For this week’s song share, I have decided to go with “Oye Como Va” by Santana.  A classic rock song from a band that is named after and spearheaded by a Mexican-born man in Carlos Santana.  The song “Oye Como Va” actually happens to be a cover of the song by Tito Puente with the same title, however the song never reached popularity until Santana released their version.  And the cover appears on Santana’s second album Abraxas, in 1970 which was a mix of rock, blues, jazz, salsa, and countless other influences.  This album turned out to be very successful, as it also included one of Santana’s most well known singles “Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen”.  This song and “Oye Como Va” propelled Abraxas to six weeks atop the Billboard chart at the end of 1970 and remained on the charts for 88 weeks.  Giving a little more background about Santana and his band though, Carlos was born in Autlán de Navarro in Jalisco, Mexico on July 20, 1947 and moved to San Francisco with his family later on.  His father was a mariachi musician, which had a massive influence on Carlos music abilities.  By five years old, Carlos could play the violin, and by age eight, he could play the guitar which is no easy task.  Santana formed the Santana Blues Band, and got signed to Columbia Records playing an original blend of Latin-infused rock with various influential rhythms.  The band would undergo many changes over the years, shifting focus to different styles over the years, but they were always successful.  Santana would go on to have a ridiculously successful career, becoming one of the most well known guitar players ever.  The song in and of itself focuses on the sound of an organ as well as Santana’s guitar and takes on a slow tempo and pace.  The hook of the song is repetitive as the lyrics of the hook are repeated throughout the song, and they are the only lyrics in the song.  However, the hook doesn’t feel as repetitive as it is due to the focus on the playing of the instruments, and the amount of time given to Santana to play his guitar.  This song gives me the feeling that I’m sitting in an older restaurant or bar along the beach on the southwest coast of California with a setting sun.  Overall, this is a great song, and Santana has a lot of great music that I highly recommend.