"El Fusilado" - Chumbawamba, 2008 (a capella)

Listen close to this crooked mouth
For my story I will tell–o
Lived in Mexico by the name of Wenseslao Moguel–o
Left my home in Santiago
The heart of the city of Merida
Served with my brothers and sisters all
For the army of Pancho Villa

Stand me straight against the nearest wall
Line up your bravest soldiers oh
Ten good shots I’ll take them all
They call me El Fusilado

The Federales captured me
Bound up my arms with wire
Officer came he says “Take your aim –
Steady your guns and fire!”
Bullet holes all across my chest
Ripped up my shirt and my body–o
Heart beat on through the silenced guns
To the rhythm of life inside me–o

Stand me straight against the nearest wall
Line up your bravest soldiers oh
Ten good shots I’ll take them all
They call me El Fusilado

Fell to the ground the officer came
One last shot to the head–o
Heard through the pain as he walked away
And left me there for dead–o
All went quiet so I crawled away
I wasn’t giving up to the glory
Ten good shots I took them all
And lived to tell my story

The last two songs have been kinda sad, so I thought I'd pick things up a little...at least tempo-wise. This song by Chumbawamba is particularly interesting from a musical standpoint because it's one of those songs that's upbeat and peppy and really gets you boppin' along, but it's really about a subject that's much darker than the mood it creates...although once you learn the story, whether or not this lighter mood is appropriate or not becomes a matter of perspective. This is a true story about a man named Wenseslao Moguel, who's name is famous for being on the many lists as being one of the Top 10 Most Amazing Execution Survival Stories.

In the early 1900's, Mexico was under the autocratic rule of Porfirio Diaz, who had held the Mexican presidency continuously since 1876. However, despite his re-elections, Diaz's regime was becoming more and more unpopular because of his political policy continuity and his repressive acts against the Mexican people. As a result, early in the 20th century, Francisco Madero Gonzalez, a wealthy politician, became the centerpiece of a movement to oppose any further re-election of Porfirio Diaz, having previously attempted to win elections with either himself as a candidate or a candidate of his choosing. None of these attempts to win the government were successful, yet he continued his opposition of Diaz. By 1910, Madero's political activities had gathered enough momentum and enough followers to disrupt the current status quo, and what followed after would go down in the history books as the Mexican Revolution, also known as the Mexican War of Independence.

From the Mexican state of Durango came one of the most famous leaders of the Mexican Revolution, José Doroteo Arango Arámbula, aka Francisco "Pancho" Villa. Villa and his Villistas joined the Modero movement against Diaz, and in 1911 led the attack on Ciudad Juarez, which overthrew Diaz and put Madero into the presidency. Villa was appointed to the position of military chief commander; however, he and his commanding officer were now at odds with each other, and during an incident involving a horse, Villa was charged with insubordination - a charge for which execution was the penalty to be paid. Villa escaped to the United States and did not return until after the assassination of President Madero, and the presidency fell to Victoriano Huerta .

Pancho Villa returned to Mexico to confront the Huerta dictatorship. It is here that our song person enters our story. Wenseslao Moguel was a soldier under the command of Pancho Villa who was captured on March 18, 1915 by the Federales, which is the term given to Mexican Government troops, particularly those in Huerta's Federal Army from 1910-1920. Wenseslao was branded a traitor and sentenced as such - to die via fusillade (firing squad).

During the Mexican Revolution, firing squad was the preferred means of execution. The squad was comprised of 9 soldiers who would all fire their weapons at the same time. The 10th shooter, an officer, was to aim at one of the prisoner's vital organs and deliver the "coup de grace" - the kill shot that would ensure the death of the prisoner. Wenseslao was just such a prisoner. The Federales soldiers took up their positions to execute Wenseslao, and each one fired, including the officer delivering the "coup de grace", which was to be aimed at Wenseslao's head. Since the rifles were at point-blank range from the victim, after firing at Wenseslao the soldiers did not check to see whether or not he was still alive or not. They assumed he was dead, but they couldn't have been more wrong.

Wenseslao was, in fact, shot in the face, chest, and in the head, but they did not kill him. He lay waiting for everyone to leave and then presumably crawled to safety. Though horribly disfigured, Wenseslao Moguel became legendary for his survival after sharing his story on the radio with Robert L. Ripley, founder of Ripley's Believe It Or Not. The show aired on NBC and CBS during the 1930's. After his radio interviews, Wenseslao Moguel also made appearances at Ripley's Odditorium in Cleveland, Ohio, and traveled the country with the Ripley's Museum. He became famously known as "El Fusilado" - the executed one.


~information from:
http://www.mexonline.com/revolution.htm
http://www.ic.arizona.edu/ic/mcbride/ws200/mex-davi.htm


**"El Fusilado" by Chumbawamba from the 2008 album "The Boy Bands Have Won"**

"La Bamba" - Ritchie Valens, 1958 (rock)

Para bailar la bamba,
Para bailar la bamba,Se necesita una poca de gracia.
Una poca de gracia para mi para ti.
Arriba y arriba
Y arriba y arriba, por ti sere,
Por ti sere.
Por ti sere.
Yo no soy marinero.
Yo no soy marinero, soy capitan.
Soy capitan.
Soy capitan.

Bam-ba-bamba,
Bam-ba-bamba,
Bam-ba-bamba,

Para bailar la bamba,
Para bailar la bamba,
Se necesita una poca de gracia.
Una poca de gracia para mi para ti.
Arriba, arriba.

Is there anyone who doesn't know the words (or at least what sound like the words) to this one, even if they don't speak Spanish? Thanks to Ritchie Valens' most famous rendition, this 300 year old folk song from Veracruz, Mexico lives on, even though the tradition behind the song is mostly lost.

In English...

In order to dance the Bamba
In order to dance the Bamba
A little humor is needed
A little grace for me and for you
Faster and faster
Faster and faster
I'll be for you
I'll be for you
I'm not a sailor
I'm not a sailor
I'm captain
I'm captain
I'm captain

It doesn't quite have the same amount of "cool" as it does in Spanish. That's because the lyrics just don't quite translate into English. Like most folk songs, La Bamba came about while commemmorating a specific event, but unlike the tunes we are used to, this one's lyrics have very little to say about the actual event. Surprisingly, the song doesn't tell you how to do the dance, either.

Veracruz was becoming quite wealthy with gold and silver, much of which was being stockpiled, awaiting ocean transport back to Spain. In 1599, because of frequent flooding, the port of Veracruz was moved to the island of San Juan de Ulua. There a fort was built to protect the state from maritime assault on their riches. San Juan de Ulua was nearly impregnable. In fact, in 200 years, there was only successfully assaulted once.

While the fort was safe, the village of 5,000 people was not. On a night in May of 1683, Lorenz de Graaf, who was a Dutch pirate who was locally known as Lorencillo, stole into the village and did exactly what pirates do. He and his men rounded up all of the villagers and locked them all in the village church while he and his men ransacked, burned, and pillaged the town, doing whatever it was they felt like doing. This lasted three days. It was especially hot this time of year, and rather than wait out the onslaught, the some of the villagers climbed to the top of the church's bell tower and leapt to their deaths to escape the heat, confinement, and lack of food and water. When the rampage was over, the pirates took 30 of the villages prettiest girls to Isla de los Sacrificios before returning to ther lair in Laguna de Terminos. The girls were left there for another five days without food and water before help arrived to rescue them.

After that, the villagers of Veracruz and others up and down the Spanish Colonial Empire in the Caribbean lived in fear of further pirate attack. Lorencillo had left the villagers trembling at their own defenselessness and at the possibility of repeat performances from marauding privateers. Most people threatened to leave the colonies and go back to Spain, so the King spent a fortune to wall up the city for their protection. While they had their wall to hide in, there wasn't much of an army or navy to defend it. Consequently, many young men and slaves were conscripted into military service. This makeshift military set up a defense system of bells, alarms, and maueuver drills. In these drills, civilian participation was mandatory. The only problem in all of this was that while it was so elaborate and intricate, it was a response to a single event that had already happened. This kind of invasion had only happened once, and it wasn't likely to happen again. So, essentially they were attempting to prevent something that already happened. The word "Bamba" comes from the Spanish word "Bambarria", which means "to try and prevent something after it has already happened."

Thus, the song was born as a poke in the ribs of the local officials who had become quite pompous in their efforts. The tune caught on and spread among the locals, too, and *poof* instant folk song! The "Arriba, arriba!" part of the song is supposed to suggest the furor of the governmental efforts. The phrase means, "Faster, faster!" which was the attitude of the officials for many years after - build and train faster and faster, hurry up before the pirates strike again! After a few years, however, the people grew weary of the increased drilling (that they still had to participate in) and the vigor of more building, and we have the somewhat suddenly banal repetition of the word, "Bamba" at the end of the chorus, as if to shake one's head and say, "Yeah, yeah, yeah..." As it turns out, the villagers were correct. Veracruz never did experience another pirate attack, and in fact, just 100 years after the Lorencillo incident, Veracruz was instead occupied by foriegn military troops.

It's kind of a shame, but this song's tradition and story have been lost over the years. Traditionally, it was a song that was performed at weddings. The bride and groom would start by slowly stepping in unison. The song would get faster and faster, and their feet would appear to be making the movements of tying a ribbon together. This dance, however, has not been performed traditionally for many years, though, and the history of it is really only preserved in the dances of folk dancers.

Along with this wedding tradition, many of the original lyrics and verses have been lost as well. We know the first verse, which begins "Para bailar la bamba...". Although it doesn't come right out and say it, is a jibe at the pompous officials. Here are the other missing verses:

The second verse is about the people being locked up in the church. The climb to the bell tower (to throw one's self off the roof) required a long climb up a long ladder, and then a shorter climb to the top of the roof.

Para subir al cielo(to go up to heaven)
Para subir al cielo
Se necesita (you need)
Una escalera grande (a big ladder)
Una escalera grande
Y otra chiquita (and another small one)
Ay arriba y arriba (and up and up)
Y arriba y arriba,
Arriba iré (I will go)
We also know the third verse, which begins "Yo no soy marinero". This verse is about the youth and slaves being against the military draft. "Marinero" means "sailor", and nobody in their right mind wanted to be a sailor during the golden age of piracy. Pirates may not have come into fortified ports to do their dirty work, but seagoing vessels were always fair game and almost always taken advantage of. So, no one wanted to be forced into the navy (pirates didn't take prisoners...hint, hint). The recruits would have rather been captains in the army...on land where it was safe. This verse is also repeated in the song, although it has a slight twist at the end, and the words, "Soy Capitan" are replaced with "Pero por tí seré", which means "But for you I will be (one)". These lyrics are possibly to indicate a show of force by the recruitment officer, and the draftee reluctantly resigns himself to service in the navy.

Finally, the last verse of the song follows the repetitive singing of "Bamba", and also reflects how the drilling and attack preparations had gotten old, and the public felt ready to move on:


Ay te pido, te pido! (Oh, I ask, Oh, I ask)
¡Ay te pido, te pido por compasión(Oh, I ask, Oh, I ask out of compassion)
que se acabe la bamba! (that the bamba be finished)
¡Que se acabe la bamba y venga otro son! (that the bamba be finished and start another song)
Y arriba y arriba, (and hurrah and hurrah)¡Ay! arriba y arriba y arriba iré, (and hurrah and hurrah, and up I will go)
After the alternate occupations of French and US troops in Mexico, during the 1800s this song was reborn and the people of Veracruz began to serenade the foreigners with a new version of it. Not speaking any Spanish, these troops thought it sounded like a quaint little folk song. As the tune was catchyby foreigners, the joke was on them as they walked around singing it - this time, the song's lyrics protested the occupation of Mexico by these foreign invaders.

Here's the song the way it would sound originally, played as a folk tune.


"La Bamba" (Gipsy Kings)


"La Bamba" - Ritchie Valens, 1958 (original Valens version)

And here's a bit of a rattlesnake...the version you might be more familiar with. It's the Los Lobos version that was used in the movie, La Bamba. It's a just a little faster with a little less "Mexico" and a lot more "rock".

"La Bamba" - Los Lobos, from the 1987 movie "La Bamba",starring Lou Diamond Phillips as Ritchie Valens.

And now, let's clear up a couple misconceptions about the movie:

1.) NO - that is NOT Lou Diamond Phillips singing "La Bamba" or any of the other songs in the movie. The singing voice you hear is that of David Hidalgo, guitarist for Mexican-American rock band Los Lobos. Los Lobos performed all of Ritchie's music for the movie, including "Donna".

2.) NO - that is NOT Lou Diamond Phillips playing the guitar in the song. The lead guitar parts there are being played by a woman, Carol Kaye, who is a famous studio recording session musician from the Los Angeles area, who also played for Phil Specter's studio band, The Wrecking Crew.

~Information found from 'cruz-ing the internet and finding ports of call like this:
http://www.johntoddjr.com/143%20Bamba/bamba.htm
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093378/
http://www.spanish-translation-help.com/la-bamba-translation.html