"Cucurrucucú paloma" (Spanish for ''Coo-coo dove'') is a Mexican
huapango
is a family of Mexican music styles. The word likely derives from the Nahuatl word that literally means 'on top of the wood', alluding to a wooden platform on which dancers perform dance steps. It is interpreted in different forms, the most c ...
-style song written by
Tomás Méndez in 1954.
[ The title is an onomatopeic reference to the characteristic call of the mourning dove, which is evoked in the refrain. The lyrics allude to ]love sickness
Lovesickness refers to an affliction that can produce negative feelings when deeply in love, during the absence of a loved one or when love is unrequited.
The term "lovesickness" is rarely used in modern medicine and psychology, though new rese ...
.
Over the years the song has been used in the soundtrack of several films and has gained international popularity. It initially appeared in the classic Mexican comedy ''Escuela de vagabundos
''School for Tramps'' (Spanish: ''Escuela de vagabundos'') is a 1955 Mexican comedy film. It was produced by Fernando de Fuentes. It's considered one of the finest comedies of Mexican cinema, and is adapted from the screenplay for the MGM movie ...
''[ screened in 1955, where it was sung by the star of the film, Pedro Infante. The song also gave its name to the 1965 Mexican film '' Cucurrucucú Paloma'', directed by Miguel Delgado, in which it was performed by Lola Beltrán, who starred as "Paloma Méndez".
In Pedro Almodovar's film '' Talk to Her'' (2002) the piece is rendered by the Brazilian singer ]Caetano Veloso
Caetano Emanuel Viana Teles Veloso (; born 7 August 1942) is a Brazilian composer, singer, guitarist, writer, and political activist. Veloso first became known for his participation in the Brazilian musical movement Tropicalismo, which encomp ...
in an art-song style quite different from the mariachi
Mariachi (, , ) is a genre of regional Mexican music that dates back to at least the 18th century, evolving over time in the countryside of various regions of western Mexico. The usual mariachi group today consists of as many as eight violins, t ...
folk-kitsch
Kitsch ( ; loanword from German) is a term applied to art and design that is perceived as naïve imitation, overly-eccentric, gratuitous, or of banal taste.
The avant-garde opposed kitsch as melodramatic and superficial affiliation wi ...
of its original cinema presentation.My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done
''My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done'' is a 2009 crime drama film directed by Werner Herzog, and written by Herzog and Herbert Golder. The film stars Michael Shannon as Brad McCullam, a mentally unstable man who kills his own mother (played by Grac ...
'', ''The Five-Year Engagement
''The Five-Year Engagement'' is a 2012 romantic comedy film written, directed, and produced by Nicholas Stoller. Produced with Judd Apatow and Rodney Rothman, it is co-written by Jason Segel, who also stars in the film with Emily Blunt as a cou ...
'', and '' Moonlight''.
Since its first release on record in 1956 in a version sung by Harry Belafonte
Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927) is an American singer, activist, and actor. As arguably the most successful Jamaican-American pop star, he popularized the Trinbagonian Caribbean musical style with an interna ...
, the song has been recorded by various other popular singers, including Luis Miguel, Rocío Dúrcal
María de los Ángeles de las Heras Ortiz (4 October 1944 – 25 March 2006), better known professionally as Rocío Dúrcal (), was a Spanish singer and actress. Widely successful in Mexico, she earned the sobriquet of ''Reina de las Rancheras'' ...
, Perry Como, Miguel Aceves Mejía
Miguel Aceves Mejía (13 November 1915 – 6 November 2006) was a Mexican actor, composer and singer.
Miguel Aceves Mejía, or "the God of Ranchera" as he was popularly known, was born in El Paso, Texas, and was registered in Ciudad Juárez i ...
, Hibari Misora
was a Japanese singer, actress and cultural icon. She received a Medal of Honor for her contributions to music and for improving the welfare of the public, and was the first woman to receive the People's Honour Award, which was conferred posth ...
, Gaby Moreno
Gaby Moreno is a Guatemalan singer-songwriter, producer, film composer and guitarist. Singing in both English and Spanish, Moreno's music covers many genres including Latin, Alternative, Blues, Folk and Americana.
Biography
Moreno was born i ...
, Nana Mouskouri
Ioanna "Nana" Mouskouri ( el, Ιωάννα "Νάνα" Μούσχουρη ) (born 13 October 1934) is a Greek singer. Over the span of her career, she has released over 200 albums in at least twelve languages, including Greek, French, English, Germ ...
, Julio Iglesias
Julio José Iglesias de la Cueva (; born 23 September 1943) is a Spanish singer, songwriter and former professional footballer. Iglesias is recognized as the most commercially successful Spanish singer in the world and one of the top record ...
, Shirley Kwan
Shirley Kwan, Milo Kwan, Bik Luik Kwan, Kwan Suk'E, or Kwan Suk Yee (, born 15 August 1966) is an influential Cantopop singer from Hong Kong. Kwan first shot to fame in 1989 with the hit, " Happy Are Those in Love" () and was widely popular throu ...
, Lila Downs
Ana Lila Downs Sánchez (born 9 September 1968
*
*) is a Mexican singer-songwriter. She performs her own compositions and the works of others in multiple genres, as well as tapping into Mexican traditional and popular music. She also incorporat ...
, Joan Baez
Joan Chandos Baez (; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing more ...
(on her album ''Gracias a la Vida
"Gracias a la vida" (Spanish for "''Thanks to life''") is a song written, composed and performed by Chilean Violeta Parra, one of the artists who was part of the movement and musical genre known as the Nueva Canción Chilena. Parra composed "Gra ...
''), Rosemary Clooney, and The Del Rubio Triplets
The Del Rubio Triplets were an American folk/acoustic cover band who rose to fame in the 1980s due mostly to their Camp (style), campy style of dress and their cover versions of songs. They earlier performed from the 1940s through the 1960s as The ...
; the refrain was also taken up by Franco Battiato
Francesco "Franco" Battiato (; 23 March 1945 – 18 May 2021) was an Italian musician, singer, composer, filmmaker and, under the pseudonym Süphan Barzani, also a painter. Battiato's songs contain esotericism, esoteric, philosophy, philosophica ...
in his own song "Cuccurucucù" (on ''La voce del padrone
La voce del padrone was the Italian label for the His Master's Voice recording house. The house belonged to The Gramophone Company Ltd., of Hayes (Middlesex, United Kingdom) which owned several labels in Italy, like Columbia, Marconiphone, Angel ...
'').
In 2019, operatic tenor Juan Diego Florez sang the song, accompanying himself on guitar at La Scala in Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
, in a version appearing in a YouTube video that has been viewed close to 10 million times.[Archived a]
Ghostarchive
and th
Wayback Machine
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cucurrucucu Paloma
Spanish-language songs