I would like to take this opportunity to present you with diary that does not focus on the day to day politics here Daily Kos. I know some of you are worried about the polls recently, but they are just polls. I want to take this time to tell you about a subject that is dear to my heart. I also would like to share a little bit more of my culture with all of you at Daily Kos. Please sit back, forget about politics for a bit, and enjoy this diary.
There are different genres of music in Mexico aside from Mariachi, which is the most prominent genre of music. If you go to the coasts of Mexico, you will find tropical music that is characterized by calypso and cumbia rhythms. If you go to central Mexico, you will find banda music, which distringuishes itself by using brass, woodwinds, and certain precussions. My family is from northern Mexico close to the border of Texas. In this area you will find a genre known as Norteno music. This is the music I grew up listening to and that I love very much. In fact, I love this music so much that my amature band specializes in playing at gigs. That being said, I would like to describe this music a bit further.
Norteno music has its roots in German polka music. You may ask, "Why German polka?" During the middle 1800's, there was a large German population in the Texas territory and in Mexico when the border extended to the Nueces River. The Mexicans living in that area adopted the rhythm and some instrumentation of the polka. Thus a hybrid was born that became known as Norteno in Mexico and Tex Mex in Texas. The rhythms that were borrowed were the polka and the waltz. We also borrowed the diatonic button accordion. However, we did change one thing in the process; we added a Bajo Sexto to this music. This twelve string tenor instrument came from Michoacan. However the Bajo Sexto traces its origins to Spain when it was first used as a bass instrument.
The stage was set for norteno music to begin. We had borrowed rhythms and instruments with one of our instruments added to differentiate the new style from the German version. However, as it was the new genre needed a signature type of song that would become synonymous with Norteno. In comes the Corrido and the stage was set.
The word "Corrido" has the root word "correr", which means to run, in it. Hence, the word Corrido literally means "has run" or "ran." Why sucn a name? The reason is that the Corrido would be a type of song that would communicate a story of event, person, or place. Thus, the song would run through the history of said event, person place or thing. The Corrido would also would focus on the tragic aspects of events, people and places. This would be the defining characteristic of the Corrido; tragedy. However, it would not end there for at times the Corrido would offer advice or a moral to the story to those who listened to it.
The Corrido had its birth during the 1910 Revolution of Mexico. Many Corridos were born during this time to explain the deeds and exploits of the revolutionaries such as Pancho Villa, Emiliano Zapata, and Porfirio Alcala, El Ojo de Vidrio. When a famous revolutionary fell in battle his death was told in the Corrido in heroic fashion. The Corrido also would tell of those revolutionaries who died due acts of betrayal such as Pancho Villa.
The important thing to remember about the Corrido is not the tragic nature of the song, but the history it conveys. In our modern world, we rely on our technology such as the Internet, phones, and television to keep up with people, events, and places. We also rely on our ability to read in order to find out what is happening in our world if the news is via print medium. However, during the Mexican Revolution the technologies that we have today did not exist. Many of the people during that war were also illiterate or had poor reading skills. So how did they keep up with what was happenig in all of Mexico and in the Revolution? The Corrido became the medium by which history was communicated to the common person.
It was common practice for wandering troubadors to go from Mexican town to Mexican down and sing the newest Corrido. The sining troubador was a common sight on street corners in Mexican towns. People would stop, drop a couple of coins, and listen to the latest news of the Mexican Revolution. What did they hear? Here is a couple of versus from a Corrido I have translated titled "The Persecution of Villa." They heard this:
Our Mexico February 23.
Carranza let Americans come in.
Three thousand soliders, two hundred airplanes.
Looking for Villa thoughout all of the country.
They started to send expiditions.
The airplanes started to fly.
Through distinct and various locations.
Looking for Villa wanting to kill him.
From the beginning, the Corrido relates the events, people, and places through song. Since most people did not read, this was a more appealing way to impart history on this segment of the population. The above example, gives the story of what was happening to Pancho Villa as he was being chased and never caught. Other Corridos would tell the story of a Revolutionary up until his death like this song"El Ojo de Vidrio":
Three farmers rode down
from the hills that were hidden.
They brought with them El Ojo de Vidrio
who as bitten by rattlesnake.
The bandit had die on the way
on his faithful and noble horse.
The Corrido is not only tragic it also seeks to instill wisdom and knowledge on its listener. As the Corrido matured, it evolved to include advice to the listener and even give a moral. The authors of Corridos sought a way so as to not repeat the tragic events of history through song. Therefore, some decided to tell people in song not to repeat their mistakes or the mistakes of others. Even though the Corrido evolved to include advice, it still did not lose the concept of telling history through song. As a people of history, we must always learn from our mistakes so as not repeat them. The Corrido seeks to tell its listener not to repeat the mistakes so that another Corrido is composed for tragic reasons. Here is the moral to this Corrido titled, "Lost Contraband":
With this I say goodbye.
But I would like your attention.
Never utilize force when someone is right.
The man who has shame will respond with valor.
or this one called "The Regretful Son":
That is why I tell you fathers do not abandon your children.
Please see the example that I have just given you.
So that tragedies like this can be avoided;
The son is in jail and the father in a grave.
One of the most prolific Corrido performers in the genre of Norteno music is Don Ramon Ayala. He has been at the forefront of Norteno music since his first record in 1965. He recroded 18 albums with the Relampagos del Norte unitl they seprarted in 1971. In 1972, Ramon Ayala formed his own band called "Los Bravos del Norte" and since then has not abated in his love and performance for this music. He has recorded over 100 albums with his band Los Bravos del Norte and many of his Corridos can be found in these albums. Two of the Corridos I have quoted in here are from Ramon Ayala. If you ever want the best in Norteno music or Corridos, then you seek Ramon Ayala y Sus Bravos del Norte. He is known as, "El Amo de la Musica Nortena" or "The Master of Norteno Music."
I hope that this diary has served as information as well as a break from the daily grind of politics here DKos. I welcome feedback from all of you and maybe a few recommends. ;-) Thank you all.