The valona is a popular narrative song- and poetry-form of the Mexican state of
Michoacán
Michoacán, formally Michoacán de Ocampo (; Purépecha: ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Michoacán de Ocampo ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Michoacán de Ocampo), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of ...
.
Its main characteristics are a
bitter sense of humor,
bawdy
Ribaldry or blue comedy is humorous entertainment that ranges from bordering on indelicacy to indecency. Blue comedy is also referred to as "bawdiness" or being "bawdy".
Sex is presented in ribald material more for the purpose of poking fun at ...
content, and social concerns. The lyrics of a Valona are composed as groupings of ten-line strophes, each line made up of eight syllables; musically, all valonas are sung (in fact, almost recited) to just a single tune, with an instrumental refrain after each strophe, which can vary.
As a narrative popular genre, the valona is literarily and musically related to the Mexican
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 ...
. In a broader stylistic sense, it is akin with other Mexican genres composed in ten minor-verse strophes (''décimas'' or ''
espinelas''), such as some
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 ...
s and the
son arribeño, along with certain other Latin American genres, such as the Chilean
run-run and the rhapsodes of the Argentine
payador
The ''payada'' is a folk music tradition native to Argentina, Uruguay, southern Brasil, and south Paraguay as part of the ''Gaucho'' culture and literature. In Chile it is called ''paya'' and performed by '' huasos''. It is a performance of imp ...
es.
References
Mexican songs
{{Mexico-stub