"El reloj" () is a song of the

bolero Bolero is a genre of song which originated in eastern Cuba in the late 19th century as part of the trova tradition. Unrelated to the older Spanish dance of the same name, bolero is characterized by sophisticated lyrics dealing with love. It has ...

genre, with music and lyrics by Mexican composer and singer

Roberto Cantoral Roberto Cantoral García (7 June 1935 – 7 August 2010) was a Mexican composer, singer and songwriter. He was known for composing a string of hit Mexican songs, including "El Triste", "Al Final", "La Barca" and " El Reloj" The Sociedad de Auto ...

, then a member of the Los Tres Caballeros trio.

History

Cantoral composed the song in 1956, in

Washington D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

, in front of the

Potomac River The Potomac River () drains the Mid-Atlantic United States, flowing from the Potomac Highlands into Chesapeake Bay. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map. Retrieved Augu ...

, at the end of a Los Tres Caballeros tour of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. During the tour he had had an affair with one of the girls participating in the show, who was to return to New York the next morning. This love episode, and the presence of a lounge clock during their last meeting, were the events that inspired Cantoral, who would soon turn the relatively trivial episode into the story of a deep love. Los Tres Caballeros premiered the song in 1957 and it was an immediate success. The following year it was recorded by trio

Los Panchos Originally, Trio Los Panchos are a ''trío romántico'' formed in New York City in 1944 by Alfredo Gil, Chucho Navarro, and Hernando Avilés. The trio became one of the leading exponents of the bolero and the romantic ballad in Latin America. ...

in 1958. Since then, it has been interpreted by countless artists, in several languages. Lines from the song feature in a scene from the biographical film ''

Selena Selena Quintanilla Pérez (; April 16, 1971 – March 31, 1995), known mononymously as Selena, was an American Tejano singer. Called the " Queen of Tejano music", her contributions to music and fashion made her one of the most celebrated Mex ...

'' in which

Abraham Quintanilla Abraham Isaac Quintanilla Jr. (born February 20, 1939)Patoski page 2 is an American singer, songwriter, and producer. He is the father of Tejano singer Selena and was her manager throughout her life. Quintanilla was born to a Mexican-American fa ...

teaches them to his daughter,

, by way of introducing her to the Mexican side of her

Chicano Chicano or Chicana is a chosen identity for many Mexican Americans in the United States. The label ''Chicano'' is sometimes used interchangeably with ''Mexican American'', although the terms have different meanings. While Mexican-American ident ...

heritage. Christy Huffman.
"El reloj: the clock"
''Corsicana Daily Sun'', 16 December 2018.

Interpreters of "El reloj"

;Spanish version :*

José José José Rómulo Sosa Ortiz (17 February 1948 – 28 September 2019), known professionally as José José, was a Mexican singer and actor. Born into a family of musicians, José began his musical career in his early teens playing guitar and sin ...

:* Il Volo :* Juan d'Arienzo :*

José Feliciano José Montserrate Feliciano García (born September 10, 1945) () is a Puerto Rican musician, singer and composer. He recorded many international hits, including his rendition of the Doors' "Light My Fire" and his self-penned Christmas song " F ...

Lucho Gatica Luis Enrique Gatica Silva (11 August 1928 – 13 November 2018),
''The New York Times''. Retriev ...

(

Latin Grammy Hall of Fame The Latin Grammy Hall of Fame is a hall of fame established by the Latin Recording Academy to recognize "early recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance that were released more than 25 years ago". LARAS is also the same organiz ...

inductee) :* Luis Miguel (#2

Hot Latin Tracks The ''Billboard'' Hot Latin Songs (formerly Hot Latin Tracks and Hot Latin 50) is a record chart in the United States for Latin songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Since October 2012, chart rankings are based on digital sales, ra ...

, #1

Latin Pop Airplay Latin Pop Airplay (also referred to as Latin Pop Songs) is a record chart published on ''Billboard'' magazine and a subchart of the Latin Airplay chart. The chart focuses on Latin pop music, namely Spanish-language pop music. It was established ...

; recipient of the BMI Latin Award in 1999) :*

Neil Sedaka Neil Sedaka (; born March 13, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. Since his music career began in 1957, he has sold millions of records worldwide and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and other artists, collabo ...

:* :es:Jorge Valdez :*

French Latino French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with France ...

;Japanese version :*

Chiemi Eri , was a Japanese popular singer and actress. Eri was born as on January 11, 1937 in Tokyo, Japan. She started her singing career at the age of 14 with her version of "Tennessee Waltz." Her repertoire consisted largely of traditional Japanese son ...

:* ja:Graciela Susana :* ja:Teruhiko Aoi :* ja:Jun Anna :* ja:Yoichi Sugawara :* ja:Hiroshi Mizuhara

References

External links

El reloj (Youtube: Original version of 1957 by Los Tres Caballeros)
1957 songs 1997 singles Boleros Mexican songs Spanish-language songs Latin Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients Luis Miguel songs Song recordings produced by Luis Miguel Warner Music Latina singles Songs written by Roberto Cantoral {{Song-stub

History

Interpreters of "El reloj"

See also

References

External links