Las Mañanitas
from "Mexican Mariachi Music: Made in the U.S.A.." by Daniel Sheehy,
pg. 137-159
In The Music of Multicultural America
By Kip Lornell and Anne K. Rasmussen
“Las mañanitas” is one of the best known of all Mexican songs. While the term mañanitas (early morning) referred to songs of serenading for a variety of occasions, the song has become synoymous with birthday events. This recording, made by American herpetologist Charles Bogert on a field trip to Chapala, near Guadalajara in the state of Jalisco, was performed by Mariachi Águilas de Chapala and published by Folkways Records in 1960.
To listen to this track, purchase it through the Smithsonian Folkways website
To listen to this track, purchase it through the Smithsonian Folkways website
Recorded on August 20, 1959 (Published 1960), Chapala, Jalisco, Mexico.
Mariachi Águilas de Chapala
Lyrics
First Verse
Qué linda está la mañana en que vengo a saludarte.
Venimos todos con gusto y placer a felicitarte.
El día en que usted nació, nacieron todas las flores.
Y en la pila del bautismo cantaron los ruiseñores.
Ya viene amaneciendo, ya la luz del día nos dió.
Levantese de mañana, mire que ya amaneció.
Qué linda está la mañana en que vengo a saludarte.
Venimos todos con gusto y placer a felicitarte.
El día en que usted nació, nacieron todas las flores.
Y en la pila del bautismo cantaron los ruiseñores.
Ya viene amaneciendo, ya la luz del día nos dió.
Levantese de mañana, mire que ya amaneció.
Translated Lyrics
First Verse
How pretty is the morning, in which I come to salute you.
We all come with enjoyment and pleasure to congratulate you.
The day you were born, all the flowers were born.
And in the baptismal font, the nightingales sang.
Dawn is coming, the light has now hit us.
Arise in the morning, see that it has already dawned.
How pretty is the morning, in which I come to salute you.
We all come with enjoyment and pleasure to congratulate you.
The day you were born, all the flowers were born.
And in the baptismal font, the nightingales sang.
Dawn is coming, the light has now hit us.
Arise in the morning, see that it has already dawned.
Album cover to Mariachi Águilas de Chapala: Mariachi Music from the Mexican State of Jalisco. Smithsonian Folkways FW8870, 1960. www.folkways.si.edu
Permission Information: Traditional song
Keywords: mexico, mariachi, birthday song