"La golondrina" (English: "The Swallow") is a song written in 1862 by Mexican physician Narciso Serradell Sevilla (1843–1910), who at the time was exiled to France due to the French intervention in Mexico. The lyrics come from a poem written in Arabic by the last

Abencerrages The Abencerrages or Abencerrajes (from the Arabic for "Saddler's Son")Chambers Biographical Dictionary, , page 3 were a family or faction that is said to have held a prominent position in the Kingdom of Granada in the 15th century. The name appe ...

king of Granada,

Aben Humeya Aben Humeya (1520–1569), also known as Muhammad ibn Umayyah ( ar, محمد بن أمية), was a Morisco leader who commanded the Morisco Revolt against Philip II of Spain in the Alpujarras region, near Granada. Early life Aben Humeya was born ...

, in a translation by

Niceto de Zamacois Juan Niceto de Zamacois y Urrutia (20 March 1820 in Bilbao – 29 September 1885 in Mexico City) was a Spanish journalist, playwright, poet, novelist and historian resident in Mexico. He was half-brother of the painter Eduardo Zamacois y Zabala, ...

, which Sevilla found in a magazine used as packing material. The Spanish lyrics use the image of a migrating

swallow The swallows, martins, and saw-wings, or Hirundinidae, are a family of passerine songbirds found around the world on all continents, including occasionally in Antarctica. Highly adapted to aerial feeding, they have a distinctive appearance. The ...

to evoke sentiments of longing for the homeland. It became the signature song of the exiled Mexicans. The song was recorded in 1906 by Señor Francisco. A guitar instrumental was recorded by

Chet Atkins Chester Burton Atkins (June 20, 1924 – June 30, 2001), known as "Mr. Guitar" and "The Country Gentleman", was an American musician who, along with Owen Bradley and Bob Ferguson, helped create the Nashville sound, the country music s ...

in 1955. The song has also been recorded by

Caterina Valente Caterina Valente (born 14 January 1931) is a French multilingual singer, guitarist, and dancer of Italian ethnicity. Valente is a polyglot; she speaks six languages, and sings in eleven. While she is best known as a performer in Europe, Valente ...

(1959),

Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's music career began after he dropped out of school at the age of 15, and continued f ...

(1962),

Plácido Domingo José Plácido Domingo Embil (born 21 January 1941) is a Spanish opera singer, conductor, and arts administrator. He has recorded over a hundred complete operas and is well known for his versatility, regularly performing in Italian, French, ...

(1984),

Flaco Jiménez Leonardo "Flaco" Jiménez (born March 11, 1939) is an American singer, songwriter and accordionist from San Antonio, Texas. He is known for playing Norteño, Tex Mex and Tejano music. Jiménez has been a solo performer and session musician, as ...

(1992, instrumental),

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 ...

(1994), and

Guadalupe Pineda Guadalupe Pineda (born February 23, 1955) is a Mexican singer considered one of Mexico's grassroots musical icons. She is a recipient of the Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and a multi-Latin Grammy nominee, she has released more than 30 a ...

(2004). In 1948,

Gene Autry Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry (September 29, 1907 – October 2, 1998), nicknamed the Singing Cowboy, was an American singer, songwriter, actor, musician, rodeo performer, and baseball owner who gained fame largely by singing in a crooning s ...

sang the song in his Cinecolor film, " The Big Sombrero". Felice &

Boudleaux Bryant Felice Bryant (born Matilda Genevieve Scaduto; August 7, 1925 – April 22, 2003) and Diadorius Boudleaux Bryant (; February 13, 1920 – June 25, 1987) were an Americans, American husband-and-wife country music and pop songwriting team. They ...

wrote lyrics in English, as "She Wears My Ring", which was first recorded by

Jimmy Sweeney Jimmy Sweeney (March 15, 1922 – October 6, 1992) a WW2 veteran, and a member of the Nashville African-American music scene. He was a singer, songwriter, and self-taught guitarist. As a pop singer, he was known professionally as Jimmy Sweeney ...

(also known as Jimmy Bell) in 1960 with notable cover versions by

Roy Orbison Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician known for his impassioned singing style, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. His music was described by critics as ...

(1962),

Johnny O'Keefe John Michael O'Keefe (19 January 1935 – 6 October 1978) was an Australian rock and roll singer whose career began in the 1950s. Some of his hits include " Wild One" (1958), " Shout!" and "She's My Baby". In his twenty-year career, O'Keefe rel ...

(1964), Ray Price and

Solomon King Solomon King (born Allen Verner Levy, August 13, 1930 – January 20, 2005) was an American 1960s and 1970s popular music singer. He is best remembered for his 1968 British hit single, " She Wears My Ring", which charted in 40 countries. Ea ...

(both 1968), and

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

(1973). The song figures prominently in the 1969 film ''

The Wild Bunch ''The Wild Bunch'' is a 1969 American epic Revisionist Western film directed by Sam Peckinpah and starring William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Edmond O'Brien, Ben Johnson and Warren Oates. The plot concerns an aging outlaw gang on th ...

'', directed by

Sam Peckinpah David Samuel Peckinpah (; February 21, 1925 – December 28, 1984) was an American film director and screenwriter. His 1969 Western epic ''The Wild Bunch'' received an Academy Award nomination and was ranked No. 80 on the American Film Institute ...

and scored by

Jerry Fielding Jerry Fielding (born Joshua Itzhak Feldman; June 17, 1922 – February 17, 1980)Redman, Nick"Fielding, Jerry" Jackson, Kenneth T.; Markoe, Karen E.; Markoe, Arnold (1995). ''Dictionary of American Biography; Supplement 10: 1976–1980''. New ...

. The local people serenade the bandit protagonists with it as they leave Angel's Mexican village. The song, recorded by 13-year-old

Heintje Hendrik Nikolaas Theodoor "Heintje" Simons (born 12 August 1955) in Heerlen, later known as Hein Simons, is a Dutch schlager singer and actor. Background Heintje was born the son of a coal miner who had to retire because of silicosis, reduci ...

, became a German number-one hit in August 1968 (title: ''Du sollst nicht weinen,'' "Thou shalt not cry").

Anita Hegerland version

In June 1970, the 9-year-old

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

singer

Anita Hegerland Anita Hegerland (born 3 March 1961 in Sandefjord) is Norway's biggest selling solo artist.Bergan, Jon Vidar (December 30, 2019). “Anita Hegerland”. Great Norwegian Encyclopedia. Retrieved on August 26, 2021, from https://snl.no/Anita_Hegerl ...

became a famed child singer with a recording in

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

(''Mitt sommarlov,'' "My

summer break Summer vacation or summer break is a school break in summer between school years and the break in the school academic year. Students are off anywhere between three weeks to three months. Depending on the country and district, staff might be partia ...

") that topped the Swedish best selling chart Kvällstoppen for five weeks and

Svensktoppen ''Svensktoppen'' () is a weekly record chart airing at Sveriges Radio. Until January 2003, the songs had to be in the Swedish language. Svensktoppen has aired since 1962, except for the years 1982-1985. The last years before the January 2003 cha ...

for seven weeks as well as the

Norwegian singles chart VG-lista is a Norwegian record chart. It is presented weekly in the newspaper '' VG''. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continents around the world. The data are collected by Nie ...

for three weeks. At age 10, she became Norway's first artist to sell over a million copiesNTB (14 December 2018). “Lørdag er det 50 år siden Anita Hegerland ble oppdaget”.

Sunnmørsposten ''Sunnmørsposten'' () is a newspaper published by Polaris Media in Ålesund, Norway. History and profile In its early days, ''Sunnmørsposten'' competed with several other local newspapers, including ''Aalesunds Avis'' (1917–1957), '' Aalesu ...

. Retrieved on 26 August 2021, from https://www.smp.no/ntb/innenriks/2018/12/14/L%C3%B8rdag-er-det-50-%C3%A5r-siden-Anita-Hegerland-ble-oppdaget-18072153.ece and she now is one of the best-selling solo singers in Norway, with sales of more than 7 million albums and singles. Hegerland's songs have been released on nearly 30 million albums worldwide, most of which are with Roy Black and

Mike Oldfield Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and documen ...

Charts

References

1862 songs 1967 singles Songs written by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant Anita Hegerland songs Ray Price (musician) songs Elvis Presley songs Caterina Valente songs Johnny O'Keefe songs Mexican folk songs {{song-stub