A song that first became a hit in Spain when released more than 30 years ago has gone viral through a video released on social media, becoming an overnight anthem of resistance as Spaniards struggle to cope with the national COVID-19 crisis caused by the spread of the coronavirus.
Sung by Spain’s ‘Dúo Dinámico’, the song “Resistiré” (I Will Resist) has been played and sung all across Spain every evening for the past 15 days, as untold thousands of Spaniards living under isolation come to their windows and onto their balconies to applaud the courage of Spain’s healthcare workers, who put their lives on the line every day in an effort to contain the spread of the virus. The song has become a 2020 anthem.
The lyrics of “Resistiré” are all about resisting the hardships that life throws at you, of being like a reed that bends in the cruel winds of ill-fortune, but does not break under the strain.
Originally released by Spanish pop’s Dúo Dínamico in 1988 and further popularized on the soundtrack of Pedro Almodovar’s 1989 dark romantic comedy Átamé, "Resistiré" is now being sung collectively at a distance by Catholic nuns, nurses in hospital wards, by neighbors on balconies, by employees and customers in supermarkets, and in cover versions made by artists at home to encourage Spaniards to help fight the spread of the virus by staying at home during the lockdown period under Spain’s declared ‘state of emergency.’
