One more Canastera for you to watch, María Terremoto. I can't stop listening to it, especially this coletilla she frames everything with (From Paco de Lucia's Almonte ... I love this chorus so much that I've included two other video versions following hers for you to check out.)

En la marisma con la candela viene el romero
Cantan por Huelva y a la Pastora los almonteños
y el corazón se me estremeció en el alma

cogí la manta la eche en el suelo

In the marsh with the fire the pilgrims come
They sing for Huelva and their patron saint the people of Almonte*
and my heart shook in my soul

I grabbed the blanket and threw it on the floor

Difficult Translations

I had to do quite a bit of research on this one ... To find out who La Pastora was (the Virgin of Rocío dressed as a shepherdess which happens every seven years), to find out what el romero meant in this context. You can see the candelas here. You can see the Virgin of Rocío on procession as she is referred to in the letra here. You can read a bit about Almonte and the pilgrimage to El Rocío in English here and here. (One year on the Spring Flamenco Tour to Jerez we saw people on their way to El Rocío.) On a side note, I was sad to learn that nine horses and an ox died from mistreatment and not getting enough water last year in the pilgrimage to Rocío. 

For the words to the rest of song in the video, check this out. Hear her father sing it here.

UPDATE:

Hear María sing it again here.

Keep Watching

Here’s another video where you can hear the full version of this estribillo... 

(You can hear the original version of Almonte from Paco de Lucia's Zyryab here.)

Comments

Does this melody have the same effect on you as it did on me? Do you have any insights about the letra? The pilgrimage to Rocío? Let me know in the comments below.

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