Twenty-seven-time GRAMMY / Latin GRAMMY winner JUANES shares another ‘inspired by real-life events’ video dealing with a nation forced to process the tragic loss of life from the use of violence in confrontation.
In the video for “MAYO” the Pink Floyd-inspired opening track of Juanes’ recently released career landmark album ‘Vida Cotidiana’ (“Everyday Life”), the Colombian songwriter who is a global advocate for peace, takes us deep inside the heart-wrenching national emotion stirred by tragic events surrounding the countries paralyzing month-long May 2021 protests fueled by workers and students.
Juanes said about the track:
This song came to me because I was so frustrated as I was watching turmoil unfold on social media in real-time during the May 2021 protests in Colombia. People threatening to burn policemen, Police firing at young protesters on the streets, it was a surreal moment of chaos in my country, and I began writing about the horror and heartbreak I was witnessing. But instead of an aggressive feel, I’ve always been a very big fan of Dark Side of the Moon era Pink Floyd, and began thinking of how they utilized music to evoke surrealism and chaos, so David Campbell came and did an arrangement of strings that was just amazing, and resulted in one of my favorite tracks on the album. It has that Pink Floyd vibe with the first verse telling what happened, and then the chorus is saying ‘We are not the same.’ And then, the second verse is more, optimistic, It’s saying what we really need to do is change.
For the video directed by Maria Camila Calle, I recalled another true story of the protests that really shocked me – when an ambulance transporting a pregnant woman was surrounded and blocked by protesters. And as a result, the baby sadly died before they could reach the hospital, and this happened twice during the May protests. I thought these new souls that were deprived of life itself would be the symbol that could bring us all together around those sad and devastating days. That we can have differences and advocate for our beliefs, but not to the point of sacrificing our future. I have hope for my country and some of that hope is reflected in the final scene of the video..