They Dance Alone

"They Dance Alone (Cueca Solo)" is a protest song composed by English musician Sting and published first on his 1987 album ...Nothing Like the Sun; the song was the fifth and final single released from the album. The song is a metaphor referring to mourning Chilean women (arpilleristas) who dance the Cueca, the national dance of Chile, alone with photographs of their disappeared loved ones in their hands.

"They Dance Alone (Cueca Solo)"
Single by Sting
from the album ...Nothing Like the Sun
A-side"They Dance Alone (Cueca Solo)"
B-side"Ellas Danzan Solas"
Released1988
Recorded1987
Genre
Length7:16
LabelA&M
Songwriter(s)Gordon Sumner
Producer(s)Gordon Sumner
Sting singles chronology
"Fragile"
(1988)		 "They Dance Alone (Cueca Solo)"
(1988)		 "All This Time"
(1991)

Sting was accompanied by Eric Clapton, Fareed Haque and Mark Knopfler on guitar with Rubén Blades providing additional Spanish vocals.

Song information

Sting explained his song as a symbolic gesture of protest against the Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet whose regime killed thousands of people between 1973 and 1990. This song was recorded in both English (with some spoken Spanish words by the Panamanian salsa singer, Rubén Blades) and Spanish (with additional lyrics by Roberto Livi). This latter version was titled "Ellas Danzan Solas" and was released on the 1988 EP Nada como el sol.

Live versions

There are several live versions of this song, most notable from the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute (1988), from an Amnesty International concert (1988) in Buenos Aires with Peter Gabriel and the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo. On October 13, 1990, Sting played the song at Estadio Nacional in Santiago de Chile (with artists including Jackson Browne, Branford Marsalis, Luz Casal, Sinéad O'Connor, Peter Gabriel, Vinnie Colaiuta and New Kids on the Block).

Charts
Year Chart Position
1988 German Single Charts[1] 66
1988 Dutch Single Charts[2] 27
1988 UK Singles Chart[3] 94
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See also

References
  1. "musicline.de (German charts)". musicline.de. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
  2. "dutchcharts.nl (Dutch charts)". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
  3. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  • Sting: Lyrics by Sting. The Dial Press. 2007. ISBN 978-0-385-33987-2
  • Marjorie Agosín: Tapestries of hope, threads of love: the arpillera movement in Chile. Rowman & Littlefield, 2007. ISBN 978-0-7425-4003-3
  • Billboard review from the From Chile... An Embrace To Hope concert in Santiago de Chile (Online)
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