During our stay in Havana we met a young guy named Pepe, who is the drummer for a Christian rock band. That genre is sort of rare in Cuba, not least because the Christian thing is not favored by the government and such bands are therefore denied access to state venues and state television. Pepe said that when his band plays on the street, they make sure to sing the lyrics in English so as to camouflage the Christian message.
Personally, I’ve never been a fan of Christian rock, or the kind of praise music where people are supposed to wave their hands in the air. But these young people are inspiring because they’re doing their thing against long odds and they’re doing it without Internet access or state-of-the-art equipment. If these seem a little retro, even a little corny, remember that. Videos don’t go viral in Cuba; at best they get passed along by DVD and played on home computers, assuming the computer is up to the task. I uploaded these to YouTube upon my return.
Anyway, I like these songs and I like the band, Cantate Domino. (And yes, that’s Pepe on the bike and on the drums.) See what you think:
Presidents matter. Popes, not so much.
Morning on the water
Guns, gates and paranoia
Hundreds of candles in the wind
No end to selective outrage