Music Traditional , lyrics by Jay Sand based upon traditional themes and improvisations
©2014 Jay Sand
“La Gucamaya,” a son jarocho (regional folk music style) classic from Veracruz in Mexico, is much more than just any old Spanish song about a bird. A guacamaya is a parrot, though All Around This World can’t say exactly what kind of parrots exist in Veracruz. Instruments particular to son jarocho include a jarana, a quijada (a donkey jawbone used for percussion, which is what Jay played during the recording), a requinto, a mariumbula, a harp and a wooden dancing platform known as a tarima that the musicians actually consider a percussion instrument and factor into the arrangement of son jarocho songs.
Jarana: guitar shaped stringed instrument used in the Veracruz region
Requinto: another small guitar-shaped instrument
Mariumbula: "Cuban bass" --Mbira or Kalimba-type instrument with plucked metal tines
Pobrecito guacamaya, you’re a hungry little bird
You’re a hungry little bird pobrecito guacamaya
Pobrecito guacamaya, I will share my food with you
If you only help me too, pobrecito guacamaya
Fly, fly, fly, can you teach me how to fly?
Pobrecito guacamaya, we can leave the world behind
Vuela, vuela, vuela, can you teach me how to fly?
Pobrecito guacamaya, we can leave the world behind.
Dance along with "La Guacamaya" using son jarocho dance moves (and a smile!). Suggestions for how to make it work are in this video.
CMN's Multicultural Songbook is an anthology of some of the best songs originating from (or about) countries beyond the United States, often sung in languages other than English. In sharing songs of other cultures, we broaden the global understanding of our children so that they might see themselves as part of a larger world of people, not so unlike themselves, who hope, dream, play and learn in far-away lands sometimes in unfamiliar--but equally interesting--languages.
Find songs about:
Terms of Use
All songs posted in the CMN Song Library are protected by copyright and are provided by the generosity of the owner/artist. You may perform
songs you find here in classrooms and camps without the copyright owner’s permission. For all other performances, you must first obtain a
performance license through BMI, SESAC or ASCAP or obtain the copyright owner’s express prior written permission.