Inside my head

I’m not generally one of those people with a constant mental soundtrack, but in the past ten days or so, out of nowhere, I have developed a passionate obsession with Mexican pop. I hadn’t really payed much attention before, being more interested in music to dance to, like salsa, cumbia and banda. But now my brain always seems to be playing some fragment of one of half a dozen songs. And my love for them just grows and grows.

So this is how it is inside my head:

This first one’s not strictly Mexican, or pop… apparently they are actually a Belgian dance act with a Spanish lead singer… but every time I go out dancing I seem to get one song firmly lodged in my brain. And the Saturday before last saw me dancing the night away in the hottest club in town (which, in my town, isn’t saying too much!), singing (yelling) along to this (Bailando by Paradisio):



The video makes me cringe, but it does contain the most amusingly unflattering pink wig ever. It’s a fun song if you’re prepared to embrace cheesy eurodance (dancy eurocheese, euro dancecheese…?), but I wouldn’t listen if you have at all refined musical sensibilities. On the other hand, it could be – and has been - worse…

With something of a change of mood, here is one of the Mexican songs that has been on a constant loop in my head, Volverte a Amar by Alejandra Guzmán:



It is about how it’s impossible that they could not be together, she falls captivated every time he calls, she misses him all the time, he’s the one for her and she can’t stop thinking about him, and… “tengo tanto miedo de volverte a amar” - I’m so afraid of falling in love with you again.

I love that she is really belting this song out, but it retains its bittersweetness. And I like that this woman is a kind of Mexican Madonna (in a been around for decades, Like a Virgin, not a Virgin Mary, sense) and is sexing it up like a trooper.

However, my biggest current obsession is the songstress Julieta Venegas. I’ve known one or two of her songs for a while, but I suddenly LOVE them. One of the – I think – coolest things about her is that she plays the accordion on many of her songs. Me Voy is one of my favourites; the accordion and the slight surrealism of the video remind me of Amelie, and it’s just a beautiful song:



It’s about the end of a relationship, where there’s no communication and love hasn’t been enough. The chorus is:
No voy a llorar y decir
que no merezco esto porque
es probable que
lo merezco pero no lo quiero.
Por eso
me voy, que lástima pero adiós
me despido de ti y
me voy, que lástima pero adiós
me despido de ti...
It doesn’t translate well, but more or less it means: I’m not going to cry and say I don’t deserve this, because I probably do deserve it, but I don’t want it. And so I’m going, it’s a pity but farewell, I’m saying goodbye to you and I’m going…
In Spanish and in the right mood it’s a song to break your heart to!

My absolute favourite Julieta song is this one, Lento:



I don’t like the video much, but it is a lovely, sweet, simple love song. She is asking someone to go slowly, gradually forget about time, slow down and let her love him. The chorus is:
Ser delicado y esperar,
dame tiempo para darte
todo lo que tengo.
Or:
Be gentle and wait,
give me time to give you
everything I have.
Come to think of it this one kind of breaks your heart too, but so sweetly…

I was listening to this last night and singing along, with feeling, and I realized that it makes me hugely, absurdly happy to be able to sing along to a song in Spanish. Even if only the choruses!

I’m also listening to a number of other Julieta Venegas songs (check out Eres Para Mi for an un-nunlike dancing nun), Las de la Intuición by Shakira (also playing when I last went dancing), and, inexplicably, this Mexican football song (even though I hate the band, and I’m not so big on football, it’s extremely catchy!):



Ten, five, even two years ago, who’d’ve thought I’d be singing mournfully along to Mexican ballads or shakin’ it to Latin disco?