When the chords of the fourth movement of Beethoven’s ninth symphony sound, people do not think of the German composer, but of Miguel Ríos. The voice of the Spanish singer intoning what is known as the Hymn to joy has replaced the original classic in the popular imagination. Just a few notes so that people start saying that “Listen, brother, to the anthem of joy, the joyful song of those who wait for a new day.” Since the song was released on the musician’s second album, Wake up, In 1970, it became a hit not only in Spain, but was also number one on the charts in Australia, Canada, Germany and Switzerland. Its English version, A Song of Joy, He achieved it on Billboard’s Easy Listening Music.
Behind the ball of the Hymn to joy There is the talent of Waldo de los Ríos, an Argentine composer who was a celebrity since the late 60s. He had his own program with his name in large letters; He was in charge of the soundtrack of masterpieces such as Who can kill a child?, and was a fundamental figure in Spain in the last decade of Francoism. Although born in Argentina, it was here where he became a star, mainly due to the incredible success of Hymn to joy. All the makings for an idyllic life that ended abruptly in 1977, when he committed suicide at home with a gunshot to the head.
The legacy of Waldo de los Ríos has been limited to that song, but his name has not been vindicated, being even forgotten by many with the passage of time. That was one of the reasons that led directors Charlie Arnaiz and Alberto Ortega to make a documentary, Waldo, in which they investigate the figure of the musician and try to solve the mystery of his death, what was going through the head of someone who a priori had everything to take his own life? Those responsible for other jobs such as Anatomy of a dandy either Raphaelisimo They once again take advantage of the life of their character to review the history of Spain in those years.
In this case, what happened on the street, the repression of Franco’s regime has a fundamental importance in the character, since Waldo de los Ríos was homosexual, lived the prejudices of the time and was never able to live his sexuality in freedom, but rather within the walls. of his house, which became his stronghold of freedom. As if it were vinyl, Waldo shows Face A of the character, the one he knew, his rise, his fame, his successes, until his tragic death that surprised everyone. There they turn the disk over, and try to dive into its shadows to understand what happened. To do this, they use the musician’s own material, who recorded everything he could in moving images, which serves as the narrative thread of a film that features the testimonies—never as talking heads—of the stars who knew him, such as Miguel Ríos. , Karina, Jeanette or Raphael.
The story of Waldo de los Ríos was presented to them in the form of a newspaper article that talked about the biography that had just been published about the musician. It was written by Miguel Fernández, whose voice acts as a narrative thread in a decision that makes sense in the exciting final minutes. “How is it possible that a person who fought all his life to be remembered, to not fall into oblivion, who had a television program with his name, who sold millions of records, now almost no one remembers his name?” Alberto Ortega asked himself upon discovering his story.
Through him they reconstruct the Spain of the time, because “it is impossible to know a character if you do not contextualize him.” “You couldn’t understand his personality, even many decisions he makes in life. It also happened to us with Francisco Umbral. Umbral and Waldo agree on several things. One is that both keep a drama underneath the character and agree that both are stars and both, in some way, fall into oblivion. To tell Waldo’s story it was very necessary to also tell the Spain of the time and the music industry of the moment,” explains Charlie Arnaiz.
Waldo de los Ríos’s penchant for recording everything led to speculation from the moment of his death that he could have recorded his death. It was published in all the media, but no one found the tape. The directors acknowledge that they did think that in one of the boxes full of material they opened they might encounter “the fateful moment.” “It’s something that sometimes we wanted to find, other times we didn’t. Anyway, that’s one of those big questions that isn’t resolved. It is not possible to know if it was recorded. If it had, logic tells you that someone would have found it and destroyed it. But yes, that tension was in the developments,” both directors acknowledge. With all these elements, it is appreciated that Waldo never fall into the evils of true crime, in the surprising twists, in the morbid questions and in the doubts that only provide bait. Charlie Arnaiz knows that “the most obvious thing would have been to go there, in that most morbid part.”
Where they do emphasize, and it ends up becoming the heart of the film, is in vindicating Waldo de los Ríos as one of many artists who could not live their sexuality in freedom and experienced the homophobia of the time of the dictatorship. “He is one of those people who fought for something as simple as loving who he wanted. Waldo could have been happy, and he wasn’t because of a simple matter of time. Just one year after his death, laws and society began to be revolutionized and rights were granted,” says Ortega.
Also as a reminder that we live in times where the reactionary right tries to once again single out the LGBT community. For this reason they wanted to vindicate the musician, “because in our children’s class there will be Waldos in 2024.” “Right now some people are being tried for hitting, beating and killing Samuel Luiz for being homosexual. This is happening, so it’s nothing of the past, there are still people who tell you that if they had a homosexual son it would bother them. That’s why that ending is so beautiful, because it was a way to honor people like Waldo, those who took to the streets to claim their rights, something that he couldn’t do,” they say. Perhaps the mystery of Waldo de los Ríos remains unsolved, but at least now people will be able to know his name and understand everything that was happening behind his glasses and his smile.
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