La Cucaracha

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This article is about the song. For the comic, see La Cucaracha (comic).

"La Cucaracha" ("The Cockroach") is a traditional Mexican folk song that became popular after the Mexican revolution. A version of its origin claims that this song references General Pancho Villa's car, which frequently broke down and earned the nickname la cucaracha from Villa's troops. A different version places its origin much earlier suggesting that it was composed following the expulsion of the Moors from Spain on January 2 1492.

Contents

1 Lyrics
2 Dance
3 Some of the performers of the song
4 External links

Lyrics

The lyrics consist of independent verses, often improvised. One typical verse is as follows:

La cucaracha, la cucaracha

Ya no puede caminar

Porque no tiene, porque le falta

Marihuana que fumar.

(The cockroach, the cockroach

Can't walk anymore

Because it doesn't have, because it lacks

Marijuana to smoke)

During the Mexican Revolution, rebel and government forces alike invented political lyrics. In some versions, the cockroach is President Victoriano Huerta, who was a notorious drunk and user of narcotics. They may include lines like:-

En el norte viva Villa

En el sur viva Zapata

Lo que quiero es venganza

Por la muerte de Madero

(In the north lives (Pancho) Villa, in the south lives (Emelio) Zapata — what I want is revenge for the death of Madero.)

Another story says that Pancho Villa had a carriage that was always breaking down on his endless journeys around the northern desert. His troops nicknamed the bulky carriage "La Cucaracha," and the line "ya no puede caminar" is about how the carriage could not go.

In contexts where the mention of marijuana would be unsuitable, limonada que tomar ("lemonade to drink") or las patitas de atrás' ("its hind legs") are frequently substituted for the last line. This preserves both story and, in the Spanish version, scansion.

Dance

This dance is usually performed during social gatherings. The boy or the male wears "blousey" shirt, a low-cut vest, a jacket cut something like a long bolero, and long rather tightly fitting pants often decorated with silver buttons. On his head, he will wear a sombrero, and on his arm he carries his brightly colored zarape.

The music for this dance is divided into two parts: A and B with the counting of one, two, three to a measure. Couples are arranged informally around the room. The boy clasps his hands around his back, the girl holds her skirt gracefully at the side, or the participants may be arranged in any desired formation. Partners stand side by side, the girl is in the right of the boy.

Some of the performers of the song

External links

[What are the words to "La Cucaracha"?] on The Straight Dope
[Version] with several references to the Mexican Revolution
[complete lyric]

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