El arriero

The Muleteer by Divididos doesn’t sound like just another rendition of a traditional song. The band infuses it with a distinct weight, as if the dusty road described in the lyrics also extends to the sound: the riffs by Ricardo Mollo and Diego Arnedo intertwine with the drums of Federico Gil Solá in a groove that doesn’t rush, yet never lets go. There’s something in the way the guitar and bass converse, as if each note had to carry the weight of the story being told. The original version by Atahualpa Yupanqui is folk, but here rock claims the mountain air and takes it somewhere else, without losing that essence of journey that pulses in every chord.

The song is part of The Age of Foolishness, the third album by Divididos, released in September 1993. By then, the band had already found its own voice, but this record was the one that solidified the sound that would set them apart. The recording was helmed by Aníbal Kerpel and Gustavo Santaolalla, while the mixing was handled by Danny Alonso and Tony Peluso. At 6:39 in length, The Muleteer stands as one of the longest tracks on the album, yet also one of the most effective in conveying that unhurried sense of travel, where every instrument seems to walk in time with the words.