A letra to awaken to . . .
Soleá
Levanta y no duermas más,
que vienen los pajaritos
cantando la marugá
Get up, and stop sleeping,
the birds are coming out
singing to the dawn
This letra is from from Los cantes de Antonio Mairena Luís y Ramón Soler
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Letras
Last night we saw the full moon.
We were at the beach for the Flamenco Retreat at the Oregon Coast.
So today, this letra…
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Sometimes you want to know a song to go along with the dance form you're studying in class. Other times you want to know the words to that particular flamenco song you like so much. And sometimes you long to know what those words mean.
I'd like to help you with that
Here you'll find a collection of letras (flamenco verses) organized by palo (flamenco form.)
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A coletilla is a short ending that the singer tags onto a letra. The singer often repeats it like a little chorus (estribillo). Here's a common one por alegrías:
Una coletilla por alegrías
Popular
Que me lo tienes que dar
el tacón de la bota
que para taconear*
You have to give me
the heel of your boot
to make music with my feet
You can see a video of María la Sabina sing it here:
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We danced alegrías with David in Barcelona. He gave us so many cute moves.
Here’s a letra for you…
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The other night I went to see Noche Flamenca here in Portland.
Manuel Gago got me when he sang the Romance de Juan de Osuna. He sang it like this, opening with this letra por siguiriyas:
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On the last Flamenco Tour to Jerez the ladies spent a good amount of time in the bar talking to José Luís and Maribel (our hosts). This is often the case as they are quite fun to chat with, and they make us feel at home. (Some people don't speak Spanish. I'm convinced this makes the conversations all the more fun.) So Luís loves flamenco letras and happily shares them with us.
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I mentioned that we saw José Valencia at Tablao Cordobés. Seeing him in that intimate setting felt magical.
Here is one of the letras he sang:
Taranta
Mira lo que te he comprao
que vengo de las minas de las Carboneras
que mira lo que te he comprao
unas botas de cartera
con los botones a un lao
te las pones cuando quieras
Look at what I bought you...
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Tonight we went back to Tablao Cordobés to see David perform. He danced por soleá, and he was on fire.
Everyone was.
Below is a letra La Tana sang tonight por bulerías.
Bulerías
A mí me llaman La Loca
porque vivo a mi manera
y aunque viva equivoca
seré feliz hasta que me muera
They call me The Crazy One . . .
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As I mentioned last week, we've been studying caña here in Jerez on the Flamenco Tour (along with bulerías por su puesto). We learned from Mercedes that la caña has six ays (iis) while el polo has five.
For baile, that is.
And there is a set of ays in the middle of the letra and at the end.
For cante, it's more open.
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We're studying caña with Mercedes right now. (Here in Jerez on the Flamenco Tour that is.) Watching her dance while listening to Santi play the guitar can make it hard to focus on the steps. I'm sure you can imagine . . .
Below is a letra written by Paco López for her show Perspectivas.
Caña
Paco López
Ya la nieve se hizo agua
de tanto llover
Los ojitos tengo secos
de sembrar y no recoger
The snow has turned to water . . .
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Another coletilla today. (Another from Zorri. Can't wait to see that man on the Flamenco Tour in less than two weeks!)
Bulerías
(a coletilla)
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A coletilla for you and an accompanying video of Manuel Liñan that is sure to knock your socks off.
Vente conmigo
Vente a mi vera…
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Another one from the little book followed by a video of Argentina singing it live..
Serranas
La aurora cuando sale…
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I played hooky today and took myself to the beach on a whim.
15,000 steps of beach walk therapy felt so good.
And so, here’s a letra about the sea:
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It's worth posting another version of this letra.
Soleares
Popular
Quisiera ser como el aire
y tenerte yo a mi vera
sin que lo notara nadie
I would like to be like the air
and have you by my side
without anybody noticing
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Another letra from this alegrías by David Lagos and one more video that I'm pretty positive will make your day all kinds of better as soon as you watch it.
Alegrías
David Lagos
A un lance de su capote
suenan la palmas en la plaza
y es que torea en la plaza
vaya torero Rafael de Paula
With a throw of his cape
the clapping sounds in the bullring
because he is bullfighting in the bullring
Wow, the bullfighter Rafael de Paula
You can hear this letra at 2 minutes 30 seconds, but I highly recommend watching the whole thing, especially one minute in when he sings his tri tri tri trans and the very end.
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Bulerías
A Letra from Otra Galaxia (Other Galaxy)
Antonio Humanes, José Monge Cruz (Camarón)
Yo me pregunto mil veces
mi paso por este mundo
y a quién le debo mis alegrías y mis penas
¿Será al cielo y a la tierra
o a los senderos ocultos de la esfera?
I ask myself a thousand times
my path in this world
and to whom do I owe my joys and my sorrows,
to the sky and the land
or to the hidden paths of the globe?
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Malagueña de Chacón
Voy a dejar tu querer
por el hablar de la gente
pero ten por entendido
que me va a costar la muerte
el haberte conocido
I'm going to stop loving you
because of what people say
but understand
that having known you
is going to cost me my life