11 Cumbia en diciembre
Navidad negra
La canción Navidad Negra by José Barros describe how people of African-descent celebrate Navidad at the end of a fishing journey.
JOSE BARROS – NAVIDAD NEGRA — MUSICA COLOMBIANA by the orchestra of Lucho Bermúdez.
La canción starts by saying that en la playa blanca de arena caliente (=in the white beach of sand hot) hay rumor de cumbia y olor (=smell) of ardent water or aguardiente. Aguardiente is the combination ardent=ardiente /ardyénteh/ + agua=water. Aguardiente means ardent water, which is a very strong distilled liquor made of anise which produces a burning sensation when you drink it.
La playa blanca sets the stage for the dancing. No ballroom, no dancing floor, no fancy dresses, no illumination, just estrellas (=stars) y luna (=moon). La noche es el traje negro or the black suit. The crew of fishermen are approaching closely by adding melody to the scene. Listen to orchestra by Lucho Bermúdez from 2:56-3:22:
Bailan las canoas, formando una fila (X2)
The canoes dance, forming a line
Mientras canta el boga su canción sentida (X2)
While the stroke (=the row man) sings, his deep-felt song.
Traditional instruments suenan (=sound) such as la gaita or the folkish Colombian pipe with los tambores. The word used is se queja=she complains because the high pitch sound from the gaita sounds like a complain.
La canción repite cuatro veces a chant to the fisherman “El pescador de mi tierra” (=The fisherman of the land) to celebrate their arrival. El pescador (pausa) de mi tierra el pescador (pausa) de mi tierra el pescador (pausa) de mi tierra el pescador (pausa) de mi tierra.
There are altars in the ranch neighborhoods, en todas las rancherías, se ven bonitos altares, and tambores y millos (=flutes made of corn wood) ellos interpretan their songs.
You should note patterns in the verb conjugations. All verbs come from AR endings.
| Subject | Conjugated verb | Infinitive |
| Singular | ||
| La gaita (=the pipe) | queja | quejar=to complain |
| El boga (=the rowman) | canta | cantar=to sing |
| Plural | ||
| Los tambores (=the drums) | suenan | sonar=to sound |
| Las canoas | bailan | bailar=to dance |
| (Ellos) | interpretan | interpretar=to interpret |
Even a verb that changes the stem (more advanced topic) has an N to meet “they” or, in this case, the drums: suenan (from sonar=to sound).
En la playa blanca de arena caliente (X2)
In the beach white, of sand hot
Hay rumor de cumbia y olor a aguardiente (X2)
There’s rumor of cumbia and smell to ardent-water (distilled liquor)
La noche en su traje negro estrellas tiene a millares
The night in her black suit, stars has a million
y con rayitos de luna ilumina sus altares
and with rays of moon, illuminates her altars/shrines.
El pescador de mi tierra (X4)
The fisherman of my land.
La gaita se queja, suenan los tambores (X2)
the pipe complains, the drums sound
en la nochebuena de los pescadores.
in the Good-night (=Christmas) of the fishermen
En todas las rancherías se ven bonitos altares (X2)
In all the neighborhood (of ranches), altars beautiful are seen
entre millos y tambores interpretan sus cantares
between corn and drums interpret their singing.
El pescador de mi tierra (X4)
The fisherman of my land
Bailan las canoas, formando una fila (X2)
The canoes dance, forming a line
Mientras canta el boga su cancion sentida (X2)
While the stroke (=the man rowing the ship) sings, his deep-felt song.
Songwriters: Nelson A. Zapata, Pavel Antonio De Jesus, John G. Wilson. For non-commercial use only. Adapted from Musixmatch, powered Microsoft Bing
El año viejo
Cumbia music became quite popular in the 1940’s in Mexico. El cantante mexicano Tony Camargo wrote una canción with sarcasm about the good things he got from the Old Year: una mula vieja (=an old mule), una yegua blanca (=a white mare) and una buena suegra (=a good mother-in-law). The word “viejo” refers to the Year which is masculine, and “vieja” refers to the mule which is feminine. Both mean “old”. Notice the word “chiva” is a slang word for “cabra” in Colombian Spanish.
Sarcasm comes from listing his mother-in-law next to the mare of the mule as if she were an animal too. Also one wonders why he praises his in law instead of his wife. Perhaps his wife is not good enough, so he recalls he’s only left with a good his mother-in-law.
Listen to it here:
EL AÑO VIEJO – TONY CAMARGO
La canción es muy popular during the New Year’s eve. People do lots of social dancing of cumbia with their families. It’s an anthem to the Año Viejo (=Year Old) to receive the Año Nuevo (=Year New).
You can listen to me explaining the song here:
El huerfanito
En Colombia son populares muchas canciones sarcásticas contra la alegría de la Navidad. Although this is not about Christmas, suena mucho durante la época navideña, año viejo y festividades de fin de año. La palabra HUÉRFANO significa “orphan”, and with diminutive HUERFANITO /werfaneeto/.
He says that everybody calls him el huerfanito or the poor-little-orphan because he always wanders around the streets with no purpose. His darling, to whom he calls affectionately morena=tanned, doesn’t love him. He uses the word querer=to want as a synonym for to love. But also he complains that he doesn’t have a father, he doesn’t have a mother, he doesn’t have money much less who loves him.
Entonces empieza a mencionar poblaciónes de Colombia: yo me voy pa la Sabana, where the Savannah probably refers to Bogotá since it’s located on a high altitude plain. He also says me voy pa Cartagena and in a different line me voy pa Barranquilla. You should take into account that pa is para which signals destination.
- Vocab of family: padre (=father), madre (=mother)
- Slang: caramba is an expression of anger that doesn’t have a word in English. It’s like when someone says damn it! hell! Jeez!
- References to a woman: morena (=darling, tanned),
- Verbo querer: no me quiere (=doesn’t love/want me), no tengo quién me quiera (=I don’t have whoever love/want me)
- Verb ir: yo me voy=I’ll depart, with IR in reflexive, I’ll take the leave myself
- Pa=para=to, towards
Hear from 0:15-0:40.
El Huerfanito – Guillermo Buitrago / Discos Fuentes Discos Fuentes Edimusica
Me llaman, me llaman, el huerfanito
They call me, they call me the poor Little orphan
Ay porque ando, porque ando por la barriada
Ay! Because I go around, because I go around the neighborhood
Y mi morena, mi morena no me quiere
And my tanned (lady), my tanned (lady) doesn’t love me
Oyeme caramba! yo me voy pa la Sabana
Hear me oh damn! I go to the Sabana (=Savvanah), probably Bogotá.
Yo no tengo padre, yo no tengo madre
I don’t have father, I don’t have mother
No tengo dinero, mucho menos quien me quiera
I don’t have money, much less who love me
