
In
1967 I was playing in my first band. We played all
kinds of music from Cha cha cha and Tango to Pop and Rock.
This was Mozambique, a mysterious land of beautiful beaches -
no TV, no big entertainment, however, there was a lot of music in the air...
There, I remember, I used to hear the echoes of the "flower revolution": the times they were changing, and my search
was just beginning ...
I
was forced to make a break when I was sent to the "school of hard
knocks"... no choice in the matter: War, that ever-present
curse on humanity, was also a reality in those days. Children
with guns, fighting for a cause that, if they could understand
it, they would never embrace. Deceived by patriotic
fervor but also having no choice, there I was - I went to war.
I was released from the
contingency of becoming a mine sapper and ended up serving
as an engineer where I supervised the building of roads ... instead of killing I made
many friends ... others were not so blessed... and my search
went on....
The 70's were prolific in country and folk singers. I received great
influences from John Denver, James Taylor, Simon
and Garfunkel, and many others whom I tried to emulate. I decided to move from mysterious Africa to political
Europe. There I found a lot more to sing about: in Lisbon
people were out on the streets, involved in daily protests. They claimed political
change to build the ideal system. At this
time I learned about a different kind of revolution: the
Jesus Revolution! Love and Peace became more than mere lyrics
of songs. The word everlasting took up a brand new meaning.
I met some long hairy hippies who encouraged me to experience
some kind of inner change... It was simple: praying to
receive Jesus! To accept Him as my savior. They were telling me that in Jesus I would find real Peace, real Joy and real Love - through
accepting the Prince
of Peace, Lord of Lords, and King of Kings - That I would be born
again. It was not long before I decided to forsake
everything to become a follower of Jesus. Yet, although the
search was over, the struggle was not.
From
the streets of Lisbon to the streets of Madrid and Barcelona,
I traveled the Iberian peninsula as a street fighter...
not with weapons of destruction, but with ammunition of faith.
I played music in concerts, meetings, parks and even on the streets, where I sung of a new hope. I took my guitar wherever I went,
thus I became known as "el trobador" or "o trovador"
- a strolling minstrel. Now I was singing: "só há uma revoluçao"
(only one revolution), "cambiar el mundo, empiesa em tu corazon..."
(to change the world... start within your heart)
flash.
"onde estaria
sem amor..." (where would you be without love...). The Bible
became the source of inspiration and the sole motivation for
my music.
[more songs from that time here]
St. Francis became my model: "Where there is doubt, that
I may bring Faith; where there is hate, that I may bring Love;
where there is distress, that I may bring Hope..." Those were
the 70's, and the world was growing weary in the fears of
the "cold war"... In 1978 I met Donna. We
stood for the same ideals - Jesus, the Word, Changing the
World, and we shared many common goals and desires. We
needed each other and our love for music was the bond that
kept us through ups and downs, trials and tests. We were
a duo, but soon we became a trio ... |