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| Molle tree: Mauricio Mercadante |
This is another song also about a tree and, like El aromo, it is about resilience and converting troubles into joy:
a mi las penas son pascua
los desprecios carnaval.
They are good lines to remember.
Music and lyrics by Mariana Carrizo.
¿Quien ha dicho que me he 'i muerto¹
cuando perdido 'i andado?
¿Quien habrá sido ese doliente
que de mi se habrá acordado?²
Who has said that I have died
when I have wandered lost?
Who could that mourner have been
who must have remembered me?
Mi garganta no es de palo
ni hechura de carpintero³
si quieren que yo les cante
denme platita⁴ primero.
My throat is not made of wood
nor crafted by a carpenter
if you want me to sing for you
give me some silver first.
Sancarleña⁵
libre y dueña
libre y dueña.
Sancarleña
free and sovereign
free and sovereign.
Yo soy como la chicharra
corta vida, larga fama
y me la paso cantando
de la noche a la mañana.⁶
I am like the cicada
short life, long fame
and I spend my time singing
from night until morning.
Tras del molle
cantar se oye
cantar se oye.
Behind the molle tree
singing can be heard
singing can be heard.
Para mí todo es lo mismo
para mi todo es igual
a mi las penas son pascua
los desprecios carnaval.⁸
For me, everything is the same
for me, everything is equal
to me, sorrows are Easter
disdain is carnival.
Tras del molle
cantar se oye
cantar se oye.⁷
Behind the molle tree
singing can be heard
singing can be heard.
Sancarleña
libre y dueña
libre y dueña.
Sancarleña
free and sovereign
free and sovereign.
1. he 'i": "he" is the first person singular of the auxiliary verb "haber," used in forming the present perfect tense (e.g., "he muerto" = "I have died"). The "'i" is a colloquial or phonetic contraction of "ido." The full form would be "he ido muerto," (I have gone and died) but this is not standard. Common in traditional and folk music it conveys authenticity and cultural identity, preserving the way people in certain regions might speak in ways that may be more flexible with grammar, sometimes with a more direction connection to words and speech patterns from the past. He de is another form often found in songs and poetry, that in everyday speech I only ever hear as tengo que or debo, although a language-loving friend, writing a careful letter began with He de reconocer, a mi pesar... [I must recognise, to my sorrow].
2. The lines are nuanced and layered. The singer asserts her vitality, questioning who could have said she was dead, when she was just lost. There is a sense of injustice at being thought dead or metaphorically buried. She questions again, who could that person, that mourner have been? A mourner is someone who values you, and, as she says, remembers you. So there seems to be a mixture of indignation with solace.
3. She asserts her vitality. She is not made of wood and that vitality expressed in her song, is valuable, worth money.
4. In Latin America plata is a common word for Spanish dinero, money. Adding the diminutive "ita" softens the request.
5. Sancarleña - woman from San Carlos in the province of Salta, north west Argentina. San Carlos is one of the oldest in the Calchaquí Valley, with colonial-era churches and buildings that reflect its historical importance. The indigenous Calchaquí people, are known for their resistance to Spanish colonization in the 16th and 17th centuries. The town is known for the natural beauty of the area, its traditional festivals of music, dance and handcraft and its wine, particularly Torrontés.
6. The cicada will not be silenced. It insists on being heard, continuing the earlier theme of the life force with a nod to the wider context, the resilience of the Calchaquí people of the Sancarleña is one. Even if life is brief, it can be lived fully and leave a lasting memory.
7. The stunning molle or pink peppercorn true (unrelated to true peppercorn) is a resilient tree that can survive in harsh climates, a metaphor then for steadfastness and toughness. It is used for shade in arid regions. The fact that singing comes from behind it may suggest that cultural traditions of the region continue in the background, nurtured by the connection to the land and to nature. There is an element of mystery too. Though unseen the voice is present and powerful. A song does not die with the singer. Life and song and land continue, represented by the natural symbols of the grasshopper, the tree and the resilient spirit of the SanSancarleño people.
8. This resilience is not something dour but joyful, expressed in song but in humour. The effect is to find negative experiences positive or inconsequential:
Easter is a time of celebration and resurrection, so the singer suggests their sorrows are positive, possibly an opportunity for change, which is what, in simple terms, the Resurrection represents: joy and liberation through sorrow.
Carnival is a time of festivity and fun. If contempt is represented as carnival the suggestion is the singer takes disdain lightly, something to make light of or find funny or use to contrast against their vitality and spirit of celebration.
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