Origins: Chiapanecas (trad. Mexico)

Subject: Spanish Folk Songs
From: AParnell
Date: 20 May 99 - 12:36 AM

I am looking for an explanation on a song called "Chiapanecas". I need an english enterpretation and and overview of what it means.

Subject: RE: Spanish Folk Songs
From: Joe Offer
Date: 26 Mar 02 - 05:59 PM

Looks like we missed this one. Anybody got Spanish Lyrics? I found a translation here (click), of sorts. I swear I should remember this song, but I don't. I certainly remember the tune - there's a nice MIDI here (click).
-Joe Offer-

---

Chiapenecas ( Mexican Dance Song) (Lyrics: Eleanor Graham Vance)



Down in Mex-i-co, joy-ous Mex-i-co, ___Where the eve-ning star__ shines bright-ly,___You can work a-way__through the sun-ny day,__

But when star-light comes___there is danc-ing, ay, ay!Down in Mex-i-co, joy-ous Mex-i-co, ___You wil learn our old time dance;__

Ev'-ry hap-py pair__will be light as air__While you dance a-long___ like this: ( clap hands)   

Sing to the mu-sic I play ( clap hands) Whirl round your part-ner this way ( Clap hands)

There's not a chance to go wrong, (clap hands) If you will dance to this song (clap hands)



Ay! Ay! Sing-ing and whirl-ing, Ay ! Ay! Swinging and twirl-ing, Ay! Ay! Come and join__ In our song.____ Join the crowd!

Come a- long with us.

Ay! Ay! Sing-ing and whirl-ing, Ay ! Ay! Swinging and twirl-ing, Ay! Ay! Come and join__ In our song.____ Join the crowd!

Come a- long, OLE! ( Clap hands)   

Subject: RE: Spanish Folk Songs - Chiapanecas
From: Sorcha
Date: 26 Mar 02 - 06:13 PM

Well, Chiapas is a state in southern Mexico, so I think Chiapicanas would be "girls from Chiapas". It appears to be a traditional dance, and the bridge of the music is the Mexican Hat Dance. Couldn't find any Spanish lyrics yet, except to the Hat Dance part.

Subject: RE: Spanish Folk Songs - Chiapanecas
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 26 Mar 02 - 08:13 PM

Chiapanecas is a Mexican folk dance. Raised in New Mexico, we had to learn this dance (me with 2 1/2 left feet). Never knew any words beyond what is here at this website, where a simplified version of the dance is given.
Chiapanecas

Subject: RE: Spanish Folk Songs - Chiapanecas
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 26 Mar 02 - 08:20 PM

Extended, beautiful musical version here, Mexican website.
Chiapanecas

Subject: Lyr Add: CHIAPANECAS
From: Genie
Date: 27 Mar 02 - 02:30 PM

I have sheet music that has Spanish lyrics for "Chiapanecas" as follows [with a few mistakes thrown in, since my Spanish is very marginal and I'm doing this from memory and can't do some diacritical marks in Netscape composer]:

CHIAPANECAS

Un clavel corte por la sierra fui
Caminito de mi rancho.
Como il [el?] viento fue
Mi caballo fiel
A llevar me hasta su lado.
Linda flor' de Abril toma este clavel
Que te brindo con passion
No me digas no
Que en tu boca esta
El secreto do* mi amor.

chorus:

Cuando la noche llego  (clap, clap)
Y con su manto de azul  (clap, clap)
El blanco rancho cubrio,  (clap, clap)
Allegre baila empezo.  (clap, clap)

Baila, mi Chiapaneca!  Baila, balla con garbo,
Baila, suave rayo de luz.
Baila, mi Chiapaneca!  Baila, balla con garbo,
Que en el baila reina eres tu Chiapaneca gentil!

My 'singable translation' of the chorus:

"When night time covers the ranch (clap, clap)
With its dark mantle of blue, (clap, clap)
Then they'll be starting the dance (clap, clap)
And I'll be dancing with you.  xv

Dance, dance, my Chiapaneca!
Dance, dance, gracefully gliding,
Dance, dance, smooth as a ray of light!
"Dance, dance, my Chiapaneca!
Dance, dance, gracefully gliding.
Dance, dance, while you are dancing
You're the queen of the dance tonight.
 

These lyrics may very well be among a number which were written for the song.  I'm not sure the tune originally had any lyrics, as it is so often done instrumentally.

Anyway, these are the lyrics I sing, because they're the first ones I found and I like the feeling of the song.

Genie

P.S., If you feel like correcting my spelling or grammar in the Spanish lyrics, please feel free. * The "...do mi amor..." is the way the lyrics were printed in the sheet music I have; that doesn't mean it couldn't have been a typo.

Subject: RE: Spanish Folk Songs - Chiapanecas
From: Genie
Date: 27 Mar 02 - 02:35 PM

BTW, please ignore the "xv" in the English chorus--just a finger spasm.

Also, yes, as I understand it, a Chiapaneca would be a woman from Chiapas, just as a "Guantanamera" is a woman from Guantanamo.

Genie

Subject: RE: Spanish Folk Songs - Chiapanecas
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 27 Mar 02 - 03:01 PM

The dance is 19th Century (perhaps earlier), but all words are apparently 20th C.

Subject: RE: Spanish Folk Songs - Chiapanecas
From: Mark Cohen
Date: 28 Mar 02 - 04:28 AM

Wow....I remember having a 45RPM record of "Chiapanecas" when I was just a tyke. I recall the chorus going, "Ay, ay, ay chiapanecas..." And presumably there was a tilde over the n, because I remember it being pronounced "cha-pan-ye-cas". I wish I could remember the flip side...and I still wonder how my 45 collection, which included kid stuff like the Mickey Mouse Club record (which was yellow) and Rusty in Orchestraville (which was green), happened to have a Mexican folk song record.

And I can't hear that tune without thinking of Allan Sherman's "The Ballad of Oh Boy"!

Aloha,
Mark

Subject: RE: Spanish Folk Songs - Chiapanecas
From: Genie
Date: 29 Mar 02 - 11:50 PM

Mark, I've seen this song [or just the title] printed hundreds of times, and I don't recall ever seeing a tilde over the "n."

I'm not positive the record was wrong [I'm certainly not an expert on Spanish dialects], but I myself have heard a lot of records of native English speakers singing in French, Spanish, German, Italian, etc., and butchering the pronunciation of some of the words.

Genie

Subject: RE: Spanish Folk Songs - Chiapanecas
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 30 Mar 02 - 12:42 AM

There is no tilde. Poesía chiapanecas, for example, means the poetry of Chiapas, Autoridades chiapanecas means the persons in power in Chiapas, artesanías chiapanecas means the artisans of Chiapas--male or female. The word does not refer just to a dance. As a noun, it refers to the women of Chiapas; as an adjective, it means from or of Chiapas.

Subject: RE: Spanish Folk Songs - Chiapanecas
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 30 Mar 02 - 12:58 AM

My face is pinkish- the women of Chiapas prefer to be called mujeres chiapanecas- women of Chiapas. Not just Chiapanecas.

Subject: RE: Spanish Folk Songs - Chiapanecas
From: Genie
Date: 30 Mar 02 - 01:39 PM

Thanks for that info, dicho.

Genie

Subject: Lyr Add: CHIAPENECAS (trad Mexico, English lyrics)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 22 Jul 02 - 12:44 PM

Joe: I think the lyrics you posted make a bit more sense if lined up this way:

CHIAPENECAS (Mexican Dance Song)
(Lyrics: Eleanor Graham Vance)

Down in Mexico, joyous Mexico,
Where the evening star shines brightly,
You can work away through the sunny day,
But when starlight comes there is dancing, ay, ay!
Down in Mexico, joyous Mexico,
You will learn our old time dance;
Ev'ry happy pair will be light as air
While you dance along like this: (clap hands)

Sing to the music I play (clap hands)
Whirl round your partner this way (Clap hands)
There's not a chance to go wrong, (clap hands)
If you will dance to this song (clap hands)

Ay! Ay! Singing and whirling,
Ay! Ay! Swinging and twirling,
Ay! Ay! Come and join In our song.
Join the crowd! Come along with us.
Ay! Ay! Singing and whirling,
Ay! Ay! Swinging and twirling,
Ay! Ay! Come and join In our song.
Join the crowd! Come along, OLE! (Clap hands)

Subject: RE: Spanish Folk Songs - Chiapanecas
From: GUEST,J.D. Roberson
Date: 04 Aug 04 - 11:46 AM

From elementary school, I recall a song called "Chiapanecas" with different lyrics (not certain if it is an alternate tune or not), but still somewhat similar. Amazingly, I remember the lyrics 30 years later. Does this ring a bell with anyone?

*********************
Sing Chiapanecas and clap (clap, clap),
Limber your fingers and snap (snap, snap),
Lift up your toes and we'll tap (tap, tap),
Sing Chiapanecas and clap (clap, clap)!

Dance, dance, everyone's dancing,
Sing, sing, everyone's singing,
Sway, sway, everyone's feeling gay, as we move to the music and
Dance, dance, everyone's dancing,
Sing, sing, everyone's singing,
Sway, sway, everyone, as we move to the Mexican way, Ole!
*********************

Subject: RE: Spanish Folk Songs - Chiapanecas
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 04 Aug 04 - 12:15 PM

Based on a dance from Chiapas, the play song is an American invention, but a useful one to get kids involved in the music.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Spanish Folk Songs - Chiapanecas
From: GUEST,by the way
Date: 16 Feb 07 - 03:39 AM

By the way...I'm actually from Chiapas!


Pd. Please excuse my english if there are some errors in previous post.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Spanish Folk Songs - Chiapanecas
From: GUEST
Date: 26 Feb 07 - 01:33 PM

I remember something like that from school.

Sing Chiapanecas, say "ay" "ole'"
Sing Chiapanecas, say "ay" "ole'"
Sing Chiapanecas, say "ay" "ole'"
Sing Chiapanecas, say "ay" "ole'"

Dance, Dance, everyones' dancing
Mexico's for romancing
Come now everyone's feeling gay
(Come along now and..)
Dance, Dance, everyones' dancing
Mexico's for romancing

Not sure about the rest though. I don't know the Spanish version.

Steve

Subject: Michael Buble's SWAY
From: GUEST,Isabel Marcelo
Date: 21 Aug 07 - 06:55 AM

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Chiapanecas (trad. Mexico)
From: GUEST,Tim
Date: 30 Aug 07 - 11:07 AM

I remember a version we sang that went like this (but forgot some words at the end) Does anyone recognize this version and do they know the ending? It has been bothering me for years.

Down in Mexico
Where the peppers grow
There's a tune they know
Chiapanecas

They will dance and sing
Till the rafters ring
Clap their hands till they sting
Chiapanecas

And then with a merry sound
Swing their partners round
While the busy world
Hurrys by

Swaying to and fro
Down in Mexico
With a smile in each dark eye

Aye Chiapanecas aye aye (clap clap)
Aye Chiapanecas aye aye (clap clap)
Aye Chiapanecas aye aye (clap clap)
Aye Chiapanecas aye aye (clap clap)

Sing, Sing, Sing Chiapanecas
Dance, Dance, Dance Chiapanecas
Laugh, laugh, laugh and
you will see
How much fun it will be
Singing aye, aye, aye Chiapanecas
(forgot this part)
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
....as we sing
Chiapanecas and Clap! (clap clap)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Chiapanecas (trad. Mexico)
From: GUEST,mare
Date: 12 May 09 - 03:08 PM

I had a Disney record with this song. The title of the entire LP was "It's a Small World" and the lyrics were very similar to Tim's above. Sorry Tim, I don't remember any more of your lyrics. But maybe with the entire album name you could track down.

p.s. Was a GREAT album, with children's folk songs from all over the world

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Chiapanecas (trad. Mexico)
From: Genie
Date: 12 May 09 - 04:12 PM

For what it's worth, I was doing a Cinco De Mayo program last Tuesday and an audience member who spoke fluent Spanish (having learned it as a child in the Phillipines) was singing along with me to the version of Chiapanecas that I posted above here.   I figured the lyrics I had found probably weren't all that obscure if a sort of 'randomly selected' Spanish speaker knew them by heart.   

Tim, the English lyrics you posted are very similar to the ones that were in my grade school song book back in the 1950s (except our book said "poppies" instead of "peppers," as I recall),

Genie

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Chiapanecas (trad. Mexico)
From: Genie
Date: 12 May 09 - 04:33 PM

I just found a vocal version of Chiapanecas on YouTube. Nearly all of the many YouTubes of this song are instrumental only, often focusing on the dance, reinforcing my thinking that this tune originally was a dance tune without lyrics and that people have added them later.

This is Alys Robi singing Chiapanecas in Spanish (after singing "Adios Muchachos" in French)

She is singing the same Spanish lyrics I posted above.

(She does not sing the English chorus lyrics which I posted above. This is not surprising since that is my own "singable transation" of the chorus.)

Genie

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Chiapanecas (trad. Mexico)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 12 May 09 - 06:13 PM

Chiapanecas, the dance, is from Mestizos of the central area of Chiapas, centered around San Cristobal de las Casas; one of several local dances from Chiapas.
The area also has a large Mayan minority.
Zapatista liberationists took over the town in 2006; much of Chiapas is very poor.

Only the SW part is well-to-do with high GDP for Mexico, centered on Tapachula, a coffee, palm oil, sugar plantation area with estates owned by Germans, Canadians and others (when I visited Tapachula some years ago, they had an excellent French restaurant).

The dance's origin is poorly known, the dance steps and tune has spread throughout Mexico, and words were added in the 20th c., as noted in a previous post.

'Chiapanecas' has become an adjective; one may speak of the foods of the area as "Delicias Chiapanecas*," and the people as Chiapanecans.

* http://www.geomundos.com/viajes/visita-CHIAPAS/delicias-chiapanecas_doc_17907.html

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Chiapanecas (trad. Mexico)
From: Genie
Date: 12 May 09 - 06:43 PM

Though "Chiapanecas" can refer to people of both sexes, isn't the traditional Chiapanecas dance done just by women? I.e., does "Chiapanecas" as in the dance/tune title mean "people of Chiapas" or "ladies of Chiapas?"

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Chiapanecas (trad. Mexico)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 12 May 09 - 07:07 PM

In the form done by folklorist groups, it is done by women. But I remember being taught the dance in school, where both sexes were involved. This was in New Mexico; perhaps boys in Mexico did not have to suffer through these exercises.

I think the dance name just means "from Chiapas."

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Chiapanecas (trad. Mexico)
From: clueless don
Date: 13 May 09 - 08:45 AM

I remember hearing (and possibly singing - it might have been in school) an English translation of this song when I was a boy (it would probably have been in the fifties, or possibly the very early sixties.) I remember almost nothing about it. What I do recall is a stretch where it went

Sing Chiapanecas ole! OLE!
Sing Chiapanecas ole! OLE!
Sing Chiapanecas ole! OLE!
Sing Chiapanecas ole! OLE!

and part of the chorus (or what I am calling the chorus) where the words "... 'neath the light, of a Mexican moon" occurred, and a couple of lines that went

Let your heart [our hearts??], now, banish all sorrow.
Cares, are, gone 'til tomorrow.

Probably one of many English translations making the rounds.

Don

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Chiapanecas (trad. Mexico)
From: GUEST
Date: 08 Nov 09 - 10:44 PM

This is what I remember:

Ai Chiapanecas ai ai (ai ai)!
Ai Chiapanecas ai ai (ai ai)!

Down in Mexico, where the peppers grow
There's a tune they call Chiapanecas
They all dance and sing till the rafters ring
Clap their hands and sing Chiapanecas

Ai ai ai ai ai, ai ai ai ai ai
Ai ai ai ai ai Chiapanecas!
Ai ai ai ai ai, ai ai ai ai ai
Ai ai ai ai ai Chiapanecas!

(Repeat, a lot)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Chiapanecas (trad. Mexico)
From: open mike
Date: 09 Nov 09 - 10:34 AM

the song on the Alys Robi youtube clip starts at 2:50.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Chiapanecas (trad. Mexico)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 10 Nov 09 - 08:30 PM

I remember this tune regularly being played on the organ during the "seventh inning stretch" of baseball games—and maybe during the warm-up before the game, too—specifically, home games of the St. Louis Cardinals, when I was a kid. I never knew what the tune was called, or whether it had any words. The whole point was to get the audience to clap at the indicated points.

Do they still do that? Did they do it anywhere but St. Louis? It's been so long since I've been to a live baseball game, I wouldn't know. When you watch on TV, I suppose they fill that time with commercials.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Chiapanecas (trad. Mexico)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 10 Nov 09 - 08:48 PM

Nearly forgot to tell you: Musical notation for CHIAPANECAS can be seen in Canciones de Mexico: 200 Joyas de la Cancion Mexicana, Volume 2 (Guadalajara: Ambríz, [19--]), page 324.

Lyrics are nearly identical to those posted by Genie above, at 27 Mar 02 - 02:30 PM.

Interestingly, the music doesn't indicate any hand-clapping as such; it just shows 2 chords where the hand-claps traditionally come.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Chiapanecas (trad. Mexico)
From: GUEST
Date: 22 Jan 10 - 02:55 PM

Tim, I learned the same version you did, and I just found it in the 7th grade book from the old Ginn music series (Singing Juniors, 1953). Our recorder ensemble will be playing the song this spring, and I've been searching for lyrics and dance steps.
Anyway, here is the entire C section.

Sing, sing, sing, Chiapanecas, Dance, dance, dance, Chiapanecas,
Clap, clap, clap your hands and you'll see How much fun it will be singing

Ay, ay, ay, Chiapanecas, Ay, ay, ay, Chiapanecas,
Now your partners you swing as you sing Chiapanecas and clap! (clap, clap)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Chiapanecas (trad. Mexico)
From: Genie
Date: 22 Jan 10 - 08:30 PM

I've seen the 2 claps part done on the chorus as part of the dance. Perhaps that's where the customary "clap clap" part in the chorus of the song came from.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Chiapanecas (trad. Mexico)
From: GUEST,Andalusiac
Date: 28 Jan 10 - 09:43 PM

The flip-side of my 45 RPM of this song is "The Bunny Hop"

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Chiapanecas (trad. Mexico)
From: GUEST,MHTBrownsville
Date: 28 Jan 10 - 10:25 PM

I have the same 45.. Peter Pan Records ftw

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Chiapanecas (trad. Mexico)
From: GUEST,Sally
Date: 11 May 13 - 05:01 AM

At the end we would sing Lindo muchacho. Ay Ay

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Chiapanecas (trad. Mexico)
From: GUEST
Date: 19 Sep 13 - 01:35 PM

I used to sing (and loved) this as a child in the mid-'60s. These are the words I remember, except I think we were singing the one line in Spanish,

Hay Chiapanecas alli
Translation: There are Chiapanecas there.

Hay is pronounced "I" or "aye".   
Alli is pronounced ayee (which you might have heard as aye aye.)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Chiapanecas (trad. Mexico)
From: GUEST,GUEST
Date: 15 Sep 14 - 06:02 PM

I've heard the same Peter Pan LP in which the name is mispronounced with a tilde over the N. My father recorded it onto cassette for the kids to listen to in the car; I didn't like that song and would always ask my mother to fast-forward past what my child-brain spelled as "Chopinyakus" (note the sound of that erroneously placed tilde). When I was trying to look up the song years later after hearing it on a ballpark organ, my adult brain remembered the recording and recommended that I spell the keyword as "Chapiñecos"; I got nowhere with that (search engines weren't as good with close matching then) and had to put the request on an online forum, where someone helped me out. Funny how the same small things stick in lots of people's (or at least Mr. Cohen's and my) memories...

Now that I think of it, here's a YouTube audio recording with a picture of the Peter Pan album cover (which lists the song title as "Mexican Clap Hands"; maybe if the performers had seen the real title in print they would have known how to pronounce it): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQgfFIZy_Fg ("From the Party Time LP, Peter Pan Records #8230 released in 1979. This album [originally on Rocking Horse in the early 1960's] compiles many of the Peter Pan 78's from the 1950's into LP form.")

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Chiapanecas (trad. Mexico)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 16 Sep 14 - 02:10 AM

Hey, there's a recording of this by Nat "King" Cole:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxOCPd-_JMY

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Chiapanecas (trad. Mexico)
From: GUEST,Guest
Date: 18 Sep 14 - 02:49 PM

Translated from the Spanish-language Wikipedia (http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Las_chiapanecas_%28melod%C3%ADa%29):

"Las Chiapanecas" is a traditional melody from Chiapas, almost a second anthem of that [orig. "this"] state. It was originally only a melody, composed by the musician Bulmaro López Fernández (1878-1960) from Chiapa de Corzo. Born in the city of Chiapa de Corzo, he was inspired by [lit. "in"] the typical attire of Chiapan women [lit. "the Chiapan woman"], which his fiancée wore [lit. "used"]. The original score of the musical composition is in the control of his widow, Ms. Juana María Vargas.

Afterward, the musician, composer, and conductor Juan Arozamena (1899-1926), born in Mexico City, performed [lit. "would (conditional) perform"; same for paragraph's remaining verbs here rendered in past tense] it and added to it the text, known by all, that even Nat King Cole performed.

There exists controversy about the authorship of this melody, but the most probable [account] is that Mr. Bulmaro López Fernández composed the melody and that Mr. Juan Arozamena later added the text. Without the inspiration from both distinguished musicians, the work would not be complete [or "would not be completed"; both translations are grammatically possible].

With the passage of time [there] was added choreography [orig. "the choreography"], which is danced while wearing [lit. "using"/"with"] the attire, native to Chiapa de Corzo, of the Chiapan woman. It [antecedent unspecified in original] is emblematic and representative of Chiapas.

Sources:
1) The Chiapas Herald (El Heraldo de Chiapas), "Hombre ilustres de la Chiapa heroica" (accessed January 1, 2014).
2) The Chiapas Herald (El Heraldo de Chiapas), "Juan Arozamena" (accessed January 1, 2014).

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Chiapanecas (trad. Mexico)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 19 Sep 14 - 12:51 PM

The Wikipedia (Spanish) article gives lyrics for "Las chiapanecas." If the song/dance as it is used nowadays in schools is descended from the melody and text discussed above, the change is considerable.

Lyr. Add: LAS CHIAPANECAS
B. L. Fernandez and Juan Arozamena

Soy de Chiapas, tierra linda,
donde todas las mujeres
son valientes y son bonitas,
y buenas pa' los quereres.

Tierra santa de mi sueño;
tus mujeres son bien francas
y quieren con el corazón;
¡Sí, señor!

Y si un mocito se acerca a mí
y muy quedito me dice así:
¡Ay, chaparrita por tu querer,
daría la vida y corazón!

No, no me digas esas cosas;
soy modelo de esposa,
no me vengas a maloriar.

No, no me digas esas cosas;
soy modelo de esposa,
no me vengas a maloriar.

References as given by Guest, 18 Sept 2014.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Chiapanecas (trad. Mexico)
From: GUEST,2014-09-18 guest poster
Date: 21 Nov 14 - 04:59 PM

I agree; the lyrics don't seem to match up to the music's meter at all. Perhaps the person who put these on the Spanish Wikipedia site didn't have the correct melody in mind (much as "Las Chiapanecas" is occasionally and erroneously referred to as the Mexican Hat Dance, which English title actually corresponds to the Guadalajaran "jarabe tapatio")?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Chiapanecas (trad. Mexico)
From: GUEST,2014-09-18 and 2014-04-21 guest poster
Date: 05 Mar 15 - 03:44 PM

http://www.oem.com.mx/eloccidental/notas/n3040637.htm confirms that the lyrics in Genie's post (2002-03-27) are correct and attributes them to Juan Arozamena Sánchez.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Chiapanecas (trad. Mexico)
From: GUEST,Christopher
Date: 30 Sep 15 - 05:48 PM

Down in Mexico
Where the peppers grow
There's a song they know,
Chiapanecas,

They will dance and sing
'Till the rafters ring
Clap their hands till they sting
Chiapanecas

And then with a merry sound
Swing their partners 'round
While the busy world hurries by
Swaying to and fro down in Mexico
With a smile in each dark eye

Aye, Chaiapanecas, aye aye
Aye, Chaiapanecas, aye aye
Now your partner you swing
As you Sing Chiapanecas
And clap!

Something like that.

Subject: RE: Origins: Chiapanecas (trad. Mexico)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 03 Jun 18 - 10:17 PM

Here's an email I received today:

Hi Joe,
Who owns the copyright to music and words to Chiapanecas? I would like to use it in a piano book for children.
Thanks,
Karol

This is one of those tunes I've known since I was young, so the temptation is to say that the tune is traditional and in the public domain. But Wikipedia says the "Chiapanecas" melody was composed by the musician Bulmaro López Fernández (1878–1960). Since 1923 is the general cutoff date for public domain, it isn't so clear. And most likely, all English translations of the song were written after 1923.

The Harry Fox Agency Songfile utility lists lots of versions of "Chiapanecas" that you can pay royalties for, but there's no information I can find that gives definitive information about ownership of this song.

I'm more-or-less of the opinion that if a song has been around since 1950 and the history of ownership is cloudy before that, it's best to act as if the song is in the public domain - knowing that there is a slight chance that somebody will place a claim against you.

I don't think one can prove ownership of this song, one way or another.

-Joe-

Subject: RE: Origins: Chiapanecas (trad. Mexico)
From: Monique
Date: 04 Jun 18 - 01:09 AM

According to this site, the song was composed and written in 1924 by Juan Arozamena Sánchez (1899-1926) and performed for the 1st time on July 5th 1924 by the "Cuarteto de los Hermanos Gómez" in the "Variedades Payret" theather, La Habana, Cuba. About author's right in Mexico, check this: as the author died in 1926 the copyright length is author's life +75 years = till 2001.

Subject: RE: Origins: Chiapanecas (trad. Mexico)
From: Monique
Date: 04 Jun 18 - 02:03 AM

On Wikipedia entry about Bulmaro López Fernández (1878-1960), it reads that "It was in this place that the doctor met Juan Arozamena, who presented his immortal song and he presented it in the lyrical theater, entitled as "Las Chiapanecas". The name of the song so well known to all Mexicans is called "La Chiapaneca". The popularity of Las Chiapanecas and time attributed to Juan Arozamena.
In 1947, he returned to his hometown, to be present at the traditional January Fair. At the time he arrived, he made a trip to the place where he had studied high school, he stayed in the same place where he lived when he was a student, there was a piano where Don Bulmaro executed with perfect skill the music of "La Chiapaneca". At that time he confessed that he was the true author of the melody and that he had composed it inspired by his beautiful girlfriend, the young lady Chiapaneca (a young native of Chiapa de Corzo) Dominga Cortés Montero, being in her last year of high school in 1897 and he premiered it in a serenade to her in the company of her brothers, cousins ??and friends, on August 4 of the same year. The original score of the melody was found by one of the chroniclers of the Heroica Chiapa de Corzo, Don Alberto Muñoa López, when making a repair on the wall, it was embedded inside a tin cylinder. The witnesses who were present in this confession were his brothers: Otilio and Gabriel, their relatives and friends Ángela M. López, Pascual López, Indalecia López R., Delina López, Melesio A. Hernández, Guadalupe Morales López, Margarita Batiz López and Alberto by J. Muñoa." (Thanks Google translate!)

Now... how it's legally set is another story.

Subject: RE: Origins: Chiapanecas (trad. Mexico)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 04 Jun 18 - 02:47 AM

Thanks, Monique - 1897 puts it more safely in the public domain.
-Joe-

Subject: RE: Origins: Chiapanecas (trad. Mexico)
From: open mike
Date: 06 Jun 18 - 10:28 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjmoJs4SF0Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boweiZfaHVQ

Subject: Lyr Add: OH BOY (Allan Sherman)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 09 Mar 20 - 12:47 PM

The humor in this parody comes from repeating the words "Oh, boy!" in many different inflections to indicate varying degrees of boredom, annoyance, despair, appreciation, etc. Sherman never says "Oh, boy" the same way twice. Words sung by backup singers are in parentheses.


OH BOY
Words, Allan Sherman. Tune: "Chiapanecas" a.k.a. "The Hand Clapping Song"
As recorded by Allan Sherman on "My Son, the Folk Singer", 1962.

SPOKEN: This is known as "The Ballad of Oh, Boy".

(We'd like to know what you think.) Oh, boy!
(What's your opinion of mink?) Oh, boy!
(Thunderbirds and Cadillacs) Oh, boy!
(April 15th income tax) Oh, boy!

(Winter in Miami Beach) Oh, boy!
(Itching where you cannot reach) Oh, boy!
(Somebody scratching your itch) Oh, boy!
(Thursday night singing with Mitch) Oh, boy!

(Oh, boy!) Sophia Loren
(Oh, boy!) Chief Justice Warren.
(Oh, boy!) Merrill, Lynch, Pierce, Fenner, Smith, and the whole B'nai B'rith
(Oh, boy!) Sylvia Porter
(Oh, boy!) Barry Goldwarter
(Oh, boy!) Edna St. Vincent Millay and the whole U.J.A. (Oh, boy!)

(Movies with Barton MacLane) Oh, boy!
(Heartburn and other kinds pain) Oh, boy!
(Sir Arthur Conan and Doyle) Both great!
(Diets with safflower oil) Oh, boy!

(What do you think of the twist?) Oh, boy!
(Khrushchev the bald communist) Oh, boy!
(Astronauts like Colonel Glenn) Oh, boy!
(Elizabeth Taylor and men) Oh, boy!

(Oh, boy!) Igor Stravinsky
(Oh, boy!) Bo Belinsky
(Oh, boy!) David Dubinsky and Minsky and Wernher von Braun
(Oh, boy!) Buff'lo Bill Cody
(Oh, boy!) Truman Capote
(Oh, boy!) Newton B. Minow, Knute Rockne, and Olga San Juan! (Oh, boy!)

If things ain't going so nice, (Oh, boy!)
Here is some lovely advice: (Oh, boy!)
Life will be gay and carefree (Oh, boy!)
If you repeat after me.

Oh, boy! (Oh, boy!)
Oh, boy! (Oh, boy!)
Oh, (boy!) Oh, (boy!)
Oh, (boy!) Oh, (boy!)
etc.