Lyr. Add: Las Mañanitas Del Rey David
(Morning Song of King David- often called the
National Birthday Serenade at Dawn)

Estas son las mañanitas
Que cantaba el rey David,
Y a las muchachas bonitas
Se las cantaba así:

Despierta, mi bién despierta,
Mira, que ya amaneció
Ya los parjaritos cantan,
Ya la luna se metió.

Que bonitas mañanitas,
Parece que va a llover.
Así estaba la mañana,
Cuando te empecé a querer.

Si el sereno de la esquina
Me quisiera hacer favor
de apagar su linternita
Mientras que pase mi amor.

Y ahora, sí, señor sereno,
Le agradezco su favor,
Y encienda su linternita,
Que ya mi amor ya pasó.

These are the Mañanitas,
That King David sang
And to the pretty girls
He sang them thus:

Awake, my love, awake,
Look, it is already dawn;
The birds are singing
And the moon has gone in.

What a lovely morning,
It looks as if it will rain.
The morning was the same
When I began to love you.

If the watchman on the corner
Wished to do me the favor,
He would put out his little lantern
While my love passes by.

And now, yes, Mr. Watchman,
I thank you for your favor,
You may light your little lantern
For my love has passed by.

Frances Toor, 1947, "A Treasury of Mexican Folkways," pp. 446-447, with music.

The first verse was posted above (17 Jul 06) from Tobitt's "Ditty Bag." Mistakes in the version at the head of this thread are corrected, and a simpler, more accurate transliteration is given.
'El sereno de la esquina' is the watchman on the corner; not a lamplighter.