Cantata de Puentes Amarillos

The Cantata de Puentes Amarillos is an extensive piece, an acoustic suite that unfolds with a depth that goes beyond its nine minutes of duration. Its essence is nourished by diverse influences: the surrealist movement, the philosophy of "Theater of Cruelty" by Antonin Artaud, the history of the transgender and anarchist emperor Heliogabalus, and the vital tenacity that emanates from the paintings of Van Gogh. Luis Alberto Spinetta found the initial spark in an essay by Artaud about Heliogabalus, but it was the reading of another essay about Van Gogh and the letters exchanged between him and his brother Theo that allowed him to channel the impact of those ideas. Thus, Artaud, Heliogabalus, and Van Gogh intertwine from the beginning of the song. The "blood around" mentioned in the lyrics alludes both to Van Gogh's wound and to Heliogabalus's blood thrown into the city's latrines. The "yellow bridges" in the title evoke Van Gogh's works, with his characteristic use of yellow and the presence of bridges, seen through the eyes of Artaud, a genius who dared to see what society rejected and was "suicided" for it. In fact, in the design of the album Artaud, Spinetta included a quote from Artaud from 1937, stating that green and yellow are the colors opposite to death: green as the color of resurrection and yellow as that of decay.

This track is part of Artaud, the third and final studio album by Pescado Rabioso, released in October 1973. Although the group had disbanded earlier that year, Luis Alberto Spinetta decided to use the name for this work, which is considered his first solo album. The entire album is named after the French poet Antonin Artaud and was conceived as a response to his writings. The original design of the record, with its amorphous shape, was something the record label initially resisted. To present Artaud, Spinetta offered two morning concerts at the Astral Theater on Avenida Corrientes, accompanied only by his acoustic guitar. At each of these events, the audience received a copy of the manifesto "Spinetta Rock: Hard music, suicided by society." The production of the Cantata de Puentes Amarillos, like the rest of the album, was handled by Luis Alberto Spinetta himself.