Origins: Spanish Is the Loving Tongue

Subject: SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE
From: bob jr
Date: 16 Jun 00 - 01:16 AM

Any of you heard the female version of this song? Here is what I can remember and before you post it, it is different than what is here already.

Spanish is the loving tongue,
Soft as laughter light as spray.
Knew a boy who once taught me some.
Said he came down Sonora way.

He didn’t look much like a lover.
Still he’d say these love words over:
“Tu eres mi luna. Tu eres mi sol,
Mi amor, mi corazon.”

His eyes were shy. His smile was bold,
My young vaquero 20 years old.
But every night the stories were told:
Towns of silver, streets paved with gold

I had dreams of far off places,
Dresses made of silk and laces.
I heard him say as the stage started on:
“Aidos, mi amor, mi corazon.”

I’ve dealt cards in so many places....

I’ve forgotten the ending !!

Subject: RE: SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE
From: GUEST,Mrr
Date: 16 Jun 00 - 10:36 AM

The only person I ever heard actually sing this song was Richard Dyer-Bennet, on one of those old, RED vinyl albums... in his little falsetto... so I cannot ever again take this song seriously... But I would be interested in the female version if it pops up, perhaps I can imagine Cynthia Gooding or someone with a DEEP voice singing it!

Subject: RE: SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE
From: Alice
Date: 16 Jun 00 - 01:31 PM

Actually, I sing it from the female perspective, having changed the words just slightly from the original. I've never heard the one referred to in the first post. Mrr, I have a high voice, and I think my version comes off rather well when I sing it. People like it. For a good recording of the original, listen to Ian Tysan.

Alice

Subject: RE: SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE
From: Art Thieme
Date: 16 Jun 00 - 03:46 PM

This song was written by Badger Clark and was a poem entitled The Border Affair. It was first published in the Pacific Monthly---June 1907. Later, it was naturally included in Clark's fine collection of songs called Sun And Saddle Leather. In 1925 Bill Simon of Prescott, Arizona was the one who fit the generally sung tune to Badger Clark's words. Simon rarely, if ever, was given credit for the tune. Simon wrote it out and sent it to Clark asking permission to use it on a network radio program. In 1972 Bill Simon recorded his own version of the song on an LP put out by the Arizona Friends Of Folklore. (N. Ariz. University--Flagstaff).

(from John White's great book Git Along Little Doggies (Songs and songmakers of the American west). University of Illinois Press--Urbana, IL)

Art Thieme

Subject: RE: SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE
From: Alice
Date: 16 Jun 00 - 04:11 PM

Thanks, Art. This song was mentioned a bit when Bill and Allan were here.

Subject: RE: SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE
From: bob jr
Date: 16 Jun 00 - 04:20 PM

ok these things always seem to go away off on a tangent but the version i heard was being sung by one RONNIE GILBERT i lost my version but she credited as trad and the words done got nothin' to do with no outlaw story in the other one and usually when someone jazzes up a folk song they take them foriegn words out not put more in so i am having my suspicions that anyone can say "i wrote that"

Subject: RE: SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE
From: Alice
Date: 16 Jun 00 - 04:54 PM

Hold on, this is not a very old song in "folk" terms, and the author is documented.

Subject: RE: SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE
From: Metchosin
Date: 16 Jun 00 - 05:53 PM

I have this song on a 1962 Vanguard Album by Ian and Sylvia with basically the same info on the liner notes as Art Theime's.

Subject: RE: SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE
From: bob jr
Date: 16 Jun 00 - 07:22 PM

these threads alwalys end up being about something other than what you want em to be about. i have heard a different version very different from the documented version you all are talking about and i am just looking for the last verse of the song. you know bob dylan wrote bob dylans dream and dont think twice and girl from the north country and about a dozen more songs that were trad and it dont mean nothing. i just want me that last verse and if you dont know it dont tell me you dont know it cause i can figure that out for myself.

Subject: RE: SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE
From: Alice
Date: 16 Jun 00 - 07:30 PM

Twilight on the patio
Old sen~ora nodding near
Me and Juana talking low
So the madre could not hear

Well, yes, bob jr, lyrics do "morph", as in the above verse being one version, so try sending an email to the webpage where I found THIS if no one here can add to the version you are searching for.

Alice

Subject: RE: SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE
From: Metchosin
Date: 16 Jun 00 - 07:43 PM

Or you can buy Ronnie Gilbert's album and transcribe the lyrics youself if you believe that route will be less circumambulate.

Subject: RE: SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE
From: bob jr
Date: 16 Jun 00 - 07:50 PM

i cant find the ronnie gilbert album i wish i could i have remebered another line something about dealing cards but that is it!

Subject: RE: SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE
From: Alice
Date: 16 Jun 00 - 08:09 PM

Was it this album? Record available for $7. Singing With You

Or maybe this one, "Lifeline" click here

alice

Subject: RE: SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE
From: Art Thieme
Date: 16 Jun 00 - 08:10 PM

bob jr,

TheWeaversusedtocopyrightalloftheirtraditionalsongsunderthenamePaulCampbell.RonnieGilbert,beinga majorpartoftheWeaversfortheirentireexistence,mayjusthavebeenusedtodoingthingsthatwayandcouldn'tgetoutofthehabit,

And, no, she wasn't a nun.

Art Thieme

Subject: RE: SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE
From: GUEST,Gene Shay
Date: 16 Jun 00 - 08:24 PM

The best version I ever heard of this---on record--is by Jan Marra, from her Flying Fish LP, These Crazy Years. On the liner she says that the song was originally a poem called "The Border Affair" and that she learned the song from the singing of Bill Staines. The album never came out as a CD, to my knowledge.

Subject: RE: SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE
From: Art Thieme
Date: 16 Jun 00 - 09:59 PM

Jan was/is a great singer.

Gene, thanks for reminding me. (Good to see you here.)

Art Thieme

Subject: RE: SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE
From: bob jr
Date: 16 Jun 00 - 11:18 PM

so anyhow the last verse goes something about i have dealt cards.... that is all i can remeber the song has a little to do lyrically with the other one that was taken from that poem but not too much if you read it and the tune is the same so maybe somebody did write that though it appears he didnt copyright it which was too bad for him. i cant figure how this song that i have heard is so different from the other it has no border in it no gambling fight no nothing just the guy ups and leaves .

Subject: RE: SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE
From: Alice
Date: 16 Jun 00 - 11:56 PM

bob jr, maybe if you start a thread titled something like "need Ronnie Gilbert lyrics" you may get a wider response to your question, since it is her recording that you are trying to remember. Just a thought.

Alice

Subject: RE: SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE
From: DonMeixner
Date: 17 Jun 00 - 12:30 AM

My favorite version is Bill Staines. Maybe not the most accurate to the original, but my favorite none the less.

Subject: RE: SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE
From: Stewie
Date: 17 Jun 00 - 04:21 AM

Jan Marra's FF album is excellent. It certainly deserves reissue on CD. I had forgotten that 'Spanish is a loving tongue' is on it. Thanks for reminding me; I shall go and have a listen. The stand-out track for me was always the lovely 'Maria Consuela Arroyo'.

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE
From: Pixie
Date: 17 Jun 00 - 11:20 AM

Am I the only one who has it by Michael Martin Murphy? At the risk of being booted out, I think Joan Baez did a version years ago????

Subject: RE: SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE
From: Alice
Date: 17 Jun 00 - 11:27 AM

Pixie, if you do a dogpile.com search, most of the hits are the Michael Martin Murphy recording. Well placed in the search engines. It has been recorded by many singers.

Subject: RE: SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE
From: Metchosin
Date: 17 Jun 00 - 12:12 PM

Pixi, I think you right re Joan Baez, but I couldn't find it among the recordings I still have in my possession.

Subject: RE: SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE
From: raredance
Date: 17 Jun 00 - 10:05 PM

You shouldn't be booted out for saying that Joan Baez recorded it, because I am going to add that the Chad Mitchell Trio also recorded it ( Mike Kobluk solo actually). Katie Lee also recorded it with the first verse done by Billy Simon, the original tunesmith, and Katie also wrote extensively about it in her book "Ten Thousand Goddam Cattle."

Subject: RE: SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE
From: GUEST,Bruce O.
Date: 18 Jun 00 - 06:13 PM

The song was also sung by Milt Okun on 'Traditional American Love Songs', Riverside RLP 12-634 (1956). The notes on the back, by Ellen Stekert, note this it was from Charles Clark's "The Border Affair".

Subject: RE: SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE
From: Art Thieme
Date: 18 Jun 00 - 11:53 PM

Bruce,

Great to see you !

Yes, Charles Badger Clark was his full name I believe.

Art

Subject: RE: SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE
From: bob jr
Date: 19 Jun 00 - 12:39 AM

will you folks stop with that stupid badger clark poem it aint got very little to do with the words i am looking for in fact its gone nothin' to do with it ENOUGH ALREADY

Subject: RE: SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE
From: DonMeixner
Date: 19 Jun 00 - 12:47 AM

I heard a song by "Raccoon" Clarke once. maybe thats the one you want, about a Mexican girl who wants to be a dancer but discovers welding instead. While trying to meld the two artforms together she falls in love with the foreman who used to dance with the Ballet Rus when he was a steam fitter in Gdansk. She could plie but not Barre very well and while he was dancing The Corsair she up and left him. That the one?

Hope so or was it just another waste of time?

Subject: RE: SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE
From: Crowhugger
Date: 19 Jun 00 - 12:54 AM

Alice, I do as you do, learned it that way from my Mom. Just the minimum adjustment for gender.

CH.

Subject: RE: SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE
From: bob jr
Date: 19 Jun 00 - 09:23 PM

well someone at a country and western site had the answer i am sure none of you will be at all interested but here it is ive dealt cards in so many places so many voices,such sweet phrases seems these nights i here only one mi amor mi carazon

no gambling no fight no border no nothing just like i always thought i guess folk tradition and country tradition are different ?

Subject: RE: SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE
From: Alice
Date: 19 Jun 00 - 10:49 PM

no, bob jr, I AM interested. Can you write out the whole version here? How does that line fit in with the rest of the song? Or if you don't want to copy and paste it, can you give us the URL to where you found it?

Subject: RE: SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE
From: bob jr
Date: 20 Jun 00 - 05:55 PM

Okay, here is the whole text. I will divide the lyrics with / marks. If you play guitar, the chord structure for the verses is C-F-C-G. The middle bits are all Am-Em-F-C-C-F-C-G-C.

It goes as follows:

Spanish is the loving tongue,
Soft as music light as spray.
Knew a boy who once taught me some.
Came from down Sonora way.

He didn’t look much like a lover.
Still he’d say these love words over:
“Tu eres mi luna. Tu eres mi sol,
Mi amor, mi corazon.”

His eyes where shy. His smile was bold,
My young vaquero 20 years old.
But every day the stories were told:
Towns of silver paved with gold.

I dreamed dreams of far-off places,
Dresses made of silk and laces.
I heard him say as the stage started on:
“Adios, mi amor, mi corazon.”

I’ve dealt cards in so many places,
So many voices, such sweet phrases.
Most nights it seems I hear only one:
“Mi amor, mi corazon.”

End. I am not sure if my Spanish spelling is right, but this is from a version by Ronnie Gilbert who was one of the Weavers.

Subject: RE: SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE
From: Art Thieme
Date: 20 Jun 00 - 10:16 PM

Now, bob,

Go to the board and write this 200 times.

"Mr. Badger Clark, I'M SORRY !!!! Didn't mean nothin' by it."

Subject: RE: SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE
From: paddyc
Date: 20 Jun 00 - 11:02 PM

Liam Clancy does a kickass version on his Dutchman cd

Subject: RE: SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE
From: bob jr
Date: 21 Jun 00 - 01:59 AM

i dont care about no badger song it aint the same except the title even the damn melodies are different only a few of the words are in common and the chords are different in the two versions that badgers long dead and gone anyhow and this song has little to do with his poem about some border fight and gambling and all that....does anyone read these thread from the begining?

Subject: RE: SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE
From: Ranks
Date: 21 Jun 00 - 01:20 PM

I thought you meant a song with the phrase

"Spanish is a loving tongue, but she never spoke Spanish to me" whcih was done I think by Freddy Fender

Ralf

Subject: RE: SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE
From: Songster Bob
Date: 21 Jun 00 - 01:53 PM

Well, this HAS been a fine to-do, hasn't it? Bob, Jr. wanted a song which obviously started life as a parody -- well, an extension maybe -- of "Spanish Is the Loving Tongue," which started life as the Badger Clark poem "A Border Affair."

Now, it also seems that most people here, not being familiar with the Ronnie Gilbert performance of the song Bob Jr. wanted, went off on their own tangent about the Badger Clark and Bill Somon song, since, among other things, that's what the heading of the thread was about.

My guess is that the song Ronnie recorded is much more modern, possibly written by or for her, and it certainly bears only slight resemblance to the older song. Now that Bob, Jr. has printed the lyric he had in mind, all that remains is to find out the real authors' name(s) and put the whole thing in the Digital Tradition.

When I sing the older version, I always change one line (I don't have to change the gender). I change "She was Mex and I was White" to "Still want me for that gambling fight." It's too hard to explain to today's audiences why the original was written as it was, so I change it.

Bob Clayton

Subject: RE: SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE
From: Jim Krause
Date: 21 Jun 00 - 02:33 PM

Nope, I have a copy of the Michael Martin Murphy album on cassette, and that's where I learned it. Almost brings a tear to my eye when I sing it. Soddy

Subject: RE: SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE
From: Art Thieme
Date: 21 Jun 00 - 03:05 PM

Mr. Clayton,

Always good to hear from you. Hope you and Jennifer are well.

I've continued along the lines I started with just 'cause it was so much fun discommoding bob jr after I realized how bent out of shape he was getting. Bob jr, I'm sorry. But it was fun !

Art

Subject: RE: SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE
From: Sandy Paton
Date: 21 Jun 00 - 03:39 PM

Staines' recording of the song that Bob Jr didn't want IS available on CD - CD-66 Just Play One Tune More - from the friendly folks at Folk-Legacy. You can get it through the Mudcat Shop.

Subject: RE: SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE
From: Scotsbard
Date: 21 Jun 00 - 05:57 PM

I've heard a beautiful version of this recorded by either the Limelighters or Kingston Trio somewhere around 1960. Thanks for tracing the history!

~S~

Subject: RE: SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE
From: Art Thieme
Date: 21 Jun 00 - 07:25 PM

I did hear a great parody of this once. I don't remember much, but the first line was, "Yiddish is a loving tongue..."

Art Thieme

Subject: RE: SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE
From: bob jr
Date: 22 Jun 00 - 12:25 AM

ah shucks folks i dont get bent out of shape that easily when i tried to find out who "wrote" the song it was listed as trad which could mean one of two things 1)whoever wrote didnt bother to copyright it 2)maybe its an amalgamtion of other trad songs or melodies? who knows i didnt realize that nobody knew ronnie gilbert i mean i am no expert (hence i ask lots of pretty dumb questions i reckon) but i even knew who she was (is i dont even know if she is dead !) but i guess maybe she aint so well known after all i guess i should have called the link SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE NOT BY A BADGER which would have confused things and yes yiddish is the kvelling tongue

Subject: RE: SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE
From: WyoWoman
Date: 22 Jun 00 - 08:57 PM

To further muck up the waters, I thought Judy Collins did a version of this in the 1970s. Probably the same one Ronnie Gilbert did. I don't recall hearing Joan Baez do it, but unless my mind is completely failing me, which is much more than a remote possibility, Collins recorded it. I'll do some checking around and get back here, but only if the song is not by a badger. Those badger-written songs are so ... prickly.

ww

Subject: RE: SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE
From: Alice
Date: 22 Jun 00 - 10:20 PM

bob jr, to answer your question "..does anyone read these thread from the begining", I think the answer is that even if we do, it's fun to chip in with other comments, kind of like a conversation in a crowded room. Like Art said, it's part of the fun.

Subject: RE: SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE
From: bob jr
Date: 22 Jun 00 - 11:04 PM

wyo woman i would appreciate it if you could find out that judy collins thing for me thanks. as for badgers and song i had some badgers in my garden once and the damn things never sang nothing which makes me think that these folks talking bout a song a badger wrote is an urban myth like finding a rat in your chicken bucket .anyways if you do find one its most likely the work of rogue badgers which is another reason i dont rightly trust em!!! i think phil ochs had a line about not singing no more badger songs on his last album but i could have been drunk when i heard that or real tired .....

Subject: RE: SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE
From: Alice
Date: 23 Jun 00 - 12:20 AM

Badgers... Badgers.... We don't need no stinkin' Badgers!

(I love the treasure of the Sierra Madre, amazing how versatile that line can be)

Subject: RE: SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE
From: WyoWoman
Date: 23 Jun 00 - 12:52 AM

When I was Outdoors editor for my former newspaper, we ran a story about badgers and I had to forcibly restrain myself from using that as a headline. A missed opportunity I will always regret...

ww

Subject: RE: SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE
From: WyoWoman
Date: 23 Jun 00 - 01:00 AM

Yup. Just went to Amazon.com and found the Judy Collins anthology. On disc 2 is "Spanish is the Loving Tongue." A beauty of a song -- this is actually the only version of it I've ever heard.

And bob jr., I have never trusted a rogue badger one day of my life. I think you're wise not to.

ww

Subject: RE: SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE
From: bob jr
Date: 23 Jun 00 - 01:33 AM

wyo woman thanks i will find that album for sure to see if she sings the good version and not the one that some mean spirited badger wrote. having read the other lyric it seems like that badger was into gambling which just goes to show you that those critters are up to no good again! down through the ages kids authors have tried to make these untrustable creatures cute and cuddly but dont you believe it i have it from reliable sources (ok not so reliable) that speculative badger investors caused both the great depression and the savings and loan scandels....look around that waco thing and you know some badgers are near by snickering i just betcha

Subject: RE: SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE
From: Art Thieme
Date: 26 Jun 00 - 05:27 PM

On the river we used to say, "Barges, we don't need no stinkin' barges!"

Art

Subject: RE: SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE
From: Ebbie
Date: 26 Jun 00 - 06:10 PM

hahahhahahahahEbbie

Subject: RE: SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE
From: rangeroger
Date: 27 Jun 00 - 12:29 AM

As a Park Ranger in San Diego County, there came the day when we were issued badges to wear on our uniforms. The inevitable comment came up about when werewe going to be issued guns. My reply, of course, was "Guns? We don't need no stinking guns. We got badges".
rr

Subject: RE: SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE
From:
Date: 21 Nov 00 - 09:01 AM

The song "She Never Spoke Spanish To Me" is written by West-Texas singer/songwriter Butch Hancock. His friend Joe Ely was the first one to record the song in 1979 (I believe). Both used to be members of the Texan band The ]Flatlanders.

Leo Nierse, Breda, Netherlands

Subject: RE: SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE
From:
Date: 10 Dec 00 - 11:42 AM

Are you talknig about Spanish is "a" loving tongue? Emmylou Harris sings it on her just re released "Cimmeron" and Ian and Sylvia sing it on "For Strong Winds" also Richard Dyer-Bennett recorded it.

Subject: RE: SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE
From: GUEST
Date: 01 Dec 03 - 02:33 PM

Yes. That's the song. There is a lyric I can't get from either version. It's the last line. "Lost my heart and ????"
Can you help?
Steve Z

Subject: RE: SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE
From: Amos
Date: 01 Dec 03 - 02:35 PM

Spanish is a loving tongue
Soft as music light as spray
Was a girl he learned it from
Living down Sonora way
He don't look much like a lover
But he says her love words over
Mostly when he's all alone
Mi amor mi corazon

On the nights that he would ride
She would listen for his spurs
Throw those big doors open wide
Raise them laughing eyes of hers
How those hours would get to flyin'
All too soon he'd hear her sighing
In her little sorry tone
Mi amor mi corazon

He ain't seen her since that night
He can't cross the line you know
They want him for a gambling flight
Like as not it's better so
Yet he's always sort of missed her
Since that last sad night he kissed her
Lost his heart left her own
Adios mi corazon
Lost his heart left her own
Adios mi corazon

Subject: RE: SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE
From: Fortunato
Date: 01 Dec 03 - 02:42 PM

I think I heard Cisco Houston sing "Lost my heart and left to roam",
in any case that's the way I've sung it.

Subject: RE: SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE
From: Cluin
Date: 01 Dec 03 - 03:08 PM

I LOVE this song.

My favourite for years was the Ian & Sylvia version on their Four Strong Winds album.

Now, my favourite is the one by James Keelaghan and Oscar Lopez on their Compadres CD... James' clear vocals and Oscar's tasty guitar leads & fills. Done in the 1st person, they also use the original lyric "She was Mex and I was white" (instead of "They want him for a gambling flight"). And they sing "Won her heart; lost my own"

Subject: RE: SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE
From: Amos
Date: 01 Dec 03 - 06:42 PM

This song has been around (in the first person) since the first quarter of the 20th century, at least. It was in the Fireside Book of American Song, I believe.

A

Subject: RE: Spanish Is the Loving Tongue
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 01 Dec 03 - 07:55 PM

Written in the first person by Badger Clark, in Pacific Monthly, 1907, and again in 1915 in "Sun and Saddle Leather," as noted far, far above.

Subject: RE: Spanish Is the Loving Tongue
From: fogie
Date: 02 Dec 03 - 05:00 AM

Amos version is near enough the Judy Collins version, seen from the womans point of view, there is another verse , which I think I noticed earlier that goes

Moonlight on the Patio,
Old senora nodding near,
Me and Juan are talking low,
So the madre does not hear,
How the hours would go a flying,
And too soon we would be sighing,
As the moonlight sofly shon,
Mi amor mi corazon

And where the verse says-
Throw those big doors open wide,
Lift me to the saddle in his arms

Ther are lots of J.C's songs that make me very emotional and this is one. Glad you like it, I didn't know the history.

Subject: RE: Spanish Is the Loving Tongue
From: GUEST,Jaze
Date: 02 Dec 03 - 09:37 AM

I've heard many versions of this great song, but I like Michael Martin Murphy's the best.It does bring teears to the eyes.

Subject: ADD Version: Spanish Is the Loving Tongue
From: Joe Offer
Date: 03 Dec 03 - 03:21 PM

The tune and lyrics in the Digital Tradition are from Songs of the Great American West, by Silber and Robinson. I checked the tune and lyrics with the book, and found it's a pretty accurate transcription. The lyrics are almost exactly the same in Katie Lee's Ten Thousand Goddam Cattle, and in Folksinger's Wordbook (Silber & Silber). I found the song in one other book, Cowboy and Western Songs (Austin and Alta Fife). the Fife book has the same lyrics that are in the DT, but it also has this alternate version. The Fifes identify this second text as Hendren 131 (I don't know what that means), which they say was encountered in Idaho.

SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE

I learned Spanish from a girl
Who lived down Sonora way,
Sparkling eyes as black as jet,
Hair as fine as softest spray.
I don't claim to be a lover
Conquering hearts the whole world over,
There's but one whose heart I won,
Mi amor, mi corazon.

'Neath the mellow yellow moon
We would meet and part too soon,
We'd converse in tones so low
So the madre wouldn't know.
Oft I kissed her lips so tender,
Little stars blinked on in wonder,
While the gentle breeze would moan,
"Mi amor, mi corazon."

While señora nodded near
We would meet where none could hear,
Whispering love as we sat there
While the moonbeams kissed her hair.
Tender were her words of greeting,
How my heart would start stampeding,
I still hear her tender tone,
"Adios, mi corazon."

'Twas a foolish gambling fight
That took place that starry night,
Had to say a swift goodbye,
So we parted, she and I.
On the breeze her words were ringing,
I still feel her arms a-clinging,
I still hear her pleading tone,
Adios, mi corazon.

Oft I long to go back where
I can touch her violet hair,
Kiss her lips as soft as down,
Tell her that my love lives on.
If I dared to cross the border,
They'd hang me in just short order,
Never more we'll be alone,
Adios, mi corazon.

Q and I have found a variety of tunes for this song. As I said before, the tune in the Digital Tradition is from Silber & Robinson, Songs of the Great American West:

---

Click to play (Silber/Robinson)

Q sent me a scan of the tune from John White's book Git Along Little Dogies (Songs and songmakers of the American West):

Click to play (White)

The Fife book has a tune that is completely different, very similar to the one we all learned from the Ian and Sylvia recording:

Click to play (Fife)

The Katie Lee book has yet another tune, derived from the tune I found in Fife:

Click to play (Lee)

---

Here's the Traditional Ballad Index entry on this song:

Spanish Is the Loving Tongue (A Border Affair)

DESCRIPTION: The singer tells of his love for (and language lessons from) a Mexican girl. "But one time I had to fly For a foolish gambling fight." Though the affair may have been a mistake, he still misses her and her farewell, "Adios, mi corazon."
AUTHOR: Words: Charles Badger Clark
EARLIEST DATE: 1920
KEYWORDS: love separation abandonment gambling fight foreigner
FOUND IN: US(Ro,SW)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Fife-Cowboy/West 52, "Border Affair" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 278-279, "Spanish Is a Loving Tongue" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 141, "Spanish Is The Loving Tongue" (1 text)
DT, SPANLOVE*
Roud #11085
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Spanish is the Loving Tongue" (on PeteSeeger30)
File: FCW052

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Subject: ADD: Sequel to the Border Affair
From: Joe Offer
Date: 03 Dec 03 - 05:25 PM

Hey, I can't leave this out, even though it's really sappy. The goddam Katie Lee book has a sequel, if you can believe that.
-Joe Offer-

SEQUEL TO THE BORDER AFFAIR

Many moons have come and gone
Never more to pass our way.
Each dim sunset, each gray dawn
Means another lonely day.

Still there is no other lover
Takes the place of one I've known.
Oft in dreams I'm saying over.
Mi Amor! Mi Corazon!

Dawn awakens in the patio.
Sunbeams kiss the fountain spray.
Cast reflections in my window
Drive those torturing dreams away.

Then I hear a welcome noise
'Tis Juanita, nina mine.
Up so early with her toys.
Laughing gayly so Divine.

Silent foot steps drawing near,
Nina's madre bending o'er
Whispers words to me so dear
"Buenos Dias, Mi Arnor!"

Eyes that speak and lips that linger
Two small arms that hold me tight.
Matters not if she is Mex.
There's no other soul so white.

And God knows how much I love her,
Juana Mia — Mine alone
Sworn by all the Stars above her
Mi Amor — Mi Corazon!

Poem by Frank Wilburn
March 13, 1933

Subject: RE: Spanish Is the Loving Tongue
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 03 Dec 03 - 05:45 PM

Thanks, Joe, for all the variations on the tune. All are basically the same, with "personal" touches. The one already in the DT, Silber and Robinson, perhaps puts it the simplest but the one from Fife may be the most authentic, since the Fifes indicate that it is as "sung by Billy Simon," who set the Badger Clark poem to music in 1925 (White).

In a recent thread (64902), Cruiser pointed to a cd, Cowboy Ceilidh, by David Wilkie and Cowboy Celtic, which yoked titles for "A Border Affair" (Spanish is a Loving Tongue) and "Nil Sé Ina Lá," an Irish drinking song (Versions in threads 4295, 6728, 21169, 27678 and possibly others). Notes indicate that in an Irish session, Wilkie was told that "A Border Affair" had the same melody.

None of the versions that I can find of the Irish melody are similar to the slow, nostalgic tune set to Badger Clark's "A Border Affair," attributed to Bill Simon and set to sheet music by Dorothy Youmans. Philippa (4295, Dec. 3, 2003) says she knows of no version of the Irish song with a similar tune.

Unless someone can come up with a definite link to an Irish source tune, the melody should remain credited to Billy Simon.
The sheet music in Fife and Fife, 1969, "Cowboy and Western Songs," # 52, pp. 146-147, "Border Affair," is cited as "sung by Billy Simon."

The story of the song is given in White, John I., 1975, "Git Along, Little Dogies," pp. 130-132, and in Lee, Katie, 1976, "Ten Thousand Goddam Cattle," pp. 226-227.
Billy Simon did record the song on an LP in 1972 (in his 80s at the time). Cowboy Songs, 2 (AFF 33-2) Arizona Friends of Folklore at Northern Arizona University.

An early recording worth noting is a 78 single, Victor P-84, by "Texas" Jim Robertson. Katie Lee says he sang it the way Billy Simon sang it. Other pre-1975 recordings by Richard Dyer-Bennett, George Gillespie, Todd Dylan, Milt Okum, Dorothy Olsen, Bob Ross, Glen Yarborough, Herb Strauss, Ian and Sylvia, and Katie Lee.

Subject: RE: Spanish Is the Loving Tongue
From: Stewie
Date: 04 Dec 03 - 03:27 AM

Q, Meade also references a recording by Tex Fletcher (vcl/gtr) on 16 November 1936 'The Border Affair [Mi Amor, Mi Corazon]' in NYC, issued as De 5300 in December 1936.

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Spanish Is the Loving Tongue
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 23 Feb 04 - 09:13 PM

The correct title is "A Border Affair," as published by Badger Clark in the several editions of "Sun and Saddle Leather" from 1915 on.
The words in the DT are correct. I know some will disagree, but I think the correct title should be given first.

Subject: RE: Spanish Is the Loving Tongue
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 24 Feb 04 - 02:07 PM

Q-

Correct titles are fine and good, but not necessarily what people look for.

Subject: RE: Spanish Is the Loving Tongue
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 24 Feb 04 - 06:01 PM

A serious question--does anyone know just how a cowboy might have pronounced "corazon"? I've heard it both with and without the Castillian lisp, and I've never been sure what to sing.

Subject: RE: Spanish Is the Loving Tongue
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 24 Feb 04 - 06:25 PM

In the American southwest and Mexico, there is no lisp in the speech of the general Spanish-speahing populace. 'S' is O. K. I was taught some Spanish by a Colombian university graduate (doctorate) and he said that the Castilian lisp was considered effiminate.

However, the 'S' is short, not drawn out with a shhhh or whistle in the manner of many Americans (Try yourself on Adios- I often end up with Adiosssh- which immediately identifies me as a gringo).

Subject: RE: Spanish Is the Loving Tongue
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 24 Feb 04 - 06:27 PM

that's effeminate!

Subject: RE: Spanish Is the Loving Tongue
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 25 Feb 04 - 02:47 PM

Thanx much. I prefer not to make a complete fool of myself while singing.

Subject: RE: Spanish Is the Loving Tongue
From: GUEST,Athenian
Date: 15 Feb 05 - 10:08 PM

This "last verse" is really half a verse - the first half is done instrumentally

I've dealt cards in so manu places,
Heard such voices, such pretty phrases.
Still to me there is only one,
Adios mi Corazon.

---

I've been driving myself crazy trying to find the original version I
learned. I suspect it ws the Chad Mitchell Trio - I just need to buy the album and see if that was the version I liked.

Subject: RE: Spanish Is the Loving Tongue
From: GUEST
Date: 25 Mar 05 - 11:54 AM

Dylan Todd (a little known tenor, only 1 album?) sang this on Love Songs: Old and New. He omitted several verses (the one about the door, the one about the fight) but it was still lovely (he's a tenor.)

Alison

Subject: RE: Spanish Is the Loving Tongue
From: GUEST
Date: 25 Mar 05 - 11:55 AM

PS - Todd sings the end as:

"Left her heart, but lost my own,
Adios, mi corazon."

Alison

Subject: RE: Spanish Is the Loving Tongue
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 25 Mar 05 - 05:50 PM

Post by Athenian- that half verse is not in the original. Whose version?

Subject: RE: Origins: Spanish Is the Loving Tongue
From: Genie
Date: 14 Mar 07 - 06:05 PM

I first heard Ian Tyson's version, under the title "Spanish Is The Loving Tongue." His lyrics deviate slightly from those posted above, and he ends with:

"Lost my heart and left her own.
Adios, mi corazon."

Subject: RE: Origins: Spanish Is the Loving Tongue
From: Dave'sWife
Date: 14 Mar 07 - 07:33 PM

A lovely version of this song can be found on Emmylou harris' CD CIMARRON (Warner Bros.) 1981. it also shows up on some her compilation CDs such as Songs Of The West and her boxed set. Her light and feathery voice is a nice fit with the tender story. In fact, that whole album/CD CIMARRON is a nice set of songs. For years it wasn't available on CD but it's been issued with some extra cuts. If you only know the Ronnie Gilbert version, you'd do well to give this version a listen.

Subject: RE: Origins: Spanish Is the Loving Tongue
From: pdq
Date: 27 Dec 11 - 03:42 PM

The late Bruce Olson mentions a record by Milt Okun in 1956, I assume released as "Border Affair".

Glenn Yarbrough recorded it for Elektra in 1957. It's on "Here We Go, Baby" with the title "Spanish Is A Loving Tongue". He credits Badger Clark.

Tex Ritter did a version in 1962 on a record of all Spanish themed material and called "Border Affair" with credit to Badger Clark

Ian & Sylvia did it of "Four Strong Winds" in 1964, again as "Spanish is a Loving Tongue" but claimed to be traditional.

Laura Weber included it in her guitar series on PBS in the mid 1960s.

Also recorded by the Country Gentelmen in 1968.

Subject: RE: Origins: Spanish Is the Loving Tongue
From: GUEST,Songbob
Date: 27 Dec 11 - 05:02 PM

It occurred to me that the song originally asked for here might be one of those "and then..." songs, involving the original "actors," and the one lyric above which tells of the child at her play seems to be the same. But the first "female" version can't be the original Juana, because this singer is a dealer in a gambling house, and the original Americano cowboy parts from Juana at her house, it would seem.

Though, come to think of it, the place where they 'said one swift good-bye' isn't really specified, is it. Hmmmm... it looks like someone maybe has that same "so, what happens next?" itch I sometimes get. It can make for interesting songs. Perhaps this is one.

But I don't think so -- the 'moonlight on the patio; old senora nodding near' verse puts the original Juana as too sheltered to be a dealer in a gambling hall. Sigh! Too bad. It could make an interesting coupling of songs.

Bob

Subject: RE: Origins: Spanish Is the Loving Tongue
From: Little Hawk
Date: 27 Dec 11 - 06:00 PM

dick - The word "corazon", if spoken by a Mexican or other Latin American is pronounced "cor-rah-SON", with the emphasis on the final syllable...and the "o" sound in "SON" is sort of like the "o" sound in the English word "stone" only it's shortened some...not drawn out so much as the "o" sound is in English.

So it doesn't sound like "sewn". It sounds like something halfway between the English words "son" and "sewn".

An American cowboy might speak it with the correct Mexican accent...or he might not...depends on the cowboy in question.

***

Regarding Juana and the gambling hall...the gambling hall was most certainly not located at Juana's house, which seems to have been a rather upper class hacienda, probably out in the country. The fight at the gambling hall would have occurred at another location somewhere in town, resulting in the cowboy having to flee the area and get back across the American border, thus leaving his Mexican love behind.

This totally makes sense, therefore the lyric about the gambling fight is no problem.

***

As for Ian Tyson's version, which is excellent, I believe he sings in the final lines "Lost my heart and left to roam. Adios, my corazon..."

Which again makes perfect sense.

Subject: RE: Origins: Spanish Is the Loving Tongue
From: Little Hawk
Date: 27 Dec 11 - 06:18 PM

Here's how I do it:

Spanish is the loving tongue
Soft as music, light as spray;
Was a girl I learned it from
Living down Sonora way.
I don't look much like a lover,
Still I say her love words over.
Mostly when I'm all alone
"Mi amor, mi corazon"

On the nights when I would ride
She would listen for my spurs,
Throw the big door open wide,
Raise those laughing eyes of hers.
Late at night when fires are dying
In my dreams I hear her sighing,
Whispered soft for me alone ---
"Mi amor, mi corazon"

Moonlight on the patio,
Old senora nodding near,
Me and Juana talking low
So the Madre would not hear.
How those hours would get to flying!
All too soon I'd hear her sighing
In her sad and sorry tone ---
"Adios, mi corazon."

I've not seen her since that night,
I can't cross the line, you know.
They want me for a gambling fight
Like as not, it's better so.
Still sometimes I've sorely missed her
Since that last sad night I kissed her
Lost my heart and left to roam
Adios, mi corazon!

Subject: RE: Origins: Spanish Is the Loving Tongue
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 27 Dec 11 - 07:16 PM

AS far as I can tell (and Katie Lee supports my thesis) the most popular tune was Dyer-Bennett's, who wrote the melody for the second part of each verse.

Subject: RE: Origins: Spanish Is the Loving Tongue
From: Little Hawk
Date: 27 Dec 11 - 11:32 PM

Sounds plausible to me.

Subject: RE: Origins: Spanish Is the Loving Tongue
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 28 Dec 11 - 04:41 PM

I'll tell the tune's story, as excerpted from Katie Lee, "Ten Thousand Goddam Cattle."
Gail Gardner and Katie were visiting Billy and Betty Simon at their Horse Camp. They discuss Dolores, no trace of which seems to remain, which inSpanish Archives in Santa Fe is listed as both Real de Dolores (1827) and "Old Placers"
Billy Simon plays "A Border Affair" on his guitar. Asked about "the right version," Billy says, "Right? I dunno it's right, it's the way I sing it."
Katie Lee writes, "A simple three-chord melody, no fancy minors, no bridge after the first four lines (where all the others versions change melodic line), only the same melody repeated again, all through the song. Any cowboy could sing it, hum it, play it and pass it on in one night's hearing. It is Billy's tune all right- before the non-cowboys got wind of it."
She goes on to discuss it as an "art song" used by Jan Peerce, Grace Moore and Lawrence Tibbett, often labeled "folk song."
She continues, "... In all likelihood one of those "arranged by's" is where the complicated part sprouted, Richard Dyer-Bennett's version is like that. I wrote several times asking if he'd written it but never got an answer.
Simon was asked where he got the tune. He was working for the Hays cattle Company and found Badger Clark's Sun and Saddle Leather. "I fooled around until I got me one that suited me pretty good; the words seemed to git married with the music." (He never took out copyright).

Katie Lee says "Texas" Jim Robertson sang the song as Billy Simon sings it. Victor P. 84. Credited to "Miller and Suede." (Miller stole a number of songs and put his name to them).

Fife and Fife credit Simon with the music. "Border Affair," "sung by Billy Simon," pp. 146-147, Cowboy and Western Songs, Text 1 by Clark. Fife American Collection, Utah State Univ.

Subject: RE: Origins: Spanish Is the Loving Tongue
From: David C. Carter
Date: 29 Dec 11 - 05:49 AM

Dylan did two versions of this song.

One was on an album with a band behind him,the other was him solo,with just piano,possibly around the time of"New Morning".

That,for me,is the best version.

Subject: RE: Origins: Spanish Is the Loving Tongue
From: Rex
Date: 29 Dec 11 - 06:07 PM

I recorded this on my latest CD and could have offered it as most know it. I must admit, I like the more complex and pretty melody. Yet I wanted to offer it as Billy Simon might have done for his sake. I kicked it up a step from how he sings it in Katie's film, The Last Wagon. Thinking as he was in his 80s, he would have sung it higher in his youth. I also stepped up the tempo a bit. It is my best guess as to how he intended it. Now and then I get a pang wishing I had recorded a pretty version of it but not for long. Better to play it as Billy did.

Rex

Subject: RE: Origins: Spanish Is the Loving Tongue
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 29 Dec 11 - 06:42 PM

As Billy did- and most cowboys would.
Have to get your CD.

Subject: RE: Origins: Spanish Is the Loving Tongue
From: pdq
Date: 29 Dec 11 - 09:34 PM

Well, Rex sorta looks like a hippie, but there is his CD:

                                                                                          Rex Rideout's new CD


Perhaps folks can also get a CD by Jed Marum, another loyal Mudcatter.

Subject: RE: Origins: Spanish Is the Loving Tongue
From: Amos
Date: 29 Dec 11 - 11:00 PM

Steve Cormier, the well-known cowboy singer, folklorist and historian, sings this song. He pronounces "corazon" in the Mexican way -- "korr-a-zone". And he sings it beautifully. I have a video clip of him doing it in a house concert here in San Diego this week, and will post it if he permits it.


A

Subject: RE: Origins: Spanish Is the Loving Tongue
From: deepdoc1
Date: 29 Dec 11 - 11:30 PM

Rex's Western music bonafides look good. Got to hunt down my headphones and have a listen.

Subject: RE: Origins: Spanish Is the Loving Tongue
From: Little Hawk
Date: 30 Dec 11 - 01:03 PM

Yeah, Amos, but the "z" in "corazon" is pronounced like an "s".

Subject: RE: Origins: Spanish Is the Loving Tongue
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 16 May 14 - 07:43 PM

"A Border Affair" by Charles Badger Clark was first published in The Pacific Monthly,, June, 1907, p. 631.

As noted previously, it was set to music in 1925 by cowboy singer Billy Simon, the music written out by Dorothy Youmans.

Simons did not record the song until 1972; it was previously recorded by John I. White ("The Lonesome Cowboy") on the program "Death Valley Days." c. 1933.
Tex Fletcher recorded the song in 1936, as "A Border Affair," omitting the "She was Mex..." line.
Texas Jim Robertson recorded it as "The Border Affair," in 1941.

Milt Okun and Ellen Siekert, 1956, were the first to record with the title "Spanish is a Loving Tongue." Yarborough and Dyer-Bennett also used this title.

White's version was published in Git Along, Little Dogies,, Univ. Illinois Press, 1975.

Extracted from:
http://jopiepopie.blogspot.ca/2013/08/border-affair-1936-spanish-is-loving.html
.

Subject: RE: Origins: Spanish Is the Loving Tongue
From: GUEST,Germany
Date: 12 Nov 14 - 07:20 AM

Have somebody a spanish lyrics for She never spoke spanish to me (Bonito es el Espanol)- The Texas Tornados- Thanks