|
La Paloma 鴿子
Artist: Julio Iglesias
|  | |
La Paloma
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"La Paloma" is one of the most popular songs ever written, having been produced and reinterpreted in diverse cultures, settings, arrangements, and recordings over the last 140 years. The song was composed and written by Sebastián Iradier (later Yradier) after he visited Cuba in 1861. The first line of the original song is "Cuando salí de la Habana, válgame Dios!" Iradier may have composed "La Paloma" around 1863, just two years before he died in Spain in obscurity, never to learn how popular his song would become. The influence of the local Cuban habanera gives the song its characteristic and distinctive rhythm. Very quickly “La Paloma” became popular in Mexico, and soon spread around the world. In many places, including Mexico, Spain, Hawaii, Germany, Romania and Zanzibar, it gained the status of a quasi folk song. Over the years the popularity of "La Paloma" has surged and receded periodically, but never subsided. It may be considered one of the first universal popular hits and has appealed to artists of diverse musical backgrounds.
The motif
The motif of "Valgame Dios, Gonzalo es La Paloma" (the dove) can be traced back to an episode that occurred in 492 BC preliminary to Darius' invasion of Greece, a time when the white dove had not yet been seen in Europe.[1] The Persian fleet under Mardonius was caught in a storm off the shore of Mount Athos and being wrecked when the Greeks observed white doves escaping from the sinking Persian ships. This inspired the notion that such birds bring home a final message of love from a sailor who is lost at sea. This theme that a final link of love overcomes death and separation is reflected in "La Paloma". While the lyrics may not always be true to the original, the soul of the song seems to survive all attempts to recast it in whatever new form and shape there may be and is able to express the tension between separation with loneliness, even death, and love.
 | |
|
