Analysis of the popular Colombian song El Camino De La Vida. "Things have always been like this"

Abstract

This article undertakes an analysis of the Colombian popular song El Camino de la Vida following the methodological model developed by Philip Tagg for the study of meaning in popular music. To carry out this analysis, certain steps are followed: first, the significant musical elements (musemas) are broken down and compared with similar elements present in other music. With the help of the comparison material, extramusical association fields are established that can be verbal, visual, psychological and ideological, among others. Subsequently, the models of the musical process of the song are identified and it is specified how these models are articulated with the extra-musical processes contained in it. Based on the previous findings, the article proposes a network of meanings contained in the music of the song. In short, the article raises how certain mechanisms work through which the music of El camino de la vida manages to affect mental models in its listeners and what are the meanings that can be attributed to said affectations.