EL PROFETA DEL NOPAL

EL PROFETA DEL NOPAL

Around the time when I was heavy into hardcore punk a couple of years back a photographer friend of mine introduced me to one RockDrigo Gonzalez, he was very passionate in his argument as to why I should like this “anti-troubadour.” I told him it sounded too folky for me, very Bob Dylan-ish and I for one wasn’t too big of a fan of ol’ Bob. He went on to tell me that RockDrigo was part of a collective of musicians that roamed throughout Mexico in the early 80’s when rock and roll was still banned by the government. A band of roaming deviant, socially conscious, beer guzzling, peyote eating, anti-troubadours, and their fearless leader was this, “RockDrigo Gonzalez”. I won’t give away too much of his history because I’d like to pass down this gem of an artist whose genius took me years to sink in. The brother was taken out by the Great Earthquake that hit Mexico City on the morning of September 19th 1985. “El Profeta Del Nopal”( i.e. peyote), as he was known, was among the 10,000 people that died on that morning, he was one of those souls that understood too much, his lyrics were deep social commentary not well received in the mainstream because of the street slang that he incorporated. He did however have mad love from the people. Fast forward to a few years later I came across one of his albums, “Hurbanistorias” and now more accepting of other genres that weren’t just hardcore punk I gave it a listen, I’m not even sure if I ever told my photographer friend that I am now and have been for a few years now a fan. The album is packed with that anti-troubadour style, the lyrics are phenomenal, the story telling is powerful, the observations are very critical and the language is sick. I decided to look up his lyrics and read them for myself, analyze if you will, the man was a genius, he wrote in multi syllabic rhyme schemes that could have given Rakim Allah a good run for his money. The anniversary of his death is coming up in a few days as is that of the Great earthquake of 85, my sharing his existence with those who don’t know of him as of yet is my tribute to one of my teachers, a temachtiani, a spiritual elder, a colleague EL PROFETA DEL NOPAL!!. The song I put up is a live version of “No Tengo Tiempo (de Cambiar mi Vida)” or “I Don’t Have Time (To Change my Life)” off the HURBANISTORIAS album the first few lines go as follows:

“Cabalgo sobre sueños innecesarios y rotos
prisionero iluso de esta selva cotidiana
y como hoja seca que vaga en el viento
vuelo imaginario sobre historias de concreto
navego en el mar de las cosas exactas
voy clavado en momentos de semánticas gastadas
y cual si fuera una nube esculpida sobre el cielo
dibujo insatisfecho mis huellas en el invierno

ya que yo, no tengo tiempo de cambiar mi vida
la maquina me ha vuelto en una sombra borrosa
y aunque sea la misma puerta que han negado tus ojos
se que tengo tiempo de atracar en un puerto

or

“I ride on horseback over broken and unnecessary dreams
Naïve prisoner of this routine jungle,
And like a dry leaf wandering through the wind
Imaginary flight over stories of concrete
Sailing through the ocean of all things exact
I’m focused on moments of wasted semantics
And what that I were a cloud sculpted over the sky
I’ll draw a dissatisfactory sketch of my prints in winter

Now that I, Don’t have time to change my life
The machine has turned me into a blurry shadow
And even thought I’m the door that your eyes have neglected
I know that I still have time to dock on some port…”

- Daniel Morales Leon
(a.k.a. Chapulin, Grasshoper, Under, Chespi)