The Story Behind the Name
Record World, September 2, 1978, from World Radio History
Hawks-N-Doves is named after a Spanish song called, “Gavilán o paloma.” It was written by Spaniard Rafael Pérez-Botija, and made popular in Latin America by El Príncipe de la Canción, José José.
The song tells the story of a man who believes himself to be a skilled seducer, only to discover that the woman he approaches is the one in control. “Que fui paloma por querer ser gavilán,” or “I ended up being the dove when I wanted to be the hawk.”
In many ways, we often approach music believing ourselves to be the hawk. We think we’re in control of the experience because we choose what to listen to. We imagine ourselves as the ones discovering and evaluating the music. And yet, there is something about music that commands our attention, and which allows it to subvert our expectations and influence how we understand the world.
I never would have expected to be so captivated by “Gavilán o paloma.” In the past 30 days alone, I’ve listened to the song more than 25 times and even learned to sing along. I named this blog after the song at the center of this anecdote because it is a great example of the serendipity that drives my passion for music.
I also believe the metaphor of hawks and doves is useful in describing the process of conducting scholarly work. The point is not to command the world or reshape it according to one’s own vision, but rather, to encounter the world as it is, describe it as faithfully as possible, and remain open to having one’s assumptions challenged by what they discover in the process.
I consider this blog to be a mixture of an archival project and pseudo-scholarly work. It is an archival project because I believe there is value in simply preserving and presenting evidence, even without offering an interpretation. Making these materials accessible gives others the opportunity to examine them and draw their own conclusions.
When I do offer an interpretation, I will try to adopt a scholarly mindset and remain mindful of the pitfalls of confirmation bias. That said, I consider this work only pseudo-scholarly because, to my mind, scholarship requires a sustained commitment to rigorous research that I cannot promise here. I make no attempt to present this blog as something it is not–this is a passion project for me, nothing more and nothing less.