Week 7: El Hijo Desobediente

El Hijo Desobediente is a beautiful song on a difficult subject—the son who, in a moment of strong emotion, threatens his father’s life—and the consequences of this as they unfold. It’s truth is in the language of the song—the words and images— which come to us as much from the realm of legend as from everyday life. Nevertheless, the details are immediate and palpable—as are the feelings of the two characters. This is what make the song great,

The letra is in your green Cancionero. It can be a hard song to translate—particularly the third stanza (note that there are variant versions):

Get away from here, my father
for I am as brave as a lion
Let me not draw my sword               (espada = arma blanca = blade, figuratively...)
that I run it through your heart.

El Hilo Disobedient is usually listed as a corrido (a story song from a potentially true event)—a particularly Mexican form—but it’s also referred to as a romance—which can take us back as far as medieval Spain and the time of the Reconquista. Look into this. In any case, it comes from a culture of toros y caballos…

Also, pay attention to how it’s sung. There’s an on-goingness and a claiming of space—and at the same time, a kind of piety and resignation—that correspond closely to some of what Octavio Paz writes in Mascaras mexicanas… I’d like for you to think about this…  The question might be, quién es Felipe?Also, why the compression of tempo at the end of each line?

A beautiful early version by Trío Calaveras:
*  Trio Calaveras - El Hijo Desobediente - YouTube

Lucha Villa (the ranchera singer):
*  Lucha Villa - El hijo desobediente - YouTube1967

Los Alegres de Terán:
* Los Alegres De Teran El Hijo Desobediente - YouTube

There's also Antonio Aguilar, in his classic version:
Antonio Aguilar......El Hijo D, a esobediente - YouTube

And even a theatrical norteño redo from a recent Mexican film, Hambre Sed y Muerte en el Desierto: 
* BANDA TORO EL HIJO DESOBEDIENTE Hambre sed y muerte en el desierto 2 - YouTube

And gems like this, whoich may be the most telling of all:
Los Dos Mancebos - YouTube

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There's lots of musicological lore about this song. Here's a sample. With a variant letra and translation:
*  Hispano Folk Music of the Rio Grande Del Norte - Jack Loeffler, Katherine Loeffler, Enrique R. Lamadrid - Google Books

and from the cultural studies world:
Wild Tongues: Transnational Mexican Popular Culture - Rita E. Urquijo-Ruiz - Google Books 

As well as popular stories: and legends:
* El hijo desobediente | cuentoscortos.org.mx


The image of el hijo desobediente (if not the particular story itself) certainly has legs.  Here's early Tin Tan in a film version from 1945. (Other segments are also posted):
* Tin Tan El hijo desobediente 1 - YouTube

Week 6: Canción Mixteca

Frida Kahlo, La Frontera, 1932, oleo sobre metal, 12 1/2" x 13 3/4"

We'll start this week with Canción Mixteca,  together with a parallel song,  Díos Nunca Muere. Both on the theme of separation from home--and thereby Songs and Places. You'll see the connection immediately. Two valses mexicanas...

Remember our discussion of the word ANHELO -- longing...

Cancion Mixteca.  by José López Alavez, composed between1912-15. There are many beautiful versions, including a very simple one one by Guty Cárdenas from the 1920s. Lila Downs (whose mother was of Mixteca origin) has recorded the song a number of times.  The version by Cuco Sánchez ((accompanied by Antonio Bribiesca) is also a classic. Canción Mixteca figures prominently in Wim Wender's 1984 road movie, Paris, Texas--sung by Harry Dean Stanton (the guitar part is by Ry Cooder, who did the slide-guitar part for the film as a whole. Haunting--and involved in the same story of displacement and separation--but from a "north of the border" perspective. Del otro lado...

* GUTY CÁRDENAS, CANCIÓN MIXTECA - YouTube  A SolitarioDark selection 
This recording has been REMOVED from YouTube, but I have another link posted below.
However, note that the Guty Cárdenas version is also in your Suplementos DOWNLOAD (in the DOWNLOAD folder for the course--as are recordings of all the other songs.)

Here's the  alternate version of same:
*  Canción mixteca Guty Cárdenas - YouTube

and two other versions:
*  Cancion Mixteca - YouTube Cuco Sánchez y Antonio Bribiesca   Sound quality iffy
*  LILA DOWNS (CANCION MIXTECA) - YouTube

* Harry Dean Stanton - "Cancion Mixteca" - Access All Areas - YouTube  Paris, Texas version
   Listen to Harry Dean Stanton's spoken translation at the beginning... 

Díos Nunca Muere. The author here is Macedonio Alcalá. Look into how he learned music--and the story behind how he wrote the song. Díos Nunca Muere is the (unofficial) anthem for the state of  Oaxaca. You can look into this as well...    (Note that Alcalá wrote the music in 1868; the lyrics are by Cipriano Jos´é Cruz, from the same year)  The Javier Solís version (below) comes with a good video collage...

*  Dios Nunca Muere - Javier Solis - YouTube
*  Pedro Infante - Dios Nunca Muere - YouTube

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Usually when we do these older songs I start you songs like La Paloma (Sebastien Iradier), or with Manuel Ponce (1882-1948) and his important contribution to the arrangements (and standardization) of many of the early popular songs (A la orilla de un palmar, La Valentina, and well-known version of Cielito Lindo). We can talk about this in class--pro and con. The standardization of tradition is a loaded question.

You should also know the name of Tata Nacho, and two of his songs, Adíos mi chaparritra, y la Borrachita--both on your playlist for the class, and in the Cancionero... Also from the 1920s and the time of the consolidation of México... And how songs played a part in this (again, a mixed blessing...)

Tata Nacho resurfaced late ibn life through his Quiero Ver (Otra Vez) and the part it played in the  popular Mexican TV show, El Chavo del Ocho... As sung by Don Ramón...

Here's a charming version by Vicente Fernández together with Pedro Vargas...

Vicente Fernandez y Pedro Vargas Quiero Ver - YouTube

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Reading: Continue with Octavio Paz. Reread Chapter 1, to address some of what we discussed in class on Thursday--and then read chapter 2, Máscaras mexicanas. Write down your questions for next class--key words, ideas that interest you. Each of you needs to be a part of this. Let me suggest that you  post questions and reactions on your notebook as well...


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"Poor México--so far from God, and so close to the United States..." (a saying attributed to Porfirio Díaz)

And a note on the painting: Frida Kahlo made La Frontera in 1932, while she accompanied Diego Rivera in Detroit, where he was working on a mural commission. You can see how she's torn between the experience of being in the factory heart of the US, and of the México she's (temporarily) left behind. The painting is oil on metal--that is, in the style of a retablo. Frida and Diego Rivera took great interest in these Mexican folk paintings--they had a large collection, and retablo themes and treatments recurred in their work...

Octavio Paz: El Laberinto

foto: Manuel Alvarez Bravo

Octavio Paz: El Laberinto de la Soledad

Read the first chapter for next week (El Pachuco y Otros Extremos). Here's a pdf of the text (also in DOWNLOADS folder). For English, you'll need to purchase the book, easily available used. You can no doubt find the text online in Endlish until you have the printed book.

Octavio Paz: El laberinto de la soledad
https://berkeley.box.com/s/yxjfmw0c9maofqliq3saxwnp4tvc81yb


Spanish edition:
Octavio Paz, El laberinto de la soledad (con vuelta a El laberinto de la soldead).
México, D.F.: FCE 2000    (PURCHASE ONLINE)
Order immediately!

English translation:
Octavio Paz. The Labyrinth of Solitude and Other Writings. 
 trans. Lysander Kemp. New York: Grove Press, 1961
 (This is a very good English translation; purchase this if you're reading in English)

Week 5: Cancioneros

José Guadalupe Posada

These cancioneros are important--they're the heart of the course, but I never find the right way to give you all the material--so let's use this new week to do so. All at once. I know, it may be overwhelming, but then you'll have them, and we can refer to a fuller range of the songs as we go along over the next weeks. I quite realize that I've learned them over the course of years, so doing this all at once may be unreasonable--but if we don't, well then, we won't. So let's do... And you'll have the next years to learn them as well. (Ask me about Carolina... la chaparrita...)

You have the first of the song books (given out in class, blue or mauve covers). I'll give you two more--yellow and green. I like for you to have the printed songs in hand. But remember that in addition to the printed copies, I have all of this material posted on my S&P SONGBOOKS blog:

http://anthonydubovsky33.blogspot.com/

The primary sets are on the left: Canciones Mexicanas I and II. The suplementos are in the blog archive column to the right-- Suplementos 1: México SP2015  and Suplementos 2: México SP2016..

I'll be making comments in class de vez en cuando sobre mis favoritas--about some of my favorites. As songs are mentioned in class, you can mark them on your cancioneros so that you'll have a weighted list--and know which ones to concentrate on.

Links to the recordings for the songs (the recorded musical versions) are on same blog page, below. Download and import into your iTunes with xml files for metadata (artist, album, etc.) Make a playlist and be listening.

Again--I realize this is a large amount of material. So edit your playlist as we go along--adding the songs I suggest in class along with your own favorites. Over time, they'll add up. Also--ASK ME QUESTIONS. The acquisition is gradual, and I'll try to help guide you.

You can also easily find recorded versions on YouTube, but do so by artist recommended...

PROJECT. For this week, I want you to pick one good song--just from listening, not knowing anything about it--then work back to the letra (lyrics) and do some online research to learn more about the song, the singer and the composer... see if you can find the earliest recorded version. Does the song have a prior history in popular culture? (La Zandunga, por ejemplo.) Make your new project in response...

Next week's wall will be a kind of musical ceviche (gazpacho, bouillabaisse)--we'll see what special ingredients you bring to the table...

And Angela will talk about using Spotify for playlists...
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The following week we'll return to a closer look at some of the best of the songs, one by one...
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READING. We need to start Octavio Paz--so read El Laberinto de la Soledad, Best with print copy of book, but until yours arrives, you can use the Spanish pdf posted in DOWNLOADS folder to right.

Week 4: Arrieros Somos

Arrieros, foto Agustín Casasola, ca. 1900

"Arrieros somos, y en el camino andamos..."

Escuchar a la cancion--by Cuco Sánchez, and the versions by Chavela Vargas and La Prieta Linda con los Hnos.Zaízar. 

Cuco Sánchez  (in Cancionero download)
https://berkeley.box.com/s/qgdpdcgfw20h08j06hsmg2mfppfmm0of 

Chavela Vargas (in Cancionero download)
https://berkeley.box.com/s/3rwbslpqlrbmoxvc3amk8zilph7oayxe

La Prieta Linda y los Hnos. Zaízar  (this version you can find on YouTube, posted by SolitarioDark)

What was the song for Cuco Sánchez? For anyone from México? And for you today?
Make a close reading of the lyrics and base your project on this.
WE WILL DISCUSS THE LYRICS IN CLASS AS WELL...

CANCIONERO RECORDINGS: The separate versions by Cuco Sáchez and Chavela Vargas are in the Cancionero download. I'll give that to you here--this download contains recordings to all the songs in your Cancionero song booklet. These will be important for the rest of the semester--and beyond. Put them into your iTunes with xml file for track info metadata and make a playlist--listen and learn.

Cancionero Mexicano I
https://berkeley.box.com/s/asi7kovmtbcb0e97kq0c 


(Note: For convenience, all downloads for the course are posted in DOWNLOADS folder in column to the right.)

LETRA. Lyrics to Arrieros Somos are in your Cancionero
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Diego Rivera, La Era, 1904

Key terms:

Arrieros. Social history and geography. Images? How did this become cultural history? And how did the cultural history (with all its implications)  find transformation in the song by Cuco Sánchez?

Agustín Casasola (1874-1928). See his photographs. Many of famous ones you'll know and recognize come from Casasola.  (La Adelita, for example.)

Also take a look at SolitarioDark (his remarkable website presenting las canciones mexicanas--and why he maintains it. What makes the versions he chooses particularly special?)

Background material:

El arriero y sus refranes en los caminos de México

danza de arrieros santa cruz ayotuxco.wmv - YouTube
A pueblo festival in Santa Cruz de Ayotuxco (about 20 miles west of Ciudad de México)--a commemoration and living reinvention of the Arriero...   (México Profunda--ASK!)

Tenango del Valle, La tradicional danza de los arrieros, presente en Atlatlahuca - YouTube
A short documentary-- informative...

And from today: image (symbol) of the Arrieros repurposed in an interesting way. Take a look!
LELO ART (c): ° A R R I E R O S °

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In parallel, listen to a song by Federico Garcia Lorca (the great Spanish poet--look him up)--THIS IS ONE OF THE GREAT SONGS!  Lyrics are in your cancionero. Can we thjnk of this as the Spanish version? Where (ultimately) does this song take you? (We're back to Amor y Tristeza)

De los cuatro muleros

Here's a version with Lorca playing the piano: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1FQd76fI3A
The song gained new meaning after Lorca's death 1n 1936 (he was shot by Franco's forces.)

Los Cuatro Muleros Germaine Montero - YouTube
"Los cuatro muleros". Guitarra española. De Federico García Lorca. Por Armando Javier López. - YouTube

Week 3: Amor y Tristeza

Nacho López, Amor, ca. 1950

Bueno, amor nos queda siempre bastante claro--pero amor y tristeza--trae algo distinto en cada caso.* Explorar en términos de imagenes--y por medio de una canción...

(Amor seems always clear in its meaning--but Amor y Tristeza brings something different in each new case.*    Explore this in terms of images--and through the medium of a song...)

Start from Chavela's versions of two key songs by José Alfredo Jiménez--

Ella
En el último trago

Make a close study of the letra--see how each songs is  built--images, narrative, point of view, setting, moment in time  (Ella is from the past--but is it a memory? El último trago is in the present--but with a strong sense of the "conditional" (subjuntivo). How do the lyrics work with music? Listen to the versions by Chavela (you have them on your download) and compare with the way José Alfredo sings them (easily available online).

Each one tells us something particular about México. How so?  And about your own culture?

Chose one of the songs as focus for this week's project.
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Note on videos--many easily available on you tube. I want you to poke a round and see what you come up with. That's part of the exploration. But for this first week, here are some key starting points (posted on my Suplementos blogsite for the class.)
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* Leo Tolstoy, from the beginning of Anna Karenina:  "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."

Week 2: Tierra y Corazón

Bonampak, Mayan murals, Chiapas

Tierra y Corazón.  Make these words your point of departure for a painting, drawing or collage-construction--and listen to the recordings of Chavela Vargas and Antonio Bribiesca (guitarra) while you're working. See where the songs take you. We'll visit some of them individually next week for the lyrics... Para fijarnos en la letra...

Chavela Vargas, Sentimiento de México (Vols. I-II)
https://berkeley.box.com/s/ibzbwcc0d401qwwrqrm3

Chavela Vargas was one of the best interpreters of José Alfredo Jiménez--many of whose songs are featured on these two disks. The original records were made in 1963. (For full track information, download the entire set and import the xml file into you iTunes.)
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Purchase:  Octavio Paz, El laberinto de la soledad  (The Laberynth of Solitude, in English translation by Lysander Kemp). Reading Octavio Paz together will give us ways of thinking about the material in the class--and about culture and place in a wider sense.

Online Notebooks. Send me your homepage URL as active link. Post your work each week--with appropriate writing!  No excedtions...

Enrollment. Take number from my permissions sheet in class.

Sergei Eisenstein, Qué Viva México (1933)