Yo soy tu Romeo pero no santo

Notes on Romeo Santos and the Sacraments

About two years ago I wrote an essay for America Magazine about the “sacramental ethos” of Romeo Santos’ music. I attempted to bring his oeuvre into dialogue with the ideas of Camille Paglia, Georges Bataille, Charles Taylor, Junot Diaz, Teresa of Avila, and John of the Cross. In honor of Aventura’s “final” tour (dique…), I’m publishing some extras from the essay.

Ultimately, what I find fascinating about his music is the extent to which he experiences eros as caught in a tension between ecstasy and agony, the sacred and the demonic. For him, love is not neutral, bourgeois, or something that can be reigned in by our rational wills. Instead, his music speaks to the utter contingency of human existence on forces that transcend ourselves, and the futility of attempting to make sense of the experience of love while ignoring these forces.

Though some criticize him for being too sappy, it’s hard not to recognize his poetic genius and brutal transparency in his lyrics. This is a man who allows himself to feel…to be fully impacted by the force of erotic desire and to examine it through his art. I decided to publish some parts of the essay that didn’t make the final cut. I suggest you read the original piece in order to fully appreciate the content below.