About Lido Pimienta's No Pude
Lido Pimienta is a Toronto-based, Colombian-born interdisciplinary musician and artist-curator. “No Pude”, her first new music since the release of her 2016 Polaris Prize-winning album La Papessa, is available now.
Filled with both longing and heartache, the song’s opening lines translate in English to:
“Oh it pains me / Oh, in my heart / Oh, it pains me / Oh, in my heart / I could not open up to you / to the level I can now / I just could not give myself to you (anymore) / I could not even see you and could not even resist it – now / I just could not give myself to you (anymore)”
“No pude means: I could not. In the context of the song it means something to the effect of, ‘I am tired of trying’,” Pimienta explained. “The words speak directly to the sense of dread and constant anxiety my home country gives me. ‘No Pude’ sums up the love / hate relationship I have with Colombia. I hold Colombia close to my heart and my soul, but that loves turns into rage and shame as fast as a match takes to burn.”