Joan Manuel Serrat: «I am a man in favor of life»

Brevity has been recommended to me. It seems very prudent to me. In my experience, brevity, in general, is always appreciated.

In my university years, before my skills in the world of music were remunerated, I had to resort, like so many of you, to temporary jobs. In one of them, for emergency cases of employees, the company had a telephone enabled that worked based on tokens jealously controlled by the manager, a trusted man of the house, who jealously distributed the coveted objects. “You only have three minutes, young man, it may seem like little time to you, but when you have something to communicate, three minutes are more than enough.”

I’ll try to do it.

As you can see, I am an older man, looking like an old man. I come from a long post-war period and From a humble family that gave me the best that can be given to someone, the best you can find in me comes from there.. Along the random path I found the reasons to move forward and with the impulse of dreams I got here. I am a person who feels loved and respected, who likes his job: singing and writing songs. I am a person in favor of my own and other people’s lives. I prefer roads to borders, reason to force and instinct to civility. I am a social and rational animal that needs other men beyond the tribe. I believe in tolerance. I believe in respect for the rights of others and dialogue as the only way to resolve issues fairly. I believe in freedom, justice and democracy. Values ​​that either go hand in hand or they don’t.

I confess that I do not like the world we live in, hostile, contaminated and unsupportive where democratic and moral values ​​have been replaced by the greed of the market, where everything has a price. I do not like to witness atrocities without unanimous and forceful responses. I am not satisfied when I see dreams stranded on the other bank of the river. “When will the time come to harvest the dreams?” I ask myself reluctantly, seeing my friends leave without harvesting their dreams.

I want to leave a good memory in others when I disappear. The memory of a good man, fair and grateful and I hope I have not reached today to show gratitude and affection to those who have generously given me their friendship, their company and their advice but, just in case from here, I want to thank my teachers who have been many, to my colleagues, to the friends who have shared the path with me and who have stimulated and helped me knowingly or not to travel it and above all I want to thank my wife for allowing me to share life with her.

Thanks to my parents and my children and my grandchildren who are my greatest pride.

Thanks to those who have made my songs their own and to all those who from the four cardinal points are happy with me to see my name joined to the resounding list of winners of this award. I like to sing and write songs. I can’t find any other way to say thank you than to do it here.