Our Song of the Day is from Joshua James, the song Esperanza which translates as ‘hope’ in Spanish was inspired by Jack kerouac’s 1960 novella Tristessa, a tragic love story set in Mexico City. Esperanza is the main character, a Mexican prostitute and addict with whom Kerouac (portrayed as Jack Duluoz) falls in love.
The song Esperanza appears on the album compilation Esperanza: Songs from Jack Kerouac’s Tristessa an album I recommend you buy which features the likes of William Fitzsimmons, Gregory Alan Isakov, Alela Diane, Marissa Nadler, The Low Anthem and many more great names that feature regularly on Folk Radio UK. The album will feature in our playlist from later this week.
Here’s the video for Esperanza:
“The beauty of things must be that they end.” Jack Kerouac (Tristessa)
William Fitsimmons has also recorded an abridged reading of the novella which is available here.