"Lilongo" is a Mexican song written by Felipe "El Charro" Gil. The song is written in the

Son Jarocho Son jarocho ("Veracruz Sound") is a regional folk musical style of Mexican Son from Veracruz, a Mexican state along the Gulf of Mexico. It evolved over the last two and a half centuries along the coastal portions of southern Tamaulipas state an ...

style of music, a traditional style of the southern region of Veracruz which combines Spanish,

indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...

, and African musical elements. "Lilongo" was copyrighted in the U.S. in 1946, though it was first recorded in the U.S. in 1938. It is most notable for its inclusion in the film ''

The Three Caballeros ''The Three Caballeros'' is a 1944 American live-action/animated musical anthology film produced by Walt Disney and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The film premiered in Mexico City on December 21, 1944. It was released in the United States on ...

''.

Covers

"Lilongo" was recorded by Felipe Gil y Sus Caporales in 1938. It was also recorded by the

Trío 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. It ...

, a group which included Felipe's brother

Alfredo Gil Alfredo Bojalil Gil (August 5, 1915 in Teziutlán, Puebla – October 10, 1999 in Mexico City), also known by his nickname El güero, was a singer and the creator and principal founding member of the musical trio, Trio Los Panchos. As a member of ...

for their 1945 album "Mexicantos".

The Three Caballeros

Lilongo was performed by

Trío Calaveras Trío Calaveras is a Mexican guitar and vocal trio, notable for its performances and recordings with the pop singer Jorge Negrete. History ''Calaveras'', in Spanish, means "skulls". The original members of the trio in the 1930s were Guillermo ...

in the 1944

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

film ''

''. In the film, the Mexican rooster Panchito takes

Donald Duck Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created by The Walt Disney Company. Donald is an anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor shirt and cap with a bow tie. Donald is known fo ...

and

José Carioca José "Zé" Carioca (; ) is a cartoon anthropomorphic parrot created by the Brazilian cartoonist José Carlos de Brito (J. Carlos) and shown to Walt Disney in his trip to Rio de Janeiro in 1941. The Walt Disney Company then incorporated the ide ...

to Veracruz where he shows them a group of people singing and dancing to the "Lilongo". Donald attempts to join in the dance, but after being made fun of by José he has the musicians play the

Jitterbug Jitterbug is a generalized term used to describe swing dancing. It is often synonymous with the lindy hop dance but might include elements of the jive, east coast swing, collegiate shag, charleston, balboa and other swing dances. Swing dan ...

. The musicians return to playing the "Lilongo" before Donald and his friends leave.

References

{{Authority control Mexican folk songs Spanish-language songs Songs from The Three Caballeros