Music Notes

Paloma Negra (Black Dove)

2018-10-20T14:28:33Z

Paloma Negra (Black Dove)

According to the latest Watch and Listen magazine poll just out yesterday (Thursday, October 18), Jenni Rivera 2007's hit "Paloma Negra" is now considered to be the Greatest Song in the History of Music. To many of you it’s probably a familiar story. Once every decade, the world-renowned music magazine Watch and Listen conducts a global poll of music producers and critics from 80 different countries and translated into 20 languages. The recognition of "Paloma Negra" in this decade's list doesn't come as much of a surprise. While millions of Rivera's fans around the world were thrilled with the news, questions have been raised about the objectivity and fairness of the survey.

Paloma Negra (Black Dove)

"Paloma Negra" is a ranchera song written by Tomás Méndez and released by Lola Beltrán from her album 'La Grande' in 1988.

Jenni Rivera - Paloma Negra

Ranchera music is a popular genre of music from Mexico that takes its name from the ranch lands on which the style was originally performed. Although the music embraces rural themes, its popularity spread during Mexico’s Revolutionary to urban center all over the country. Drawing on rural traditional folklore, Ranchera was conceived as a symbol of a new national consciousness in reaction to the aristocratic tastes of that era. Traditional rancheras sing about love, patriotism or nature. Rhythms can be in 3/4, 2/4 or 4/4, reflecting the tempo of, respectively, the waltz, the polka, and the bolero. Songs are usually in a major key, and consist of an instrumental introduction, verse and refrain, instrumental section repeating the verse, and another verse and refrain, with a tag ending. Instrumentation may include guitars, strings, trumpets, and/or accordions, depending on the type of ensemble being utilized.

Lola Beltran - 'La Grande', 1988

Tomás Méndez (1927 - 1995) was a Mexican composer and singer of ranchera music. He was born in Fresnillo, Zacatecas, Mexico. Working primarily in a mariachi vein, Mendez was a fairly prolific composer, but achieved his greatest success with 1954's "Cucurrucucu Paloma," which was a smash hit for Lola Beltran and later recorded by countless others, including Julio Iglesias. (In the wave of the song's success, Beltran also starred in a film of the same name.) Beltran recorded numerous Mendez songs -- including his other all-time classic, "Paloma Negra" -- and was arguably his most sympathetic interpreter, but his compositions found favor with many; among his most prominent devotees were Pedro Infante, Vicente Fernández, Amalia Mendoza, and Javier Solís. Mendez also made recordings as a singer, but was always more noted for his writing abilities. He died in Mexico City on June 19, 1995.

Tomas Mendez

Jenni Rivera touched the hearts of millions with "Paloma Negra". Her legacy continues to grow as new generations of fans are discovering her unique musical heritage. Born Dolores Janney Rivera in Long Beach on July 2, 1969, her career spanned an arc over many different eras and tastes in American history. Rivera was not just a great singer, she was an icon, an all-around inspiration to everyone. Jenni Rivera died in Iturbide on December 9, 2012 at the age of 43.

Jenni Rivera

"Paloma Negra shows an open channel in Mexico and the way they feel to the surface and most of us have this pigeon somewhere in our being." - say Mariachi Semblanza - "Drunkenness is not just so without Paloma Negra. It is not just comfortable drunkenness if one does not die of love or of memories of one of the lovers that accompany your story. You are not just drunk until you are embraced to a friend and belting out: ” ya agarraste… por tu cuenta.. las parraaandaaas” “and not until “el rincón de la cantina” (the corner of the canteen) and the mariachi that somewhere in the night and consciousness accompanies you."

Tomas Mendez

Perhaps the most famous version of "Paloma Negra" was made by Lola Beltran, although there are other singers who have brought with them and have made themselves as Chavela Vargas or Lila Downs.

Chavela Vargas

Paloma Negra spanish lyrics


Ya me canso de llorar y no amanece
Ya no sé si maldecirte o por ti rezar
Tengo miedo de buscarte y de encontrarte
Donde me aseguran mis amigos que te vas
Hay momentos en que quisiera mejor rajarme
Y arrancarme ya los clavos de mi penar
Pero mis ojos se mueren si mirar tus ojos
Y mi cariño con la aurora te vuelve a esperar

Y aggaraste por tu cuenta la parranda
Paloma negra paloma negra dónde, dónde andarás?
Ya no jueges con mi honra parrandera
Si tus caricias han de ser mías, de nadie mas

Y aunque te amo con locura ya no vuelves
Paloma negra eres la reja de un penar
Quiero ser libre vivir mi vida con quien yo quiera
Dios dame fuerza que me estoy muriendo por irla a buscar

Y agarraste por tu cuenta las parrandas

Lola Beltran

English Translation


I’m tired of weeping and yet there’s no sign of the sun
I no longer know whether to curse you or pray for you
I’m afraid to look for you and afraid to find you
Where my friends all tell me that you’ve gone

At times I feel like relinquishing the fight
And ripping out the nails that cause my pain
But my eyes are dying without looking into yours
And my affection returns to wait for you at dawn

And you decided on your own to find a party
Black dove, black dove, where are you?
Stop playing with my honor, party girl
Your caresses must be mine, and no one else’s

And though I love you madly, don’t come back to me
Black dove, you are the bars on this cage of suffering
I want to be free and live my life with whom I choose
Lord, give me strength for I’m dying to go find her

And you decided on your own to find a party

Paloma Negra

Tania Libertad - Paloma Negra

Ai Se Eu Te Pego (Oh, If I Catch You!)

2017-08-20T14:08:52Z

Ai Se Eu Te Pego (Oh, If I Catch You!)

There was a virus spreading around the globe, but the symptoms weren’t fever or body aches. No, this epidemic manifested itself in giggles and grins, waving hands, pumping hips and a bubbly chorus that goes like this: “Nossa, nossa, assim voce me mata. Ai, se eu te pego, ai, se eu te pego!” (Wow, wow, you’re gonna kill me that way. Oh, if I catch you, Oh my God, if I catch you!)

Ai Se Eu Te Pego (Oh, If I Catch You!)

“Ai Se Eu Te Pego” (Oh If I Catch You), a pop song by Brazilian heartthrob Michel Telo, may not be a famous composer, but neither were “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” or “Macarena,” its predecessors as massive, mysterious global hits. Indeed, “Ai Se Eu Te Pego” may be the most popular song to come out of Brazil since “The Girl From Ipanema.”

Brazilian songwriters Sharon Acioly and Antônio Dyggs penned this song in 2008 and it was first recorded by Os Meninos de Seu Zeh, before being covered by various regional Brazilian bands. Realizing that it had the potential to become a national hit in Brazil, Dyggs offered the tune to Brazilian singer-songwriter, Michel Teló. The songwriter's confidence in his tune proved correct.

Sharon Acioly

Michel Teló, who was born on January 21, 1981 in Medianeira, Paraná, had been singing since he was six years old, as well as playing the accordion, the piano, and the harmonica. In 1997, he joined the Brazilian band Grupo Tradição, with whom he released several successful albums and singles as a singer, songwriter, and harmonica player. In 2008, Teló decided to leave the band; his final album with Grupo Tradição, ‘Micareta Sertaneja 2’, was nominated for a Latin Grammy in the Brazilian music category.

Michel Teló & Antônio Dyggs

Teló's first solo album, 2009's ‘Balada Sertaneja’, featured the hit single "Ei, Psiu! Beijo, Me Liga," while his 2010 live album, ‘Ao Vivo,’ was awarded gold status and sported the single "Fugidinha," which reached number one in the Brazilian Hot 100 charts. The following year, Teló released his signature song, "Ai Se Eu Te Pego!," which was made popular when Brazilian soccer player Neymar danced to it in a YouTube video that received several million clicks -- a dance that was performed by several other soccer players as well (among them Spanish players Marcelo Vieira and Cristiano Ronaldo, and Polish player Adrian Mierzejewski).

Grupo Tradição

Télo's accompanying 2011 live album, ‘Michel Na Balada,’ which featured "Ai Se Eu Te Pego!," was nominated for a Latin Grammy Award as Best Sertanejo Album. "Ai Se Eu Te Pego!” had already been a regional hit in Brazil in 2008, but Teló's version of the song became a hit in Brazil, reaching No. 1. Later, the song also reached No. 1 in 23 countries in Europe and Latin America. In the United States, the single topped both the Billboard Hot Latin Songs and Latin Pop Songs and peaked at No. 81 on the Billboard Hot 100, making Michel Teló the third Brazilian solo act to have a song on the Billboard Hot 100, following Sérgio Mendes and Morris Albert.

Michel Na Balada, 2001 album

The single was the sixth best-selling single of 2012, selling 7.2 million copies worldwide and placing it on the list of best-selling singles of all time. The song exemplifies the global, viral capabilities — and oddities — of the Internet. The official video, with Telo singing along with an adoring crowd of Brazilian beauties, has over 760 million views as of July 2017.

Dancing Neymar

“There’s some magic element to the song,” Telo said by telephone. “We recently toured in Europe and people were singing the song in Germany, in Holland, in Russia, in Switzerland, all these places. These people don’t know a word of Portuguese and they’re singing along.” “We could never have imagined this,” said Som Livre CEO Marcelo Soares. “This was a first for us, a first for any of our artists, a first for anywhere in Brazil. It was absolutely unexpected.”

Michel Telo

The song represents something new in Brazil as well. Part of the 1960s allure of “Girl from Ipanema” (also about a man admiring a passing beauty) was the sensual, nostalgic atmosphere it radiated. In a time of financial anxiety and political divisiveness, perhaps “Ai Se Eu Te Pego” offers another kind of escape, to a carefree moment of celebration and unity. “The song reflects the happiness and joy and the identity of the Brazilian people, and that’s what’s being carried around the world,” Telo said.

Antonio Dyggs, Sharon Acioly & Michel Telo

Ai Se Eu Te Pego (Michel Teló)


Nossa, nossa
Assim você me mata
Ai, se eu te pego,
Ai, ai, se eu te pego

Delícia, delícia
Assim você me mata
Ai, se eu te pego
Ai, ai, se eu te pego

No Sábado na balada
A galera começou a dançar
E passou a menina mais linda
Tomei coragem e comecei a falar

Nossa, nossa
Assim você me mata
Ai, se eu te pego
Ai, ai se eu te pego

Delícia, delícia
Assim você me mata
Ai, se eu te pego
Ai, ai, se eu te pego

No Sábado na balada
A galera começou a dançar
E passou a menina mais linda
Tomei coragem e comecei a falar

Nossa, nossa
Assim você me mata
Ai, se eu te pego
Ai, ai se eu te pego

Delícia, delícia
Assim você me mata
Ai, se eu te pego
Ai, ai, se eu te pego

Nossa, nossa
Assim você me mata
Ai, se eu te pego
Ai, ai se eu te pego

Delícia, delícia
Assim você me mata
Ai, se eu te pego
Ai, ai, se eu te pego

Inna - Ai Se Eu Te Pego

If I Catch You (Michel Telo)


Ow, wow, this way you're gonna kill me
Oh, if I catch you
Oh, my God if I catch you

Delicious, delicious
This way you're gonna kill me
Oh, if I catch you
Oh, my God, if I catch you

Saturday at the party
Everybody started to dance
Then the prettiest girl past in front of me
I got closer and started to say...

Wow, wow, this way you're gonna kill me
Oh, if I catch you
Oh, my God, if I catch you

Delicious, delicious
This way you're gonna kill me
Oh, if I catch you
Oh, my God if I catch you

Saturday at the party
Everybody started to dance
Then the prettiest girl past in front of me
I got closer and started to say...

Wow, wow, this way you're gonna kill me
Oh, if I catch you
Oh, my God, if I catch you

Delicious, delicious
This way you're gonna kill me
Oh, if I catch you
Oh, my God if I catch you

Wow, wow, this way you're gonna kill me
Oh, if I catch you
Oh, my God, if I catch you

Delicious, delicious
This way you're gonna kill me
Oh, if I catch you
Oh, my God if I catch you

Ai Se Eu Te Pego

Michel Teló & Neymar - Ai Se Eu Te Pego

J’Attendrai (Tornerai)

2017-02-15T21:51:50Z

J’Attendrai (Tornerai)

One of the most wonderful songs is the French song “J’attendrai”. Translated, it means “I Will Wait”. It’s a beautiful song about waiting for a loved one to return. Recorded in 1938 (in French) by an singer called Rina Ketty, it became hugely popular at the time and later came to represent the start of the Second World War. It became a counterpart to Lale Andersen's “Lili Marleen” in Germany and Vera Lynn's “We'll Meet Again in Britain.”

J’Attendrai (Tornerai)

Rina Ketty (1911 - 1996), whose real name was Cesarina Picchetto, was an Italian singer. She went to Paris in the 30s. In 1938 and 1939, she made her breakthrough with songs like “Sombreros et mantilles” and “J'attendrai.” Despite the popularity of these Chansons during World War II, she was not able to stay in the spotlights after 1945. In 1954 she moved to Canada and in 1965 she returned to France but was unable to revive her pre-war success.

Rina Ketty

Rina Ketty's Italian accent highlighting the French text of the song, worked wonderfully on the radio of those days, but also on various subsequent recorded versions. Her version was followed the same year by one of Belgian chanteuse Anne Clercy, and both Tino Rossi and Jean Sablon recorded it in 1939. When France was occupied in 1940, it quickly became the big war song, with the love song's title being interpreted as meaning waiting for peace and/or liberation.

Rina Ketty - J'attendrai, 1938

"J'attendrai" is actually a French version of the Italian song "Tornerai" (Italian for "You Will Return") composed by Dino Olivieri (music) and Nino Rastelli (lyrics). ‘Tornerai’ is the title of a piece of light music written in 1936. Dino Olivieri was born on December 5, 1905 in Senigallia, Marche, Italy. He died on January 24, 1963 in Milan, Lombardy, Italy. Nino Rastelli was born on January 1, 1913, Milano and died on October 4, 1962, Rome. French lyric written by Louis Poterat, was really an adaptation whilst keeping the sentiment of the original lyric.

Nino Rastelli

"Tornerai" was first recorded in 1937 by both Carlo Buti and Trio Lescano (accompanied by the Italian jazz quartet Quartetto Jazz Funaro), and become a huge hit in Italy. Carlo Buti (Florence, 1902 - Montelupo Fiorentino, 1963) was an Italian singer known as "the Golden Voice of Italy." He retired in 1956 after having recorded 1574 songs. At the time, he was the most recorded voice in Italian music history. His unique warm and melodic "tenorino" style of high quasi-falsetto phrasing sung in the "mezza voce" made him an international success.

Carlo Buti

Trio Lescano was a vocal trio singing close harmony. The trio became extremely popular in Italy in the 1930s and 1940s. The trio was an Italian version of American groups such as the Boswell Sisters, the Andrews Sisters and was formed by three Dutch sisters whose names were italianized into Alessandra, Giuditta and Caterinetta Lescano. Directed by maestro Carlo Prato and thanks to the radio, they became immediately so famous that even Benito Mussolini, passing by their balcony one day, recognized them and stopped to greet them.

Trio Lescano

Dino Olivieri, composer and conductor, said to be inspired from the ‘Humming Chorus’ of Puccini's Opera "Madame Butterfly". The ‘Coro a bocca chius’ (‘Humming Chorus) has become one of the most famous of opera excerpts. What makes this three-minute chorus so enchanting? There’s its musical beauty, but also its sense of calm, such a contrast to the passion of Cio-Cio-San (Butterfly). This melody, a rare example of an operatic vocalise (wordless song), is doubled by solo viola d’amore – an archaic instrument with a distinct sound, used only this once in the opera.

Dino Olivieri

The French version of this Italian song became so well known across Europe that it was often called "J'attendrai" even when recorded instrumentally, such the two versions recorded by Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli in 1938, or referred to as the original source when sung in other languages. An extremely popular version was recorded by Dalida for her 1975 album J'attendrai.

Dalida - J'Attendrai, album

Tornerai lyrics


Tornerai da me, perchè l'unico sogno sei nel mio cuore
Tornerai, tu perché senza i tuoi baci languidi, non vivrò
Passa il tempo e tu, dove sei, con chi sei, tu non pensi a noi
Ma io so che da me, tornerai.

Tornerai da me, perchè l'unico sogno sei nel mio cuore
Tornerai, tu perché senza i tuoi baci languidi, non vivrò
Passa il tempo e tu, dove sei, con chi sei, tu non pensi a noi
Ma io so che da me, tornerai

La notte e i giorni, tu non ci sei, vicino a me
Coi sogni miei, dimmi quand'è che tornerai

Tornerai da me, perchè l'unico sogno sei nel mio cuore
Tornerai, tu perché senza i tuoi baci languidi, non vivrò
Passa il tempo e tu, dove sei, con chi sei, tu non pensi a noi
Ma io so che da me, tornerai, ma io so che da me, tornerai.

Passa il tempo e tu, dove sei, con chi sei, tu non pensi a noi
Ma io so che da me, tornerai.

Carlo Buti - Tornerai, 1937

J'attendrai lyrics


J'attendrai
Le jour et la nuit, j'attendrai toujours
Ton retour
J'attendrai
Car l'oiseau qui s'enfuit vient chercher l'oubli
Dans son nid
Le temps passe et court
En battant tristement
Dans mon cœur si lourd
Et pourtant, j'attendrai
Ton retour

Les fleurs palissent
Le feu s'éteint
L'ombre se glisse
Dans le jardin
L'horloge tisse
Des sons très las
Je crois entendre ton pas
Le vent m'apporte
Des bruits lointains
Guettant ma porte
J'écoute en vain
Helas, plus rien
Plus rien ne vient

J'attendrai
Le jour et la nuit, j'attendrai toujours
Ton retour
J'attendrai
Car l'oiseau qui s'enfuit vient chercher l'oubli
Dans son nid
Le temps passe et court
En battant tristement
Dans mon cœur si lourd
Et pourtant, j'attendrai
Ton retour

Reviens bien vite
Les jours sont froids
Et sans limite
Les nuits sans toi
Quand on se quitte
On n'oublie tout
Mais revenir est si doux
Si ma tristesse
Peut t'émouvoir
Avec tendresse
Reviens un soir
Et dans tes bras
Tout renaîtra

Le temps passe et court
En battant tristement
Dans mon cœur si lourd
Et pourtant, j'attendrai
Ton retour

Tino Rossi - J'attendrai, 1939

Giacomo Puccini:

Madama Butterfly - Humming Chorus

Siboney

2016-09-12T15:53:12Z

Siboney

Ciboney, also spelled Siboney are Indian people of the Greater Antilles in the Caribbean Sea. By the time of European contact, they had been driven by their more powerful Taino neighbours to a few isolated locales on western Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic) and Cuba. Within a century after European contact (Christopher Columbus landed in 1492), the Ciboney culture was largely extinct, although self-identifying descendants of the Ciboney survived.

Siboney

Siboney is a Cuban village and consejo popular (i.e.: people's council) located in the east of the city of Santiago de Cuba and belonging to its municipality. Siboney was also the location of a farm where Fidel Castro and his men gathered shortly before the attack on the Moncada Barracks, which is widely regarded as the start of the Cuban Revolution.

Siboney Village

"Siboney" is a 1929 classic Cuban song by Ernesto Lecuona.

Ciboney people

Ernesto Lecuona (1896-1963) was a contemporary of George Gershwin (1898-1937), and both played similar roles in the development of the music of their respective countries, Cuba and the United States. They were each classical musicians, piano virtuosos and brilliant composers, who brought Afro-American strains of folk music characteristic of their countries — son cubano and jazz, respectively — into musical theater works (zarzuelas and musicals, some considered as operas today), piano concertos, works for solo piano, and many songs.

Ernesto Lecuona

“Siboney” is a song that has said “Cuba” to the ears and hearts of listeners around the world since 1929, in the same way that George Gershwin’s "Summertime" has infused listeners with a sense of Mark Twain’s America since 1935. These aren’t national anthems, they’re better, they are the songs of the soul.

Mercedes Simone - Siboney, 1941

Lecuona was described as "a heavy-set, melancholic figure with famously dark eyes." He was "a popular host who invited friends to play music in his home in Jackson Heights, Queens, though he would escape on solitary walks when the company got to be too much," according to the Dictionary of Hispanic Biography. "Besides liking to play the piano, and collecting wood and stone sculpture of the Aztecs, Mayas, the ancient Peruvian Incas, his greatest delight is brewing strong, black Cuban coffee."

Ernesto Lecuona

As Carl Bauman observed in American Record Guide in 1997, "Lecuona, as perhaps Cuba's outstanding composer, certainly deserves to be better known." He created more than 1000 compositions, among them 176 pieces for piano and 37 orchestral pieces during his career. In a later review of another Lecuona recording in that same publication, John Boyer describes his music as "Latin music distilled for the middle-classes in the same way that Brahms and Liszt distilled Hungarian music for the consumption of 19th Century Germans."

Concha Buika canta Siboney

Lecuona chose not to work at the piano while composing, preferring a card table. Typically, he would work in creative bursts that would produce astonishing results. He reportedly once wrote four songs that would become hits: "Siboney," "Blue Night," "Say Si Si," and "Dame tus dos rosas/Two Hearts That Pass in the Night," in a single night: January 6, 1929.

Eduardo Brito

The lyrics were written by Lecuona while away from Cuba and is about the homesickness he is experiencing (Siboney can also refer to Cuba in general). “Siboney” became a hit in 1931 when performed by the Dominican baritone Eduardo Brito. The song was used by Nino Rota in the score for Fellini's nostalgic memoir of the 1930s, Amarcord. An English version of the song was performed by Bing Crosby in 1945. English lyrics were written by Dolly Morse, but they bear no resemblance to the original Spanish.

Ernesto Lecuona

Siboney by Ernesto Lecuona


Siboney,
yo te quiero,
yo me muero
por tu amor.
Siboney,
en tu boca
la miel puso
su dulzor.

Ven a mí,
que te quiero,
y que todo tesoro
eres tú para mí.

Siboney,
al arrullo
de la palma
pienso en tí.

Siboney,
de mi sueños,
¿si no oyes la queja de mi voz?

Siboney,
si no vienes,
me moriré de amor.

Siboney,
de mi sueños,
te espero con ansia en mi caney,

Porque tú
eres el dueño
de mi amor, Siboney.

Oye el eco
de mi canto
de cristal,
no se pierda
por entre el rudo
manigual.

Trio Los Panchos - Siboney

Siboney (a poetic translation of Ernesto Lecuona’s lyrics)


Siboney,
how I want you,
I would die to
have your love.
Siboney,
honey’s sweetness
from your lips wings
like a dove.

Come to me,
I who love you,
my treasure, and want you
as close to me as can be.

Siboney,
breezes whisper,
as palms murmur
thoughts of you.

Siboney,
my dreams call out,
can’t you hear my voice for you all about?

Siboney,
if you don’t come
I’ll die with your love away.

Siboney,
with tides dreaming
in my hut awaiting you anxiously.

You alone
are that person
who owns all my love, Siboney.

Hear the echo
of my song so
crystal clear.
Don’t lose your way
in the shadows of
swamp night fear.

Siboney painting by Fabian Perez

Quando Quando Quando

2016-04-17T09:49:31Z

Quando Quando Quando

Quando? Quanto? - When? How much?

These are two of the first words tourists learn in Italy—for good reason. Once you know when a shop opens or a train leaves and how much a cappuccino or a ticket costs, you are set to go (siete a posto). Sometimes quando is all you need to ask. If you want to find out “until when,” ask “Fino a quando?” If you’re curious about since when, ask “Da quando?" The whole world began asking "when" in 1962 when the Italian pop song “Quando, Quando, Quando” became an international hit, with a catchy tune and lyrics like these:


Dimmi quando tu verrai,
dimmi quando... quando... quando...

Quando Quando Quando

"Quando, quando, quando" is an Italian pop song, in the bossa nova style, with music written by Tony Renis and lyrics by Alberto Testa.

Tony Renis - Quando Quando Quando, single 1962

Tony Renis (born May 13, 1938 in Milan), is an Italian singer, composer, songwriter, music producer and film actor. He debuted in the mid-1950s, paired with Adriano Celentano. In 1961, Renis debuted at the Sanremo with the song "Pozzanghere". In 1962, Renis gained international success with "Quando, quando, quando", performed at the Sanremo Music Festival. One year later, he won the same Festival with the song "Una per tutte", and, in 1967, he reached second place with the song "Quando dico che ti amo". In 1972, he composed the song "Grande grande grande" with Alberto Testa too, successfully performed by Mina, and later by Shirley Bassey under the English translation title "Never Never Never".

Tony Renis

Alberto Testa (1927 - 2009) was an Italian composer, lyricist, singer, and writer for television. He was known primarily for his work as a lyricist. His words were set by such songwriters as Tony Renis and Memo Remigi. He also wrote songs for such artists as Luciano Pavarotti, Andrea Bocelli, and Céline Dion (such as "The Prayer" and "I Hate You Then I Love You").

Alberto Testa

"Quando, quando, quando", originally recorded in two different versions by Tony Renis and Emilio Pericoli, competed in the Sanremo in 1962, where it placed fourth, and later became a commercial success in Italy, topping the Musica e dischi singles chart.

Emilio Pericoli

Much of Emilio Pericoli’s success both in Italy and in the rest of the world can be attributed to the Sanremo. His international hit “Al Di La” was a cover version of the 1961 festival winner as sung by Betty Curtis and Luciano Tajoli. It went to number 6 on the U.S. Hot 100 and 3 on the Adult Contemporary chart along with number 30 in the U.K. In 1963, he and Renis entered again, finally winning the festival with “Uno Per Tutte.” He later went on to become a television actor.

Emilio Pericoli - Quando Quando Quando

American entertainer Pat Boone, who recorded the song in 1962, sang the English lyrics written by Ervin Drake. A bossa nova, samba type song, it was recorded by Pat Boone with orchestra conducted by Malcolm Lockyer. The song is usually recorded and performed with a full orchestra.

Pat Boone

The title translates as "Tell me when". The song has been used and remixed by many artists and in many different arrangements, including English pop singer Engelbert Humperdinck in 1968. In 2005, Michael Bublé performed the song as a duet with Nelly Furtado.

Engelbert Humperdinck - Quando Quando Quando, single 1998

This song has also been translated into other languages and used in a number of films, including “The Easy Life” (1962) “The Blues Brothers” (1980) “After Hours” (1985) and “Superman Returns” (2006). It was also used in the 2011 episode of The Simpsons titled "The Real Housewives of Fat Tony."

Buble & Furtado - Quando Quando Quando

The song is one of the best-selling singles of all time, with more than 50 million sold.

Pat Boone - Quando Quando Quando

Quando Quando Quando, Italian lyrics


Dimmi quando tu verrai,
dimmi quando... quando... quando...
l'anno, il giorno e l'ora in cui
forse tu mi bacerai...

Ogni istante attenderò,
fino a quando... quando... quando...
d'improvviso ti vedrò
sorridente accanto a me!

Se vuoi dirmi di sì
devi dirlo perchè
non ha senso per me
la mia vita senza te...

Dimmi quando tu verrai,
dimmi quando... quando... quando...
e baciandomi dirai,
"Non ci lasceremo mai!"

Fergie - Quando Quando Quando

Tell me when, Pat Boone version


Dimmi quando tu verrai
Dimmi quando quando quando
L'anno, il giorno e l'ora in cui
Forse tu mi bacerai

Tell me when will you be mine
Tell me, quando, quando, quando
We can share a love divine
Please don’t make me wait again

Every moment’s a day
Every day seems a lifetime
Let me show you the way
To a joy beyond compare

I can’t wait a moment more
Tell me, quando, quando, quando
Say it’s me that you adore
And then, darling, tell me when

Every moment’s a day
Every day seems a lifetime
Let me show you the way
To a joy beyond compare

I can’t wait a moment more
Tell me, quando, quando, quando
Say it’s me that you adore
And then, darling, tell me when

Oh, my darling, tell me when
Dimmi quando, tell me when

Quando Quando Quando

Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien (I Don't Regret Anything)

2016-01-29T14:06:27Z

Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien (I Don't Regret Anything)

On October 24, 1960, when Charles Dumont and Michel Vaucaire visited Piaf’s home at Boulevard Lannes in Paris, she received them very impolitely and unfriendly. Dumont had several times tried to offer Piaf his compositions, but she disliked them and had refused them – the standard was too low according to her. She was furious that her housekeeper Danielle had arranged a meeting with the two men without informing her. So she let them wait an hour in her living room before she appeared. “As you can see I am extremely tired”, she said to them very irritated. “Hurry up, only one song! Quick to the piano, go ahead!” she commanded. Nervous and perspiring Dumont sang the song in a low voice. When he finished there was a big silence waiting for Piaf’s verdict. “Will you sing it again?” asked Piaf in a sharp voice. When he was hardly halfway she interrupted him. “Formidable [Fantastic],” she burst out. “Formidable,” she repeated, “this is the song I have been waiting for. It will be my biggest success! I want it for my coming performance at L’Olympia!” “Of course, Edith, the song is yours,” said Vaucaire, delighted.

Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien

The composer Charles Dumont tells in the book “Edith Piaf, Opinions publiques,” by Bernard Marchois (TF1 Editions 1995), that Michel Vaucaire's original title was "Non, je ne trouverai rien" and that the song was meant for the popular French singer Rosalie Dubois. But thinking on Edith he changed the title to "Non, je ne regrette rien".

Charles Dumont

Dumont's career finally took off around 1956/1957 when he started setting Francis Carco's poetry to music. Dumont also went on to team up with the talented musician Michel Vaucaire (husband of French singing star Cora Vaucaire) with whom he wrote a number of best-selling hits over the years. In short, Dumont began to make a name for himself in music circles and before long he found himself composing songs (occasionally under a pseudonym) for all the big stars of the day, including Dalida, Gloria Lasso, Luis Mariano, Tino Rossi and Lucienne Delyle.

Michel Vaucaire & Charles Dumont

"Je ne regrette rien" marked the beginning of a long and fruitful collaboration with Piaf which produced more than thirty 'chanson' classics including "Les Flonflons du bal" and "Mon Dieu." Piaf and Dumont's partnership moved on to a new level in 1962 when they wrote and recorded "Les Amants" together. Dumont was completely lost after Piaf's death in 1963. Later in his career he would begin composing music for films (such as Jacques Tati's "Trafic" in 1971 and the television film "Michel Vaillant" in 1967). But for the meantime, following Piaf's advice, Dumont stepped behind the microphone and launched his own singing career again.

Charles Dumont & Edith Piaf

This stirring song was immortalized when Edith Piaff dedicated her 1960 recording of it to the French Foreign Legion. At the time of the recording, France was engaged in a military conflict, the Algerian War (1954–1962), and the 1st REP (1st Foreign Parachute Regiment) — which backed the failed 1961 putsch against president Charles de Gaulle and the civilian leadership of Algeria – adopted the song when their resistance was broken. The leadership of the Regiment was arrested and tried but the non-commissioned officers, corporals and Legionnaires were assigned to other Foreign Legion formations. They left the barracks singing the song, which has now become part of the French Foreign Legion heritage and is sung when they are on parade.

Insigne du REP

The song’s lyrics convey a strong message of optimism. Piaf sings that she does not have any regrets and has let go of all things that happened to her – both good and bad. The message is very positive: She expresses that she’s starting new today from zero and that her life and joys start with you!

The song was featured prominently in Olivier Dahan’s 2007 biopic, “La Vie en rose,” which starred Marion Cotillard in an astonishingly authentic, Oscar-winning performance as Piaf. The film memorably ends with Piaf passionately belting out “Non, Je ne regrette rien” like Streisand’s climactic torch number in “Funny Girl.”

According to the Watch and Listen magazine poll Édith Piaf 1960's hit “Non, je ne regrette rien” is now considered to be the Greatest Song in the History of Music. Now the Edith has been revealed as the most popular non-classical track to be chosen by castaways on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs.

Edith Piaf - Non, Je ne regrette rien, singel

Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien, lyrics


Non, rien de rien
Non, je ne regrette rien
Ni le bien qu'on m'a fait
Ni le mal tout ça m'est bien égal

Non, rien de rien
Non, je ne regrette rien
C'est payé, balayé, oublié
Je me fous du passé

Avec mes souvenirs
J'ai allumé le feu
Mes chagrins, mes plaisirs
Je n'ai plus besoin d'eux

Balayés les amours
Avec leurs trémolos
Balayés pour toujours
Je repars à zéro

Non, rien de rien
Non, je ne regrette rien
Ni le bien, qu'on m'a fait
Ni le mal, tout ça m'est bien égal

Non, rien de rien
Non, je ne regrette rien
Car ma vie, car mes joies
Aujourd'hui, ça commence avec toi!

Edith Piaf

I Don't Regret Anything (lyricstranslate.com)


No, nothing of nothing
No! I don't feel sorry about anything
Not the good things people have done to me
Not the bad things, it's all the same to me.

No, nothing of nothing
No! I don't feel sorry about anything
It's paid for, removed, forgotten,
I'm happy of the past

With my memories
I lit up the fire
My troubles, my pleasures
I don't need them anymore

Broomed away my love stories
And all their tremble
Broomed away for always
I start again from zero

Non ! Je ne regrette rien
Ni le mal, tout ça m'est bien égal !

Non ! Je ne regrette rien
Because my life, my joys
Today, they begin with you.

Che Sarà (What will (it) be?)

2015-11-07T23:40:05Z

Che Sarà (What will (it) be?)

"Che Sarà," the 1971 San Remo Music Festival entry became a mega-success for Jose Feliciano throughout Europe, Asia and South America. “Che sarà” is an Italian song, written by Jimmy Fontana (music) and Franco Migliacci (lyrics). Up until that year, each song was interpreted by two artists or performers to showcase the songwriters' craft rather than the singers' interpretations. The Festival della canzone italiana di Sanremo is the most popular Italian song contest and awards, held annually in the city of San Remo and consisting of a competition amongst previously unreleased songs. It was the inspiration for the Eurovision Song Contest.

Che Sarà

“Che sarà” was sung by José Feliciano and the Ricchi e Poveri group and came second. RCA's Italian producers saw the song and the festival as a way to bring José Feliciano, already an international star, to Italy, as he already knew Jimmy Fontana. Although Ricchi e Poveri was a new, young group, it was chosen to sing the second version after Gianni Morandi, a well known Italian singer and RCA artist, had declined to sing the song. Jimmy Fontana, reportedly, was disappointed by RCA's decision and withdrew from the music business for many years.

José Feliciano, San Remo, 1971

The lyrics of the song describe the singer's sadness at having to leave his native village (Paese mio che stai sulla collina disteso come un vecchio addormentato; Oh my village set on the hill, lying down like an old, sleeping man) and were inspired by Cortona, a small town in Tuscany where the lyricist, Franco Migliacci, had lived for many years. For Jimmy Fontana, who wrote the music, the song is devoted to Bernalda, his wife's home village.

Franco Migliacci

Coincidentally, the Cortona story echoes the personal history of José Feliciano, who was born in the hill village of Lares in Puerto Rico, and who left it for New York, joining many other Puerto Rican migrants to the USA. In fact, the Spanish version of the song is considered by many in the Latino population to be a migrants' hymn.

Jose Feliciano - Que Sera (spanish)

Jimmy Fontana (1934 –2013) was born Enrico Sbriccoli in Camerino, Italy, he took the name "Jimmy" from musician Jimmy Giuffre and "Fontana" from an arbitrary name out of the phone book, early in his career. He started his own jazz band, Fontana and his Trio, with piano, bass and drums. At the end of the 1950s, he turned to light music and began his solo career. His hits include "Non te ne andare" (1963) and "Il mondo", which ranked first on the Italian hit parade in 1965. "La mia serenata" won the Disco per l'estate Festival in 1967. At the 1968 Cantagiro summer festival, he sang a cover version of the Tom Jones hit "Delilah", titled "La nostra favola"; the song peaked at second place on the Italian hit parade.

Jimmy Fontana

Ricchi e Poveri (The Rich and the Poor) was formed as a vocal band in 1967 by Franco Gatti, Angela Brambati, Angelo Sotgiu and Marina Occhiena. In 1971, they won second prizes at the Sanremo and becoming one of Italy's most popular groups. In the 1980s, after Occhiena had left the band, the remaining three shifted toward a more lightweight, dance-oriented music. One of Sanremo's regulars, Ricchi e Poveri finally won first prize in 1985 with "Se M'Innamoro."

Ricchi e Poveri

Singer and guitarist José Feliciano (born 1945) is one of the best known Hispanic entertainers in the United States and a major star in the Spanish-speaking world. His trademark is his furious guitar work and ability to re-invent rock classics with a Latin spin.

José Feliciano, 1970

José Feliciano was born on September 10, 1945, in Lares, Puerto Rico. By 1950, Feliciano's parents had relocated to a Latino section of New York City's Harlem, where his father found work as a longshoreman. By this time, the young Feliciano was already beginning to develop his enormous talent for music. According to his press biography, "His love affair with music began at the age of three, when he first accompanied his uncle on a tin cracker can." By the age of six, Feliciano had taught himself to play the concertina simply by listening to records and practicing. Later in his career, Feliciano would master the bass, banjo, mandolin, and various keyboard instruments. These accomplishments were more remarkable because he was visually impaired since birth.

José Feliciano - Che Sara

RCA began marketing Feliciano to the English-speaking audiences of England and the U.S. in 1968, when he released his version of the Doors' 1967 hit, "Light My Fire." His reworking of the now-classic tune peaked at number three on the U.S. pop music charts, selling over a million records and making the singer a celebrity overnight.

José Feliciano

Feliciano's recorded version of “Che sarà” was successful in Italy, in Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Japan. It was an even greater success in Latin America and Spain in Feliciano's Spanish version, titled “Qué será.” Feliciano's version peaked at number one in Spain. An English-language version titled “Shake A Hand” charted in Scandinavia but not in the Top Tens of the USA or the UK.

José Feliciano - Shake A Hand

Che Sara, Italian lyrics


Paese mio che stai sulla collina
disteso come un vecchio addormentato,
la noia, l'abbandono il niente
son la tua malattia,
paese mio ti lascio io vado via.

Che sara' che sara' che sara',
che sara' della mia vita chi lo sa,
so far tutto o forse niente da domani si vedra'
che sara', sara' quel che sara'.

Gli amici miei son quasi tutti via
e gli altri partiranno dopo me
peccato perche' stavo bene
in loro compagnia
ma tutto passa, tutto se ne va.

Che sara' che sara' che sara',
che sara' della mia vita chi lo sa,
con me porto la chitarra
e se la notte piangero'
una nenia di paese suonero'.

Amore mio ti bacio sulla bocca,
che fu la fonte del mio primo amore
ti do l'appuntamento come e quando non lo so,
ma so soltanto che ritornero'.

Che sara' che sara' che sara',
che sara' della mia vita chi lo sa,
con me porto la chitarra
e se la notte piangero'
una nenia di paese suonero'.

Ricchi e Poveri, San Remo 1971

English translation (nz.answers.yahoo.com)


My country, you're on the hill
Spread out like an old man asleep;
boredom
abandonment
nothingness
Are your disease

I leave my country
I go away.

What will be
what will be
what will be
What will be
of my life
Who knows!
I do everything or maybe nothing
tomorrow you will see
It will be
what it will be.

My friends are almost all away

And others will follow after me

Sin
because I was fine in their company
But everything passes
everything goes away.

What will be
what will be
what will be
What will be
of my life
Who knows!
With me I bring the guitar
and if in the night I cry
A dirge of country will I play.

My love I kiss on the mouth
That was the source of my first love

I'll give you an appointment
like when I do not know

But I only know that I will return.

What will be
what will be
what will be
What will be
of my life
Who knows!
With me I bring the guitar
and if in the night I cry
A dirge of country will I play.

What will be
what will be
what will be
What will be
of my life
Who knows!
I do everything or maybe nothing
tomorrow you will see
It will be
what it will be.

Jose Feliciano - Che Sara 1971

Silencio (Silence)

2015-08-01T21:49:55Z

Silencio (Silence)

One of the most moving and touching 'boleros' ever, "Silencio" was composed by Puerto Rico's Rafael Hernandez, a major figure of Latin American music. The rendition features Ibrahim Ferrer and Omara Portuondo in a soulful duet Wim Wenders filmed the recording session in Havana as well as the performance of the song in Amsterdam.

Ibrahim Ferrer & Omara Portuendo sing 'Silencio'

The scene from the film in which the song is performed is particularly poignant because the age of the performers (he was 72 and she almost 70; the oldest bandmember was 91 and several were over 80 years old) is contrasted by the freshness and emotional intensity of the performance, in which she is moved to tears that he tenderly brushes away.

Silencio

Rafael Hernandez is considered one of the greatest Puerto Rican music composers. He was born in the town of Aguadilla in 1892 and died in San Juan in 1965. Rafael studied music in Puerto Rico and Mexico. He also served in the armed forces during the first world war. In 1926 while residing in New York city he formed the musical trio called "Trío Borinquen". In 1929 he composed the famous "Lamento Borincano". In 1934 he formed the musical group called "Cuarteto Victoria". Rafael traveled much of Latin America with both musical groups. In 1937 he wrote one of his most beautiful songs "Preciosa".

Rafael Hernandez

In 1947 Rafael returned to Puerto Rico and he became director of the Puerto Rican Symphonic Orquestra and also advisor to WIPR-Radio . Some of his most famous and beautiful compositions are: Ahora somos Felices, Campanitas de Cristal, Capullito de Alelí, Culpable, El Cumbanchero, Ese soy Yo, Perfume de Gardenias, Tu no Comprendes and, of course Silencio.

Trio Borinquen

Rafael Hernandez composed Christmas music, Zarzuelas, Danzas, Congas, Guarachas, Rumbas, Boleros, Romanzas, Operetas, Plenas, Valses and much more. Much of his music has reached world fame. The music of Rafael Hernandez forms an important part of Puerto Rican Culture. His songs and tunes bring beautiful nostalgic memories to most Puerto Ricans on the island, and those whose reside in the USA and elsewhere.

Rafael Hernandez

The alto saxophonist Miguel Zenón is identifiable by his tone, which is floaty and bright and ornate. But he’s also become identifiable by the quality of ideas, his particular kind of intellectual ambition. “Alma Adentro: The Puerto Rican Songbook” is the third record he’s made that analyzes Puerto Rican music from the ground up and connects it, with great originality, to new jazz practice. He’s onto pop standards from the 1920s to the ’70s: mostly the boleros, ballads and filin-style music that might represent the Puerto Rican equivalent of Gershwin and Kern songs.

Miguel Zenón - Alma Adentro, album

On the Rafael Hernandez composition “Silencio,” the saxophonist starts off with a repeated phrase before turning to an initial melody, itself only an introduction to a roaming and improvisational discussion by Zenon and Perdomo (band pianist) that eventually returns to the repeated hook.

Miguel Zenón

Miguel Zenón: “Rafael Hernández is perhaps the most internationally relevant Puerto Rican in history. His accomplishments are almost too many to mention: he was part of James Reese Europe’s ‘Hell Fighters’, lived in Puerto Rico, Mexico and Cuba, where he’s considered a national treasure. He was an incredibly prolific and versatile composer, who wrote some of the most legendary songs in the history of Latin American music. A musical giant, in every sense of the word.”

Hernandez and His Cuarteto Victoria

Pianist, composer and arranger Edwin Sánchez: “Rafael Hernández compositions, to me, exemplify the spirit of a pure Puerto Rican culture and people proud of their heritage and roots—not only with Puerto Ricans on the island, but Puerto Ricans all over the world as well. It helps us share our common love and nostalgia for our families, the Island and our culture.”

Rafael Hernandez

In the Oscar-nominated soundtrack of the 1999 documentary film, as the camera dissolves seamlessly from studio to performance, we see Ibrahim Ferrer wiping a tear off Omara Portuondo's cheek, the most poignant moment of the film, crystallizing the tragic beauty not just of the this bolero but also of the story behind The Buena Vista Social Club.

Omara Portuendo & Ibrahim Ferrer sing 'Silencio'

Silencio, spanish lyrics


Duermen en mi jardin
las blancas azucenas, los nardos y las rosas,
Mi alma muuuuy triste y pesarosa
a las flores quiere ocultar su amargo dolor.

Yo no quiero que las flores sepan
los tormentos que me da la vida.
Si supieran lo que estoy sufriendo
por mis penas llorarian tambien.

Silencio, que estan durmiendo
los nardos y las azucenas.
No quiero que sepan mis penas
porque si me ven llorando moriran.

Rafael Hernandez

Keep quiet, English version


In my garden sleep
the white lilies, the nards and the roses.
My soul veeeery sad and sorrowful,
to the flowers wants to hide its bitter pain.

I don't want the flowers to know
the torments that life gives me.
If they knew how much I'm suffering
for my pains they would cry as well.

Keep quiet, that the nards and the lilies
are sleeping
I don't want them to know my pain
because if the see me crying, they will die.

Rafael Hernandez

Malagueña Salerosa

2015-03-23T22:09:14Z

Malagueña Salerosa

The classic version of Malagueña is plaintive and romantic. A poor young man is in love with a beautiful girl from Malaga, Spain. He has nothing to offer by his heart, pure and good and his hands, willing to work. This delicate love song, whose roots lie in forms of social behavior which existed a thousand years ago, seems to call up subliminal memories and courtly instincts of a time centuries past, whenever it is played.

Malaguena Salerosa

The song is that of a man telling a woman how beautiful she is, and how he would love to be her man, but that he understands her rejecting him for being too poor. In Kill Bill a wild, rocking Americanized version (Chingon) so excited Tarantino that he developed a credit sequence based on it. Malagueña is an example of assimilation writ large.

Kill Bill poster

Malagueña Salerosa — described as a well-known Son Huasteco or Huapango song from Mexico, which has been covered more than 200 times.

Chingon

A Son Huasteco is one of several musical forms originating from northeastern Mexico. The son huasteco is typically performed by three musicians on violin and huapanguera and jarana guitars. The music has a vigorous and marked rhythmic sound and is often accompanied by social dancing.

Malaguena Salerosa

Malagueña Salerosa is attributed to Elpidio Ramírez and Pedro Galindo published by Peer International in 1947. However, as La Malagueña the song was featured in the soundtrack of the 1946 Mexican film Enamorada. It is performed during a dramatic sequence in the film by Trío Calaveras. The Trio had released the song in 2002.

Trio Calaveras

Mexican composer Nicandro Castillo questions the validity of that authorship. He said “…La Malagueña, which in reality, like La Guasanga or El Sacamandú, were known many years before, and should be part of the public domain. "

Malaguena Salerosa

The most famous version was made by Miguel Aceves Mejía with a mariachi band. Miguel Aceves Mejía who was also known as “The Golden Flasetto” was a great Mexican composer, singer and actor. Miguel Aceves was born in Ciudad Juarez in the state of Chihuahua on 15th November 1915. Aceves began recording for the first time in 1938 with the Trio “Los Porteños”, an interesting aspect is that he recorded more than 1000 songs including Bolero, Tango and Ranchera music.

Miguel Aceves Mejia

Malagueña Salerosa


Huasteca que linda eres

Que bonitos ojos tienes,
Debajo de esas dos cejas (X2)
Que bonitos ojos tienes
Ellos me quieren mirar,
Pero si tu no los dejas, (X2)
Ni siquiera parpadear

Malagueña, salerosa,
Besar tus, labios quisiera, (X2)
Malagueña salerosa
Y decirte, niña hermosa,
que eres linda, y hechicera, (X2)
como el candor de una rosa

Si por pobre me desprecias
Yo te concedo razón (X2)
Si por pobre me desprecias
Ingrata me traicionabas,
Cuando de ti estaba ausente, (X2)
De mi pasión te burlabas

Malagueña, salerosa,
Besar tus labios quisiera, (X2)
malagueña salerosa
Y decirte, niña hermosa,
Que eres linda y hechicera, (X2)
Como el candor, de una rosa (X2)

Malaguena Salerosa

Malagueña Salerosa, English version


Huasteca, you are beautiful

What pretty eyes you have,
Under those two eyebrows (X2)
What pretty eyes you have
They want to watch me,
But if you do not leave it, (X2)
Not even blink

Malagueña salerosa,
I like to kiss your lips (X2)
malagueña salerosa
And to tell you, beautiful girl,
you are beautiful, and sorceress (X2)
like the candor of a rose

If you despise me for being poor
I grant you reason (X2)
If you despise me for being poor
Ungrateful you betray me,
When I was absent, (X2)
You make fun of my passion

Malagueña salerosa,
I want to kiss your lips, (X2)
malagueña salerosa
And to tell you, beautiful girl,
They're cute and sorceress (X2)
Like the candor of a rose (x2)

Malaguena Salerosa

Cielito Lindo (Lovely Sweet One)

2014-07-17T17:11:50Z

Cielito Lindo (Lovely Sweet One)

Chances are you've belted out your share of “Ay,ay, ay, ay” choruses in that timeless Mexican song about a lovely lady with dark eyes. Everyone knows ‘Cielito Lindo’, right – even if you've never been to Mexico. And even if you have no idea what “Sierra Morena” means in the first line. Or why the lady's eyes are called “contraband.” Besides dark, flashing eyes, the lady was said to have a lunar (a mole) near her mouth. The blemish got into the song this way: “Ese lunar que tienes” (“That mole you have”). The composer (apparently a mole man) goes on to say. “Don't give it to anyone...it belongs to me.”

Cielito Lindo (Lovely Sweet One)

“Cielito Lindo,” a ballad in 3/4 time composed by Mexico’s Quirino Mendoza y Cortés in 1882, is based on the old Spanish rustic-song carol (villancico) and has become one of the best known Spanish-language songs in the world. The words “cielito lindo,” interpreted literally, mean “pretty little sky,” or “lovely sky.” However, in the context of this song, they are used as an affectionate term for a beautiful young girl.

Quirino Mendoza y Cortés

According to his biography, Quirino Mendoza y Cortés was inspired by a girl he met on a trip into the mountains who had a beauty mark. He wrote the music and all but the opening verse which was, except for small changes, lifted from a much earlier song from Spain.

“Ese lunar que tienes”

Like most Latin golden oldies, Cielito Lindo has several versions, and lots of meanings. In one translation, the lyrics are said to have come from 17th century legends about a mountain range in southern Spain called the Sierra Morena. Quirino Mendoza y Cortes, is believed to have heard yarns about bandits hiding out there, and of a cielito lindo who was somehow smuggled – here, the meaning is particularly fuzzy – out of the hills. Hence the word, “contraband.”

Sierra Morena

The style of this Mexican music is Mariachi: a cross-pollination of the area’s influx of Spanish culture including violins and guitars, and that of the indigenous Mexican Indian and “Mestizo” cultures featuring hand-built instruments with unique shapes resembling their European counterparts.

Cielito Lindo

The use of the “Sierra Morena” lyric in the opening verse describes where the beautiful young girl is from. The line “two dark eyes like robbers” describes her as a “gypsy thief” from Sierre Morena, Andalucia Spain, a notorious area that became a center for deported Romani/Gypsies hundreds of years earlier.

Sierra Morena

Because ladies' hairstyles at the time were long tresses often folded atop the head and held together with pins and a comb, Sierra Morena is interpreted as the girl's hair rather than the mountain range in Spain. Viewed in this light, the first verse sets the tone for a young man's teasing love song. Also, the Spanish word morena refers to a person's hair and skin color, furthering this interpretation.

Cielito Lindo

'Cielito Lindo' is a song that's reached iconic status in Mexico. It's also become a favorite to welcome international musical artists on the stages of Mexico. It is a tune very close to the Mexican heart. It has been sung to everyone from Faith No More to Divididos. But the list of those it has been recorded by is even more impressive.

Ay, ay, ay, ay

"Cielito Lindo" should not be confused with another popular and traditional song called "Cielito lindo huasteco" also known as "Cielito lindo" from La Huasteca in Mexico. This song distinctly different from the common version above has been played by many Conjunto huastecos, as it is considered one of the most popular Son Huasteco or Huapango songs. Sometimes mariachi bands perform both versions of the "Cielito Lindo" and "Cielito lindo huasteco" which are completely different, thus creating some confusion about both.

Cielito Lindo (Sweet & Lovely)

Cielito Lindo lyrics:


De la Sierra Morena,
Cielito lindo, vienen bajando,
Un par de ojitos negros,
Cielito lindo, de contrabando.

Ay, ay, ay, ay,
Canta y no llores,
Porque cantando se alegran,
Cielito lindo, los corazones.

Pájaro que abandona,
Cielito lindo, su primer nido,
Si lo encuentra ocupado,
Cielito lindo, bien merecido.

Ese lunar que tienes,
Cielito lindo, junto a la boca,
No se lo des a nadie,
Cielito lindo, que a mí me toca.

Si tu boquita morena,
Fuera de azúcar, fuera de azúcar,
Yo me lo pasaría,
Cielito lindo, chupa que chupa.

De tu casa a la mía,
Cielito lindo, no hay más que un paso,
Antes que venga tu madre,
Cielito lindo, dame un abrazo.

Una flecha en el aire,
Cielito lindo, lanzó Cupido,
y como fue jugando,
Cielito lindo, yo fui el herido.

Pedro Infante sings Cielito Lindo

Cielito Lindo, english translation:


Through dark tresses, heavenly one,
a pair of deep brown eyes,
lower as they approach,
a stolen glance.

Ay, ay, ay, ay,
sing and don't cry,
heavenly one, for singing
gladdens hearts.

A bird that abandons
his first nest, heavenly one,
then finds it occupied by another,
deserves to lose it.

That beauty mark you have
next to your mouth, heavenly one,
don't share with anyone but me
who appreciates it.

If your little mouth, my dark girl,
were made of sugar,
I would spend my time
enjoying its sweetness.

From your house to mine
there is no more than a step.
Before your mother comes,
heavenly one, give me a hug.

Cupid shot off an arrow,
heavenly one,
And though he was playing,
I was wounded.

Cielito Lindo