"El circo" ("The circus") is a 1996 song written by Jesse Armenta and recorded by

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

group

Los Tigres del Norte Los Tigres del Norte (English: ''The Tigers of the North'') are a norteño band from San Jose, California. Originally founded in Mocorito, Sinaloa, Mexico, with sales of 60 million albums, the band is one of the most recognized groups in the g ...

. The song was included in the album "Unidos para Siempre" and topped the US Billboard

Hot Latin Songs 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, rad ...

and

Regional Mexican Airplay Regional Mexican Airplay (also referred to as Regional Mexican Songs) is a record chart published by ''Billboard'' magazine. It was established by the magazine on October 8, 1994, with "La Niña Fresa" by Banda Zeta being the first number-one so ...

charts in 1996.

Composition and lyrics

"El circo" is a

corrido The corrido () is a popular narrative metrical tale and poetry that forms a ballad. The songs are often about oppression, history, daily life for criminals, the vaquero lifestyle, and other socially relevant topics. Corridos were widely popular ...

and

protest song A protest song is a song that is associated with a movement for social change and hence part of the broader category of ''topical'' songs (or songs connected to current events). It may be folk, classical, or commercial in genre. Among social mov ...

written by Jesse Armenta, who had been working with Los Tigres del Norte for decades. The lyrics describe two brothers, "Carlos" and "Raúl" (in reference to

Carlos Salinas de Gortari Carlos Salinas de Gortari CYC DMN (; born 3 April 1948) is a Mexican economist and politician who served as 60th president of Mexico from 1988 to 1994. Affiliated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), earlier in his career he wor ...

president of Mexico The president of Mexico ( es, link=no, Presidente de México), officially the president of the United Mexican States ( es, link=no, Presidente de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos), is the head of state and head of government of Mexico. Under the Co ...

from 1988 and 1994, and his brother

Raúl Salinas de Gortari Raúl Salinas de Gortari (born August 24, 1946) is a Mexican civil engineer and businessman. He is the elder brother of Carlos Salinas de Gortari, the 53rd president of Mexico. Raúl Salinas de Gortari graduated from the Faculty of Engineering ...

), who form a "circus" (a drug cartel) and get rid of the other "circuses" in the country. After the brothers get wealthy, Raúl makes Carlos' money disappear (a reference to the

Mexican peso crisis The Mexican peso crisis was a currency crisis sparked by the Mexican government's sudden devaluation of the peso against the U.S. dollar in December 1994, which became one of the first international financial crises ignited by capital flight. ...

) and their circus ends. Raúl is jailed, while Carlos leaves the country, and the people are finally at peace, unless another circus arrives and the story repeats itself. In 2013, Gustavo Orellana from the

OC Weekly ''OC Weekly'' was a free alternative weekly paper distributed in Orange County and Long Beach, California. OC Weekly was founded in September 1995 by Will Swaim, who acted as editor and publisher until 2007. The paper was distributed at coffee ...

considered "El circo" as the second best song ever recorded by Los Tigres del Norte, and described that with the song "in exacting, sardonic fashion, Los Tigres detail how the Gortaris stole the 1988 election and enriched themselves in the process, leaving Mexico in ruins while fleeing for the banks of Switzerland and the extradition-free land of Ireland". Orellana also described the last lines of the song as prophetic, given that the PRI (the political party that governed Mexico from 1929 to 2000 and to which the Salinas brothers were affiliated) returned to power in 2012 with

Enrique Peña Nieto Enrique Peña Nieto (; born 20 July 1966), commonly referred to by his initials EPN, is a Mexican politician who served as the 64th president of Mexico from 1 December 2012 to 30 November 2018. A member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party ...

as President of Mexico.

Charts

References

1996 singles 1996 songs Los Tigres del Norte songs Songs about presidents {{1990s-single-stub

Composition and lyrics

Charts

See also

References