Teri Saydak (Original, English)

Si Yo Fuera una Canción (If I Were a Song)

Community activist and co-administrator of a Santa Ana-based non-profit, Teri reflects on different kinds of love, her travels to Guatemala, and on how collaborative music-making builds community.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND LINKS

Concern America Website: https://concernamerica.org/

The Beatles:

Campbell, Colin. 2006. “’All You Need Is Love': From Romance to Romanticism: The Beatles, Romantic Love and Cultural Change”. Etnofoor 19(1): 111-123. https://www.jstor.org/stable/25758113

Son jarocho:

Frenk, Margit. 2007. “Aproximaciones a los recursos poéticos de las coplas folclóricas mexicanas.” In La Copla en México. Published by El Colegio de Mexico. https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvhn07z8.12

Jiménez de Báez, Yvette, Ed. 1998. “Coplas Líricas de Veracruz” In Voces y Cantos de la Tradición: Textos Inéditos de la Fonoteca y Archivo de Tradiciones Populares. Published by El Colegio de Mexico. http://www.jstor.com/stable/j.ctv47w7wq.8

Verses sung by Los Utrera

1.

Early in the morning I went

to the garden of my fantasy

and after visiting

all the growing flowers there,

I cut one flower for you,

more beautiful than you can imagine.

(So help me God, so help me God,)

I go around bent over

like someone who’s [rabbit] hunting,

with one knee bent,

but still walking.

Ayy, if the hare eludes you

You’ll be left staring!

2.

I salute the singers

if they’ll give me permission,

I salute the gentlemen,

and everyone in general.

And I salute the flowers [ladies]

as I begin singing.

I’ll see whether I stay or not.

[They say we don’t love each other

because they don’t see us talking]*

I’d like to, but cannot

talk to you with my eyes.

3.

Still in the world exists

s/he who captured my love

S/he who clothes her/himself in pride.

And that’s the reason that I

always sing so sadly.

Once I was your beloved,

and you my adored one,

Now I’m the Devil, I horrify you,

You say you’re afraid of me,

after loving me so much?

4.

I am like fig candy,

that melts in your mouth.

The woman who tries me

will go crazy with pleasure,

and if she’s married, she’ll

keep her mouth very quiet.

In the jungle I saw burning

the lamp of Money.

I also saw at dawn

an elegant firefly.

How can I not want you

if you were my first love?

*It is difficult to understand what’s being sung in this part