{"id":290,"date":"2009-01-25T10:49:35","date_gmt":"2009-01-25T17:49:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chimatli.org\/blog\/?p=290"},"modified":"2009-01-25T11:26:51","modified_gmt":"2009-01-25T18:26:51","slug":"flamenco-letras","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chimatli.org\/blog\/?p=290","title":{"rendered":"Flamenco Letras"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/param><\/param><\/param><\/embed><\/object> Pajaro Negro (siguiriya<\/em>)-La Caita<\/strong>
\nfull version here<\/a> with English translation.<\/p>\n

Every year I send out a new year’s greeting to my friends and family and this year I included a Solea letra (lyrics) with the greeting. Solea is a type of Flamenco song usually dealing with the anguish of heartbreak and loss.<\/p>\n

Though I tear off
\nthe hands of my watch
\ntime will not stop<\/p>\n

Agujas de me reloj
\nque yo las iba arrancando
\ny el tiempo no se par\u00c3\u00b3.<\/p>\n

-Solea<\/p>\n

Flamenco letras can be anything from heartbreaking to humorous to coquettish as in this favorite letra of mine:<\/p>\n

Tu tienes dos lunares
\nuno juntito la boca
\nel otro donde tu sabes <\/p>\n

You have two beauty marks*
\none near your lips
\nand the other – you know where<\/p>\n

you can hear the song here: myspace.com\/doslunaresla <\/a>
\nLunares (polka dots) are considered good luck in Gitano and other Roma cultures. Earlier this year there was an issue with a name I was using for my Flamenco projects and I was happy to re-christen this project as Dos Lunares<\/a>, in honor of the song and the symbolic luck I hope it will bring me.<\/p>\n

If you enjoy Flamenco letras and are interested in reading more, check out the excellent blog Flamenco Quote of the Day<\/a> presented by Sakai Flamenco<\/a>. Highly recommended!<\/p>\n

Recently on the blog<\/a>, one of my favorite letras was included in a post:<\/p>\n

There, still in my bed,
\nin the small hollow she left,
\nis the pin from her hair,
\nand the little comb she used
\nto hold it there.<\/p>\n

Todavia esta en mi cama
\nel hoyito que dejo,
\nla orquillita de su pelo,
\ny el peine que la peino.<\/p>\n

Solea\/Traditional<\/p>\n

I first heard this letra from the cantaor Agustin Rios Amaya<\/a> from Mor\u00c3\u00b3n de la Frontera<\/a>. Most of the songs he sings were taught to him by family and friends. You could say they become a form of oral history. As he taught me different letras, he would explain the origins of the song, who he learned from and why it was meaningful. In Flamenco, cante (the song) is king and the interpretation of letras is extremely important to the art form. The above letra included a very touching story that went along with it.<\/p>\n

While many letras are traditional they are often improvised as a way of inspiring the musicians and dancers around them or sometimes to remark on the situation at hand. One cantaor who I very much enjoy, El Capullo de Jerez<\/a> claims this letra was improvised on the spot and was so popular he incorporated it into a whole song.<\/p>\n

Porque la vida es una rutina
\nap\u00c3\u00a1game la luz
\ny enci\u00c3\u00a9ndeme la luz…<\/p>\n

Because life is a routine
\nturn off the light
\nturn on the light<\/p>\n

-Rumba<\/p>\n

The Pajaro Negro video is from the movie Latcho Drom<\/a> and dedicated to my friend El Chavo!<\/a> as it is one of his favorites. My new year’s wish is for someone to release two of my favorite Gypsy related films on DVD: Latcho Drom and Angelo My Love<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Best wishes for a super New Year!<\/p>\n

*Lunares can be translated as moons, polka dots or beauty marks.<\/p>\n

(Also posted at :dos lunares<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pajaro Negro (siguiriya)-La Caita full version here with English translation. Every year I send out a new year’s greeting to my friends and family and this year I included a Solea letra (lyrics) with the greeting. Solea is a type of Flamenco song usually dealing with the anguish of heartbreak and loss. Though I tear … Continue reading Flamenco Letras<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[30,11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chimatli.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chimatli.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chimatli.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chimatli.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chimatli.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=290"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chimatli.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chimatli.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chimatli.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chimatli.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}