Help settle a bet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?

Question

Was the song 'Fernando' by ABBA about the Mexican Revolution or the Spanish Civil War?

It mentions 'Rio Grande' but there are rivers named that in both Mexico and Spain.

"We never thought we could lose.... " sounds like they lost the war and that they were fighting for freedom.... which could mean they were the Republicans who lost the Spanish Civil War to the Nationalists who were supported by Nazi Germany and Italy and deprived everyone of freedom.

So which is right?

Answer 1

Sometimes being bilingual helps. This is what the Spanish language version of Wikipedia says:

"La canción original fue escrita por Frida, y la versión para ABBA, fue escrita por Benny, Björn y Stig. La canción habla acerca de la nostalgia que tienen dos soldados de sus días de juventud, y ubican una guerra cercana a México."

So.... the song is about two soldiers reminscing about a war in Mexico, not Spain.

Rio Grande refers to the river that marks the U.S.-Mexico border (Americans call it the Rio Grande, Mexicans Rio Bravo)... The song is not about the Spanish Civil War, but rather about the Mexican Revolution that took place in 1910.

The lyrics present a vision of nostalgia for presumably two soldiers reminiscing in old age about some unspecified war of liberation or national defense they participated in during their younger days.

Here is what Wikipedia says: "While the composers claim that they did not mean to refer to any specific war or period, the reference to the Rio Grande seems to tie the setting to Mexico – possibly in the time of the Mexican Revolution – or possibly Texas. Alternatively, it has been speculated that this song refers to the role of the International Brigade volunteers in the Spanish Civil War (though the former is most likely)."