Like many people in the rest of the world, the rock singer “Sting” was moved by the courage and pain of the women who were relatives of the “disappeared and detained”. He visited Chile and the arpillera workshops and was especially touched when he witnessed these women doing the GUECA, a traditional Chilean courtship dance that is performed annually. The women were dancing alone, wearing a photograph of their husband or lover who was gone on their blouses.
Album notes from They Dance Alone. “On the Amnesty Tour of 1986 the musicians were introduced to former political prisoners, victims of torture and imprisonment without trial from all over the world. These meetings had a strong affect on all of us. It’s one thing to read about torture, but to speak to a victim brings you a step closer to the reality that is so frighteningly pervasive. We were all deeply affected.”
Written and recorded By “Sting”
From the album Nothing Like the Sun
Why are these women here dancing on their own?
Why is there this sadness in their eyes?
Why are the soldiers here
their faces waxed like stone?
I can’t see what it is that they despise
They’re dancing with the missing
They’re dancing with the dead
They dance with the invisible ones
Their anguish is unsaid
They’re dancing with their fathers
They’re dancing with their sons
They’re dancing with their husbands
They dance alone They dance alone
It’s the only only form of protest they’re allowed
I’ve seen their silent faces scream so loud
If they were to speak these words
they’d go missing too
Another woman on the torture table
What else can they do
They’re dancing with the missing
They’re dancing with the dead
They dance with the invisible ones
Their anguish is unsaid
They’re dancing with their fathers
They’re dancing with their sons
They’re dancing with their husbands
They dance alone They dance alone
One day we’ll dance on their graves
One day we’ll sing our freedom
One day we’ll laugh in our joy
And we’ll dance
One day we’ll dance on their graves
One day we’ll sing our freedom
One day we’ll laugh in our joy
And we’ll dance
Ellas danzan con los desaparecidos
Ellas danzan con los muertos
Ellas danzan con (the invisible ones)
Their anguish is unsaid
Danzan con sus padres
Danzan con sus hijos
Danzan con sus esposos
Danzan solas