It was really fun today in class when we sang “La cucaracha”
and “Cielito lindo.” When we sang “Cielito lindo,” it reminded me of this
episode of I Love Lucy. (By the way,
if you’ve never seen an episode of I Love
Lucy, DO IT. This show is cheesy but hilarious, and I would recommend this
episode, “The Freezer,” “Lucy Does a TV Commercial,” or “Job Switching.”) In
“The Freezer,” Lucy and Ethel accidentally purchase 700 pounds of meat, and so
Ethel tries to stall Ricky and Fred while Lucy moves the meat from their new
freezer to the currently non-functional furnace by asking Ricky to sing for
her. One of the songs Ricky sings to her is “Cielito lindo.” My family and I
actually watched this episode this past Christmas Eve, and when Ricky started
singing this song, I shouted “We just
sang this in my sequence!” Needless to say, I was very excited to sing
along and demonstrate to my parents what I had learned.
Our discussion of “La cucaracha” during Professor Stark’s
part of the class was very interesting. Just hearing the lyrics alone, you
would never know that “la cucaracha” refers to General Huerta, and reflects his
reputation of being an alcoholic and addicted to drugs. It sort of reminds me
of another song that you wouldn’t necessarily understand just by hearing the
lyrics: “Yankee Doodle.” I think most Americans learn this song as kids, and it’s
supposed to be a patriotic song. It wasn’t until high school that I learned the
true meaning of the lyrics. They go: “Yankee Doodle went to town/A-riding on a pony/He stuck a feather in his
hat/And called it macaroni.” Apparently, this tune was originally used by the British
to make fun of American soldiers during the American Revolutionary War. “Doodle”
was a derogatory term that meant “foolish” or “simpleton.” “Macaroni” was a
fancy style of Italian dress that was widely imitated among the British in
which they would wear a hat with a single feather. By saying “stuck a feather in
his hat and called it macaroni,” the British were making fun of Americans who they
saw as stupid enough to simply stick a feather in their hat and think
themselves ‘fancy.’ It was later used to rally American soldiers, and is now a
patriotic song.
It’s funny how
songs with such simple lyrics can have such deep political meanings. Both “La
cucaracha” and “Yankee Doodle” were written by people with the purpose of
making fun of their enemies, but on the surface they seem like simple, fun folk
songs.
Grace,
ReplyDeleteWow, how interesting! I really enjoyed learning about and singing “La Cucaracha” as well. I never knew what the real meaning of “Yankee Doodle” was until I read your blog. I just thought it was a silly song that they taught us as children. I never knew there was a deeper political meaning behind the goofy lyrics. I wonder why we continue to teach the song even though it was used by the British to make fun of us. I wonder if the teachers even know what they are teaching their students when they teach them to sing Yankee Doodle. I also wonder if Spanish children sing “La Cucaracha” in school… probably not.