You probably won't recognise the title,
Cielito Lindo, but I bet you'll recognise the swaying hook line:
"Ay Ay Ay Ay, Canto y no llores":
Best known Mariachi song in the world, I should think, which is why, back in 1951, the local band in the Peruvian town of Cartavio had it on their playlist when they were hired to play by Cartavio's bigwigs. At the time, the local aristocracy were trying to diffuse tensions with the exploited workers of the town's sugar industry, and so they contrived a public party in the Main Square:
Quote:
"Late one Sunday afternoon, the tables were set up on the square by the central market, the band struck its first chord, and the aroma of roasted flesh began to wind through the streets... house by house, the workers and their families began to file out in their best shirts, with lavender oil matting their hair.
The music, the food, and the rum were working their spell that night. Ay, ay, ay ay! Canta y no llores! ....Before long, Cartavio was full of belly-bouncing laughter, a roaring, squealing bacchanalia."
|
It's all there in Marie Arana's memoir,
American Chica: Two Worlds, One Childhood.
My Verdict: It's a pity the song is so hackneyed that it's become a joke today. It has some sentimental lyrics about a girl identified as "Lovely Little Sky" but it's real power is in the the admonition of the chorus, "Ay, ay, ay! Sing and don't cry!". It's just the perfect drinking song for people who want to drown their sorrows. You can almost see the beer slopping out of their mugs as people sway and sing along. Highly recommended next time you are planning a roaring, squealing bacchanalia of your own.