La Paloma

"La Paloma", "The Dove" in English, is a popular Spanish song that has been produced and reinterpreted in diverse cultures, settings, arrangements, and recordings over the last 140 years. The song was written by the Spanish Basque composer Sebastián Iradier (later Yradier) around 1860 after a visit to Cuba. In 1879, it was registered at the copyright office in Madrid as a "Canción Americana con acompañamiento de Piano".[1] Iradier was to die in obscurity within few years, never to learn how popular his song would become.

This article is about the song. For other uses, see La Paloma (disambiguation).
"La Paloma" (excerpt of arrangement)

Very quickly, "La Paloma" became popular outside of Spain, particularly in Mexico, and soon spread around the world. In many places, including Afghanistan, Cuba, Colombia, Hawaii, the Philippines, Germany, Romania, Venezuela, Zanzibar, and Goa it gained the status of a quasi-folk song. Over the years, the popularity of "La Paloma" has surged and receded periodically, but never subsided. It may be considered one of the first universal popular hits and has appealed to artists of diverse musical backgrounds.[2] There are more than one thousand versions of this song, and together with "Yesterday" by The Beatles, is one of the most-recorded songs in the history of music; it is certainly the most-recorded Spanish song.

The motif

The motif of "La Paloma" (the dove) can be traced back to an episode that occurred in 492 BC, before Darius the Great's invasion of Greece, a time when the white dove had not yet been seen in Europe.[3] The Persian fleet under Mardonius was caught in a storm off the shore of Mount Athos and wrecked, when the Greeks observed white doves escaping from the sinking Persian ships. Those were most probably homing pigeons which the Persian fleet carried with them when sallying forth out of Persia for battle. This inspired the notion that such birds bring home a final message of love from a sailor who is lost at sea.

History

In the Portuguese novel O Crime do Padre Amaro (The Crime of Father Amaro), written in 1871 by the Portuguese writer José Maria de Eça de Queirós, it is referred to as "[l]a Chiquita, an old Mexican song".

German and French versions appeared in the 1860s.[4] Harry James recorded a version in 1941 on Columbia 36146., and a version in English titled "No More" with lyrics by Don Robertson and Hal Blair was recorded by both Dean Martin and Elvis Presley. That version was written by request as an adaptation of an Italian or French folk song with new English lyrics, specifically to be sung by Elvis in the movie Blue Hawaii. It was based on musical melody as remembered, and had lyrics fit to the melody which emerged during composition.[5]

In 1973 French singer Mireille Mathieu had a huge hit across Europe with her interpretation named "La Paloma, Adieu", released outside the francophonie countries as "La Paloma, Adé".

"La Paloma" has been interpreted by musicians of diverse backgrounds including opera, pop, jazz, rock, military bands, and folk music. The song entered the Guinness Book of World Records being sung by the largest choir, 88,600 people, in Hamburg on May 9, 2004.[6]

Movies

"La Paloma" is played in these movies:

Lyrics

Cuando salí de la Habana
¡Válgame Dios!
Nadie me ha visto salir
Si no fui yo.
Y una linda Guachinanga
Allá voy yo.
Que se vino tras de mí,
que sí, señor.

Refrain:
Si a tu ventana llega una paloma,
Trátala con cariño que es mi persona.
Cuéntale tus amores, bien de mi vida,
Corónala de flores que es cosa mía.
Ay, chinita que sí!
Ay, que dame tu amor!
Ay, que vente conmigo, chinita,
A donde vivo yo!

El día que nos casemos ¡Válgame Dios!
En la semana que hay ir Me hace reir
Desde la Iglesia juntitos, Que sí señor,
Nos iremos a dormir, Allá voy yo.
(Refrain)

Cuando el curita nos eche La bendición
En la Iglesia Catedral, Allá voy yo
Yo te daré la manita Con mucho amor
Y el cura dos hisopazos Que sí señor
(Refrain)

Cuando haya pasado tiempo ¡Válgame Dios!
De que estemos casaditos Pues sí señor,
Lo menos tendremos siete Y que furor!
O quince guachinanguitos Allá voy yo
(Refrain)

References
  1. "American song with piano accompaniment" (James J. Fuld, The Book of World-famous Music. Classical, Popular, and Folk (Fifth edition revised and enlarged), New York, Dover Publications, 2000, p. 420, ISBN 0-486-41475-2).
  2. Gross, Thomas (5 July 2008). "Heimweh für alle". Die Zeit (in German). Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  3. Pankraz, Marcel Proust und das ewige Lied "La Paloma" (German) Archived 2005-02-19 at the Wayback Machine
  4. "La Paloma, das Seemannslied" [the seafarer's song], esys.org (in German)
  5. "Don Robertson : Writing For The King". elvis.com.au. July 17, 2008.
  6. "Video Event 2004". Archived from the original on 2007-08-15. Retrieved 2006-05-22.
  7. "At the 86th Street Casino" by H. T. S. (Harry T. Smith), review of movie La Paloma (1938), The New York Times, 21 October 1936
  8. La Paloma. Sehnsucht. Weltweit (2008) at IMDb

Further reading
  • Rüdiger Bloemeke: La Paloma – Das Jahrhundert-Lied, Voodoo Verlag 2005, ISBN 3000155864
  • Sigrid Faltin / Andreas Schäfler: La Paloma – das Lied, Marebuch Verlag 2008, ISBN 3866480881
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