According to the song index at the Sing Out! web site, MARIA CONSUELA ARROYO, by Tim Henderson, appears in Volume 31, Issue 3, page 24 of the magazine. That would be 1985.

Google Books gives only 398 hits on "Maria Consuela" and 22,000 hits on "Maria Consuelo." (Of course, these references are mostly not to the song, but to various people with that name.)

Now, to these non-Hispanic ears, "Consuela" sounds like it ought to be feminine and "Consuelo" masculine. Can anyone explain why so many Marias are named Consuelo?

Here's a guess: "Consuelo Arroyo" is the family name. I've heard that in Spanish-speaking countries, they do not use hyphens, even when they have surnames that, according to American or British usage, would be hyphenated. Am I on the right track here?

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Julia L.: I searched, but the oldest instance I could find in Google Books of those lines you quoted was in Sing Out! (1985), where it is clearly a quote from the song we have been discussing here.