Home » Music

the dove is a love-song

Ranked #4,874 in Music, #136,464 overall

the dove carries a message

The song, a story of love carried on the wings of a dove, goes back thousands of years. Sung by Nana Mouskouri and Julio Iglesias it is perfect. Beautiful and popular for 140 years, I think you've heard it. The story may be as old as forever, and the song has never lost it's charm. The gift of Basque composer Sebastián Yradier, the love-song's melody was inspired by the habanera rhythms of Cuba.

I wish I could have been there, in the 19th century, visiting the Americas with Sebastián Iradier. I can imagine my great, great grandmothers and my great, great grandfathers hearing this song as they were coming of age, sailing toward their immigrant dreams with a sense of hope and love for what was left behind.

The Mouskouri-Iglesias version is one out of 5,000. And no wonder so many have loved it. Even without the words or explanation, we know what it means. The dove reaches out and takes us with her just like in the ancient tale.

Duet between the beautiful voices of Nana Mouskouri & Julio Iglesias.

image

there are 5,000 recordings of this song

Loading

For more than 140 years, La Paloma

has been sung and recorded in the languages of the world

"'La Paloma" has been reinterpreted by many cultures, produced in very different settings, and in endless arrangements in the last 140 years. Sebastián Iradier (later Yradier) created it after he'd visited Cuba in 1861. "The influence of the local Cuban habanera gives the song its characteristic and distinctive rhythm." The song was born when the world was immigrating to many parts, and travelers took La Paloma with them where they went, finding homes in Afghanistan, Mexico, Spain, Hawaii, the Philippines, Germany, Romania, Zanzibar, Goa and of course in the Americas. It is the world's folk song. Its popularity has ebbed and fallen like a tide, but has never been lost. A "first universal popular hit," countless performers have given their talent to it's beauty. [read the Wikipedia article]

the song itself is history

The song itself is history, and La Paloma has been recorded more than the Beatles' "Yesterday," the Guinness record holder. In 140 years La Paloma may have been recorded 5,000 times.

It is believed that Iradier composed La Paloma in 1863, just two years before he died unknown in Spain, never to learn of his success.

La Paloma became a folk-song for the world. The story is from a legend, the wreck of an ancient fleet. Doves rose above the imperiled ships and flew homeward with a sailor's loving message. Before I understood the words to this song, I knew it was about the grasp of love. Nana Mouskouri & Julio Iglesias share the song's magic. Even without words, they translate its spirit . In the legend, and in the song, the dove carries home the seaman's love, "a donde vivo yo," I live in my heart.
image of a girl in 1862

the lyrics

are in the public domain

Lyrics (Public Domain)

1. Cuando salí de la Habana
¡Válgame Dios!
Nadie me ha visto salir
Si no fuí yo.
Y una linda Guachinanga
S'allá voy yo,
Que se vino tras de mi,
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!

2. 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)

3. 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)

4. 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

If "a donde vivo yo!" means "where I live"

Where is that?

Have you heard my favorite version of this story of "the dove", a duet of two strong, gentle, beautiful voices, Nana Mouskouri & Julio Iglesias singing "La Paloma"

What does this song say to you?

Loading

Do you like this very old story?

What does the story mean for you?

 

La Pomplona at Amazon

Loading

Before we find your hat and coat

you had something you wanted to tell me

Show All

Sebastián Yradier wrote Habanera Carmen

Sebastian Yradier was born in the remote, mountainous Basque region between Spain and France. By 1827 he had began his musical career by playing the organ for a Spanish church. Later he taught at the Madrid Conservatory. He was often in Madrid and Paris, and he saw Cuba, where he was inspired to write his "La Paloma" (1859) in the Cuban habanera rhythm. Though Yradier was unknown at his death in 1865, his "La Paloma" was known all over the world.

"Georges Bizet found one of Yradier's songs, "El arreglito," and adapted it into the famous "Habanera" of the opera Carmen. Ultimately, Bizet did discover the source of the tune and revised his score to incorporate mention of Yradier as author of the melody. "
We can listen to another of my very favorites, the Habanera Carmen, sung magnificently by Rise Stevens for the Bing Crosby movie, Going My Way.

source: http://www.classicalarchives.com/composer/14067.html#tvf=tracks&tv=about
Loading

there are many stories about the dove

dovesSurely when the writer of this song
came to the Western Hemisphere in 1861,
he knew what "they" meant
when they called a woman a "dove"
Even the census-takers knew
what the word meant
what it meant in a Victorian world
when a woman
left in circumstance
had to do
something to support herself
doves

by

puerdycat

Where would I be without joy? I'm drawn to yours, to wonderful words and pictures, hopes and dreams, thoughtful musings and memories ... and I've been... more »

Feeling creative? Create a Lens!

Explore related pages

Related Tags