“Chan Chan” was written by the veteran Cuban guitarist Compay Segundo in the 1980s and opens the 1997 album Buena Vista Social Club, which brought veteran Cuban musicians to the world. Its verses follow a journey through towns in eastern Cuba, and tell a small, cheeky story about a couple, Juanica and Chan Chan, at the beach.
The album won a Grammy and, with Wim Wenders's documentary, made Cuban son famous worldwide. The four-chord guitar line of “Chan Chan” is one of the most recognisable in Latin music.
It's slow and repetitive, sung in the relaxed Spanish of rural Cuba, with place names (Alto Cedro, Marcané, Cueto, Mayarí) you can follow on a map. Great for the verbs of movement: voy para, llego a.