that is enhanced by the music. The song was released in 1982, 12 years after its composition, on the album I’ll stay.
“This can only be a song / I wish it was a declaration of love / romantic without reparation like this / to end what I feel in abundance / I love you, I love you, eternally, I love you”.
Yolande It could be said that due to the more than 21 million views on Spotify, it is his most played song.
Benet was the second pair of Milanés, and it wasn’t the one he was with the longest, as they only lasted four years together, between 1969 and 1973. They were a couple with a huge love story and then with a friendship that has stood the test of time.
Yolanda Benet uploaded a photo to her Instagram in June last year with Pablo and one of her daughters during her visit to Madrid, where Milanés lived.
Benet was born in Cienfuegos, of French grandparents. He settled in Havana in 1962, where he began working as a screenwriter and assistant director at the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Arts and Industries, where he worked for more than 25 years.
The couple met in November 1968, during a performance of Milanés at the Institute. As Benet said in one of the few interviews he has given in all these years, “listen To live, I realized that this musician was nothing like he sounded at that time. I fell in love with his songs and his voice, even though I hadn’t met him personally yet.”
how they met
It was a mutual friend who brought them together to work on the documentary The first charge to the machetefor which the artist composed four songs.
Much later Yolanda said: “I was that girl he fell in love with, but it could have been someone else, I don’t think it has any personal merit; her talent, of course, is hers.
Benet met Milanés when he was just starting to make a name for himself after leaving the Los Bucaneros quartet and had begun his foray into political song after attending the First International Meeting of Protest Singing, held in Varadero, in 1967.
As Benet recalled, Milanés first sang it to him when he returned from an inland trip he had to make shortly after the birth of his first daughter, Lynn.
“I remember I was with Lynn at my mother’s house and the girl was sick, crying and not wanting to sleep, I tried, but it was a struggle. Pablo arrived with Noel Nicola and he sang me three songs, Do not ask me, I want to put the earth at your feet Y Yolandebut with the problem I had with Lynn I couldn’t pay much attention to it at the time.
It was only at nightfall and in the silence of the house that Yolanda heard those undoubtedly moving lines: “When I saw you I knew it was true / That fear of getting caught / You undress me with seven reasons / You open my chest every time you fill me up”.
Yolanda Benet and Milanés had their first daughter in 1970, and they got married in Old Havana in 1971, a year after composing their famous song Yolande.
By the way, though Yolande It’s the most famous of his romantic songs, it’s not the only one he dedicated to his partner. She had five companions and somehow immortalized them all with songs, Olga Ayoub, with Olga; to Zoe Alvarez, with Beginning and end of a green morning; to Sandra Pérez, with Sandroand his widow, Nancy Perez, with The long way to Santiago.
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Source: Clarin
