El Gigante strolls along
The sunny streets of old Cordón 
Pausing to shade the veteranas from the midday sun

El Hornero bird can spy
El Gigante’s friendly eye
As he passes up crumbs discarded by the passers by
To her home of clay in the blue sky Of Uruguay

Muestra una sonrisa (He shows a smile) Para darté vida
(To give you life)
Luce un cielo azul
He lights up the blue sky Con su andar
Su caminar por el Cordón
(With his walk, his stroll through El Cordón)

Escaramuza’s highest shelf 
El Gigante helps himself 
Passing down books to the customers below
Reciting Ibarbourou

Many, many moons ago
When they built the newest home 
The door was a regular size
Then Gigante arrived
That’s why they build them so high In Uruguay

Muestra una sonrisa...

Las puertas d’el Cordón (The doors of Cordón) 
Asi tan grandes son (Are so big there)
Para que puede entrar por ellas El Gigante
(In order for the giant to enter through them)

Vamos a cantar, Todos a cantar (Let’s all sing)
Le queremos dar (We’d all like to give)
Las gracias al Gigante (Thanks to El Gigante)


My favourite stroll is up to El Cordón. As you ascend from the modernity and daintiness of middle class Pocitos with its beach front apartments, dog walkers and delicious bakeries you leave behind the glamorous 1930s-2000s ‘edificios’ and embrace something far older and more colonial. The ornate and often crumbling 19th century Spanish buildings of El Cordón are a colourful and romantic feast for the eyes.

The most extraordinary feature of these often graffiti covered homes is the door. Doorframes are as tall as the building and boast beautifully crafted and ornate wooden doors and shutters and iron-work window bars and door handles.

Inside one of the finest buildings is Escaramuza, the most beautiful bookshop I’ve ever seen. It’s always full of people like me who just come to smell the books, wonder at the height of the highest shelf and the stained glass ceiling and have a coffee in the café out-back (which I’m sure saves them from bankruptcy if customers really are like me and rarely buy more than a postcard.)

Sipping my coffee one day I found myself thinking about those doors. Why make them so big? Is it a ventilation thing? Maybe it was a way of showing off wealth?

In the absence of any sensible explanation I decided that a ten foot giant ‘El Gigante’ had once lived in El Cordón and was well known to everyone for his kindly acts. In order to be able to welcome him into their homes, residents all decided to add enormous doors to their properties.

Despite having figured out a completely logical explanation, I was thrilled when virtuoso guitarist Juan Pablo Chapital ‘Chapa’ who performed with us in in Montevideo’s ‘El Mingus’ jazz club revealed that in 19th Century Cordón it was normal for people to enter their houses on horseback, hence the supersized doorways! 

How wonderful!

El Gigante is the kind of song you only write on holiday when you have few cares and too much time on your hands.

A celebration of El Cordón, of stories, and of day dreaming.

El Gigante

This is a lost gem of 21 year old Bonnie Raitt singing an unplugged cut of Joni Mitchell's "Woodstock".  Recorded in March 1971 at the Jabberwocky Club in the basement of the cafeteria at Syracuse University. The gig was recorded by WAER radio but was never released on her albums.  Its considered a bootleg and hard to find.  Many current music stars like James Taylor played here because WAER would do these broadcasts "live" to the New York area.

Woodstock, B Raitt

My daughter asked me to make my version of one of her current favourite songs.  Had a ball creating this at home with expert assistance from Andrés Lafone on bass and Charlie Price on drums.

Still Feel

UK Singer-songwriter, mentor to Sam Smith

El Gigante

Joanna Eden

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