La golondrina
"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.
| "La golondrina" | |
|---|---|
| Song | |
| Language | Spanish |
| English title | "The Swallow" |
| Written | 1862 |
| Genre | Folk |
| Songwriter(s) | Narciso Serradell Sevilla |
The lyrics come from a poem written in Arabic by the last Abencerrages king of Granada, Aben Humeya, in a translation by Niceto de Zamacois, which Serradell found in a magazine used as packing material.[1]
The Spanish lyrics use the image of a migrating swallow to evoke sentiments of longing for the homeland. It became the signature song of the exiled Mexicans. The song was recorded in 1906[2] by Señor Francisco.[3][4] A guitar instrumental was recorded by Chet Atkins in 1955. The song has also been recorded by Caterina Valente (1959), Nat King Cole (1962), Plácido Domingo (1984), Flaco Jiménez (1992, instrumental), Caetano Veloso (1994), and Guadalupe Pineda (2004).[5] In 1948, Gene Autry sang the song in his Cinecolor film, "The Big Sombrero".
Felice & Boudleaux Bryant wrote lyrics in English, as "She Wears My Ring", which was first recorded by Jimmy Sweeney (also known as Jimmy Bell) in 1960 with notable cover versions by Roy Orbison (1962), Johnny O'Keefe (1964), Ray Price and Solomon King (both 1968), and Elvis Presley (1973).[5]
The song figures prominently in the 1969 film The Wild Bunch, directed by Sam Peckinpah and scored by Jerry Fielding. The local people serenade the bandit protagonists with it as they leave Angel's Mexican village.
The song, recorded by 13-year-old Heintje, 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 singer Anita Hegerland became a famed child singer with a recording[6] in Swedish (Mitt sommarlov, "My summer break") that topped the Swedish best selling chart Kvällstoppen for five weeks and Svensktoppen for seven weeks[7] as well as the Norwegian singles chart for three weeks.[8] At age 10, she became Norway's first artist to sell over a million copies[9] 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.
Charts
| Chart (1970) | Peak positions |
|---|---|
| Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[10] | 15 |
| Norway (VG-lista)[8] | 1 |
| Sweden (Kvällstoppen) | 1 |
| Sweden (Svensktoppen)[7] | 1 |
References
- Darko, Slobodan (2011-07-01). "IN DREAMS: * LA HISTORIA – Narciso Serradell Sevilla y "La Golondrina" *". IN DREAMS. Retrieved 2019-02-10.
- La golondrina (mp3)
- "Recordings by 'Senor Francisco'". The Online 78 rpm Discographical Project. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
- "Låtar du trodde var svenska – Mitt sommarlov – La golondrina". Archived from the original on 26 October 2013. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
- "La Golondrina". Archived from the original on 2012-05-09. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - "En sån dag". Svensk mediedatabas. 1970. Retrieved 12 May 2011.
- "Svensktoppen – 1970". Retrieved 26 January 2015.
- "En sån dag". Norwegiancharts. 1970. Retrieved 12 May 2011.
- NTB (14 December 2018). “Lørdag er det 50 år siden Anita Hegerland ble oppdaget”. Sunnmørsposten. 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
- Pennanen, Timo (2021). "Anita Hegerland". Sisältää hitin - 2. laitos Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla 1.1.1960–30.6.2021 (PDF) (in Finnish). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 100. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
