Other E-Ruizzo
La Fortaleza (with Markjbennett)

soundcloud.com/markjbennett: lyrics / vocal melodies / vocals
Ruizzoidman: music / vocals

Mark says: In the music Manuel kindly offered me, I could clearly hear historic military conflict and I felt it was important that the lyrical theme resonated with us both. I had often visited the Canary Island of La Gomera and couldn’t escape the history of the Guanches, nor ignore the powerful beauty of the mountain, La Fortaleza de Chipude. Manuel has been such an enthusiastic partner in this project with an imaginative and energetic approach that left me in awe.

Manuel says: Mark and I decided to sing together after I arranged his acapella voice within his open collab “The Parting Glass” last springtime. I was working with strong but abstract inspiration at that moment, and shared some ideas with him. Step by step, and with help from his epic lyrics, the track got shape with a non-stop brainstorming. Now, we’re proud to post this work together, no doubt the one on which I’ve worked (and enjoyed) the most by now. May you feel disoriented, most perhaps in 11/8 instrumental parts, just grab the bass line to a safer ride along ;)

If you’d like to understand more about the Guanches - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guanches

Some images of La Fortaleza -es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortaleza_de_Chipude

Photograph of the Guanches leader Hautacuperche in Valle Gran Rey, La Gomera by Douglas Corrance

=[ Narrator’s Prologue ]=

Los Guanches,
Proud Atlantean people,
Safe in their utopia,
For millennia,
In their island paradise.
Little did they know,
What would await them,
And what their fate, would be…

=[ Song ]=

Conquistadores came,
And across the barranco,
The alarm was raised,
In whistling form.
Fiercely defiant,
Protecting our sacred ways,
Ambushing the foe,
With advantage of terrain.

La Fortaleza,
Our mountain is our strength,
And our place of sacrifice.

The mountain is our strength,
And will be our retreat
Our culture may be gone
Save for the whistling.
Throughout the valleys,
Our bloodline survives
The mountain is our strength,
And will be our last stand.

La Fortaleza,
Our mountain is our strength,
And our place of sacrifice.

The mountain, our only hope,
And our last refuge
Facing our final battle
With only rocks and sticks
Our blood now flows
Down the barranco
The mountain once our strength,
Now, our fitting end.

=[ Epilogue ]=

When a stronghold,
Becomes a foothold,
The only hold out,
Nothing left to hold,
All will fold, fold, fold, fold…