If you know me, you know that I absolutely love tientos. Someday I will tell you the story of Ricardo's refusal, after much begging, to teach me tientos, but not today. I have loved this palo from the first time I heard it. And this tientos has perhaps my favorite estribillo of all time. It is beyond beautiful. Just read it then listen, and you'll know what I mean. Oh, and Lamiae sang it for me on Sunday...That was wonderful.
Moraíto como un lirio
Antonio Sánchez Pecino
Mi cuerpecito lo tengo
moraíto como un lirio,
si Dios me diera la muerte
acababan mis martiritos
Contemplamos los humanos,
noches tristes y alegres son,
unos con mucha alegría
y otros con pena y dolor
Sigue tú por tu camino
Que yo el mío cogeré,
Déjame vivir mi sino
Que yo disfruto con él
Libre quiero ser
Como el pájaro que canta,
Primita, al amanecer
My body is
Purple like an iris,
If God would grant me death
my torment would end
Humans, we contemplate,
nights are sad and happy,
some with a lot of happiness
and others with sadness and pain
You follow your path
I'll follow mine,
Allow me to live my destiny,
for I enjoy it
I want to be free
like the bird that sings,
at dawn
Here is Camarón singing it with Paco de Lucía accompanying, soooo beautiful. Que arte de verdad.
And, I have to include this video of Miguel Poveda singing por tientos. He sings the Libre quiero ser estribillo then goes into these tangos, and at the end he sings a little tribute to Camarón. I have been searching and searching for this clip, and I finally found it today. I actually have, I can't believe I'm saying it, a VHS tape of this. A friend who had Spanish TV by satellite taped it for us. This was before I knew anything about YouTube, and this was when it was not so easy for someone living in Oregon to hear or see flamenco.
I honestly couldn't tell you the number of times I rewound and rewatched, especially the Libre quiero ser and how he takes it into tangos. This was when I discovered and fell in love with Miguel Poveda's singing.
Stick around next week for some more tientos and more Camarón...
Finally, if you have any comments about the translation, the song, tientos, or anything related, please let me know below. Thanks for being here.