The wealth of verses of flamenco singing is incredibly varied and vast. From authored poetry to traditional, numerous fragments from folklore and epic ballads, a sort of Andalusian haiku form that is rarely longer than three or four lines.<\/p>\n
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Life, death, love and unlove are the standard topics. There are also verses that allude unapologetically to domestic violence, poverty, racism and other difficult social issues that become more manageable when passed through the prism of flamenco singing. The forms employed? It hardly matters, with minor modification most verses can be adapted to any of the song-styles, and anyhow, that\u2019s the essence of cante<\/em>: the challenge, the bravery to turn emotion inside out to assuage wounds that may not heal but which become tolerable.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Look at this micro drama represented in a brief coda known to all flamenco followers:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Quieras o no quieras<\/em><\/p>\n te vas a venir conmigo<\/em><\/p>\n por las malas o por las buenas<\/em><\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n (Like it or not, you\u2019re coming with me, even if it\u2019s against your will)<\/em><\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n The customary major key of this common ending gives a frivolous air, but consider the scene: this is a man warning a woman that she better obey his will if she knows what\u2019s good for her, because \u201clas malas\u201d sounds like a blatant threat. Without meaning to promote political correctness (so easily ridiculed), I think the choice of words is unfortunate, and less aggressive vocabulary could be employed.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Our much-missed Juana la del Revuelo (Seville, 1952-2016) often sang the following verse for buler\u00edas, triggering giggles, but the target of the referred beating might not have appreciated the humor:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Mi mar\u00edo me ha pegao<\/em><\/p>\n porque quiere que le haga<\/em><\/p>\n patatas con bacalao<\/em><\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n (My husband gave me a beating because he wants me to make potatoes with cod)<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n There are also verses that employ a humorous tone to allude to extreme poverty. The following, sung by Torre and others, is one of the best-known:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n C\u00f3mprame por dios<\/em><\/p>\n una camisita<\/em><\/p>\n que siquiera me tape<\/em><\/p>\n la barriguita<\/em><\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n (For God\u2019s sake, buy me a shirt that at least covers my belly!)<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n My much-admired Ca\u00f1eta de M\u00e1laga, often sang the following verse with comic intent, a complete soap-opera in barely four lines, the tragedy of a young girl who gives herself to a rich old man in order not to go hungry, but it doesn\u2019t end well. Don\u2019t tell me this isn\u2019t a perfect jewel:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Te casaste con aquel viejo<\/em><\/p>\n por las moneas<\/em><\/p>\n Ahora se acaban las moneas<\/em><\/p>\n y el viejo se quea<\/em><\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n (You married that rich old goat for his money, now the money\u2019s gone but the old goat is still there)<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The topic of racism in flamenco is an impossible labyrinth with no real resolution, while at the same time verses such as the following, sung by Jos\u00e9 de la Tomasa, have a certain charm, there\u2019s no point denying it:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Hab\u00eda una gallinita siendo gitano<\/em><\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n (There was a little chicken in the middle of a field\u2026what gypsy could resist?)<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Or this one, equally light-hearted, that appears to suggest that gypsies are clever businessmen, or possibly even tricksters:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Graciosos son los gitanos <\/em><\/p>\n que se van en borrico <\/em><\/p>\n y vuelven en aeroplano<\/em><\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n (Gypsies are so clever, they leave on a donkey, and return in an airplane)<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The following verse is an alternative version of a more dramatic one that was popularized by Joselero de Mor\u00f3n (Puebla de Cazalla, 1910-Mor\u00f3n de la Frontera, 1985), and which that singer ended with the words \u201cque lleva el ferrocarril\u201d. The version cited here is from El alma de Andaluc\u00eda (1929) <\/em>by Rodr\u00edguez Mar\u00edn, and again, it\u2019s dark humor is unmistakable.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Yo te estoy a ti queriendo<\/em><\/p>\n con la misma violencia<\/em><\/p>\n que lleva un muerto corriendo <\/em><\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n (I love you with the same power as a dead man running)<\/em><\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n With a disdainful tone similar to that of the previous verse, Jos\u00e9 Calles includes the following one in his Cancionero Popular (2001) <\/em>with the odd reference to pounds rather than kilograms:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n El d\u00eda que t\u00fa te fuiste<\/em><\/p>\n fue tan grande mi dolor<\/em><\/p>\n que me com\u00ed dos gallinas<\/em><\/p>\n y tres libras de jam\u00f3n<\/em><\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n (The day you left it hurt so bad, I ate two chickens and three pounds of ham)<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Life, death, love and unlove are the standard topics. There are also verses that allude unapologetically to domestic violence, poverty, racism and other difficult social issues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":38524,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[68],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-estela-flamenca"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nen medio de un llano
\na ver qui\u00e9n se resiste <\/em><\/p>\nTop image: Juana la del Revuelo – Photo: Estela Zatania<\/h6>\n