Cielito Lindo

"Cielito Lindo" is a Mexican folk song or copla popularized in 1882 by Mexican author Quirino Mendoza y Cortés (c. 1862 – 1957). It is roughly translated as "Lovely Sweet One". Although the word cielo means "sky" or "heaven", it is also a term of endearment comparable to "sweetheart" or "honey". Cielito, the diminutive, can be translated as "sweetie"; lindo means "cute", "lovely" or "pretty". The song is commonly known by words from the refrain, "Canta y no llores", or simply as the "Ay, Ay, Ay, Ay song".

Commonly played by mariachi bands, it has been recorded by many artists in the original Spanish as well as in English and other languages, including by Tito Guizar, Pedro Infante, Vicente Fernandez, Placido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti, Eartha Kitt, The Wiggles, Menudo and Ana Gabriel. It also featured prominently in the iconic Mexican film Los tres Garcia. There is some debate as to whether the song's lyrics refer to the Sierra Morena, a mountain range in southern Spain, or the similarly named Sierra de Morones, in the Mexican state of Zacatecas. However most Mexicans believe that this is a misrepresentation of the lyrics and is intended as "la Sierra, Morena", "Morena" is a common term of endearment, and with the comma, it now means he is directly speaking to the woman in the song instead of a specific place. It has become a famous song of Mexico, especially in Mexican expatriate communities around the world or for Mexicans attending international events such as the Olympic Games or the FIFA World Cup.

Lyrics
The song's lyrical scheme corresponds to the Castilian classical stanza known as the seguidilla, i.e. seven lines of alternating heptasyllabic and pentasyllabic verses. Lyrics vary widely from performer to performer, and every singer is free to add and remove some verses for his or her own interpretation. Some of the most traditional lyrics are the following:

In the article "¡Hasta que me cayó el veinte!", Ortega discusses the origins of the first verse of this song. His research discovered that in the early 17th century, armed bandits would take refuge in the Sierra Morena mountains of Spain and that people feared for their lives when they had to travel through the region. The words of the first verse of "Cielito Lindo" were found in a song from that era, hinting at that fear. But with time the meaning of the verse changed as people began romanticizing it. "Your face is the Sierra Morena. Your eyes are thieves who live there." The verse had other melodies put to it and variations on the lyrics. Quirino Mendoza, the composer, adapted the verse to his own melody and gave us the song we know today.

Versions

 * In 1989, José Feliciano on his album I'm Never Gonna Change. His version won the Grammy Award for Best Latin Pop Performance.

"Cielito lindo huasteco"
"Cielito Lindo" should not be confused with another popular and traditional song called "Cielito lindo huasteco" also known as "Cielito lindo" from La Huasteca in Mexico. This song, distinctly different from the common version above, has been played by many conjuntos huastecos, as it is considered one of the most popular Son Huasteco or Huapango songs. While the music is quite different, the lyrics of both songs have a similar metric structure, and both use the phrases cielito lindo and ay ay ay ay as fillers, though in different places within the stanza.

Some singers, for example Julio Iglesias, perform the song under the title De domingo a domingo, taken from the first words of the lyrics as sung in that version; as with the other song, the lyrics used vary widely among performers, and some borrow stanzas from the former. One frequently sung stanza has the words Árbol de la esperanza, mantente firme ("Tree of hope, stay firm") which appear in an eponymous painting by Frida Kahlo.

Sometimes mariachis perform combined versions of "Cielito Lindo" and "Cielito lindo huasteco" which are completely different, thus creating some confusion about both.