"Matador" is a song written and sung by Gabriel Julio Fernandez Capello (aka Vicentico), the lead singer of Los Fabulosos Cadillacs

Los Fabulosos Cadillacs

Los Fabulosos Cadillacs is an Argentine ska band from Buenos Aires. Formed in 1985, they released their first album, Bares y Fondas in 1986...

, a rock band from Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

. It was first released in their 1993 album Vasos Vacíos

Vasos Vacíos

Vasos Vacíos Released in 1994 is the eighth album and first compilation one by the Argentine rock Ska reggae band Los Fabulosos Cadillacs...

and it is considered their signature song

Signature song

A signature song is the one song that a popular and well-established singer or band is most closely identified with or best known for, even if they have had success with a variety of songs...

 since the song topped the charts all across Latin America

Latin America

Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages  – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...

.

Alongside "Mal Bicho", "Manuel Santillan, El León" and "Desapariciones" (a cover of Rubén Blades' song), El Matador is one of the Cadillacs song about the oppression and forced disappearances during the years of military dictatorship across Latin America, particularly National Reorganization Process

National Reorganization Process

The National Reorganization Process was the name used by its leaders for the military government that ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983. In Argentina it is often known simply as la última junta militar or la última dictadura , because several of them existed throughout its history.The Argentine...

 in Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

. The song narrates the story of a revolutionary ("El Matador") hunted down by law enforcement from the revolutionary's POV. The song also references Víctor Jara

Víctor Jara

Víctor Lidio Jara Martínez was a Chilean teacher, theatre director, poet, singer-songwriter, political activist and member of the Communist Party of Chile...

, a Chile

Chile

Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

an folksinger and supporter of the Allende

Salvador Allende

Salvador Allende Gossens was a Chilean physician and politician who is generally considered the first democratically elected Marxist to become president of a country in Latin America....

 government who was kidnapped tortured and assassinated shortly after the Chilean coup of 1973

Chilean coup of 1973

The 1973 Chilean coup d'état was a watershed event of the Cold War and the history of Chile. Following an extended period of political unrest between the conservative-dominated Congress of Chile and the socialist-leaning President Salvador Allende, discontent culminated in the latter's downfall in...

 by military officials loyal to Augusto Pinochet

Augusto Pinochet

Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte, more commonly known as Augusto Pinochet , was a Chilean army general and dictator who assumed power in a coup d'état on 11 September 1973...

.

Uses of the song

This song is played when Nicaraguan boxer Ricardo "El Matador" Mayorga

Ricardo Mayorga

Ricardo Mayorga , is a Nicaraguan professional boxer. He is the former WBA/WBC Welterweight champion and the former WBC light middleweight champion. He holds a record of 29-8 with 23 knockouts and 1 draw 1 no contest. He was featured for the first time on the cover of Ring Magazine on the December...

 walks to the ring.

"El Matador" was the intro song for #1 tennis player in the world Rafael Nadal

Rafael Nadal

Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera is a Spanish professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. , he is ranked No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals...

in the 2010 US Open Night Sessions.

This song is part of the soundtrack of the movie "The Matador".

External links

• Los Fabulosos Cadillacs Official Site