La Cucaracha

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A contemporary corrido song sheet of La Cucaracha issued during the Mexican Revolution. Note
the original lyrics and the reference tocartoncitos, which were a type of scrip issued as pay.

"La Cucaracha" (Spanish: "The Cockroach") is a traditional Spanish folk corrido that
became popular in Mexico during the Mexican Revolution.
Contents
[hide]

1Structure
o

1.1Refrain

1.2Verses
2Historical evolution

2.1Pre-Revolution lyrics

2.2Revolutionary lyrics

2.3Other verses

3Performers of the song

4Notes

5References

6External links

Structure [edit]
The song consists of verse-and-refrain (strophe-antistrophe) pairs, with each half of each
pair consisting of four lines featuring an ABCB rhyme scheme.

Refrain [edit]
The song's earliest lyrics, from which its name is derived, concern a cockroach that has
lost one of its six legs and is struggling to walk with the remaining five. The cockroach's
uneven, five-legged gait is imitated by the song's original 5/4 meter, formed by removing
one upbeat (corresponding to the missing sixth leg) from the second half of a 6/4
measure:
La cu-ca- | ra-cha, la cu-ca-ra-cha
| ya no pue-de ca-mi-nar
por-que no | tie-ne, por-que le fal-ta
| u-na pa-ta de a-trs. [nb 1]
("The cockroach, the cockroach / can no longer walk / because he doesn't have,
because he lacks / a hind leg"; these lyrics form the basis for the refrain of most
later versions. Syllables having primary stress are in boldface; syllables having
secondary stress are in roman type; unstressed syllables are in italics. Measure
divisions are independent of text line breaks and are indicated by vertical
barlines; note that the refrain begins with an anacrusis/"pickup.")
Many later versions of the song, especially those whose lyrics do not
mention the cockroach's missing leg(s), extend the last syllable of
each line to fit the more familiar 6/4 meter.

Verses [edit]
The song's verses fit a traditional melody separate from that of the
refrain but sharing the refrain's meter (either 5/4 or 6/4 as discussed
above). In other respects, they are highly variable, usually providing
satirical commentary on contemporary political or social problems or
disputes.

Historical evolution[edit]

The origins of "La Cucaracha" are obscure. The refrain's lyrics make
no explicit reference to historical events; it is difficult if not impossible
therefore to date. Because verses are improvised according to the
needs of the moment,[1] however, they often enable a rough estimate
of their age by mentioning contemporary social or political conditions
(thus narrowing a version's possible time of origin to periods in
which those conditions prevailed) and/or referring to specific current
or past events (thus setting a maximum boundary for a version's
age).

Pre-Revolution lyrics[edit]
There exist several early (pre-Revolution) sets of lyrics referring to
historical events.
Francisco Rodrguez Marn records in his book Cantos Populares
Espaoles several verses dealing with the Reconquista, which was
completed in 1492 when the Moors surrendered the Alhambra to
Spain:
Spanish

English

De las patillas de un moro

From the sideburns of a Moor

tengo que hacer una escoba,

I must make a broom,

para barrer el cuartel

to sweep the quarters

de la infantera espaola.

[2]

of the Spanish infantry.

Some early versions of the lyrics discuss events that took place
during the conclusion of the Granada War in 1492.[2]
One of the earliest written references to the song appears in
Mexican writer and political journalist Jos Joaqun Fernndez de
Lizardi's 1819 novel La Quijotita y su Prima, where it is suggested
that:
Spanish

English

Un capitn de marina

A naval captain

que vino en una fragata

who came in a frigate

entre varios sonecitos

trajo el de "La Cucaracha."

among various tunes

[3]

brought the one about "La

Cucaracha."

Whatever the song's origin, it was during the Mexican Revolution of

the early 20th century that "La Cucaracha" saw the first major period
of verse production as rebel and government forces alike invented
political lyrics for the song. So many stanzas were added during this
period that today it is associated mostly with Mexico.[1]

Other early stanzas detail such incidents as the Carlist Wars (1833
1876) and the French intervention in Mexico (1861).[4]

Revolutionary lyrics[edit]
The Mexican Revolution, from 1910 to about 1920, was a period of
great political upheaval during which the majority of the stanzas
known today were written. Political symbolism was a common theme
in these verses, and explicit and implicit references were made to
events of the war, major political figures, and the effects of the war
on the civilians in general. Today, few pre-Revolution verses are
known, and the most commonly quoted portion of the song[1] is the
two Villist anti-Huerta[4] stanzas:
Spanish

English

La cucaracha, la cucaracha,

The cockroach, the cockroach,

ya no puede caminar

can't walk anymore

porque no tiene, porque le falta

because it doesn't have, because it's

lacking

marihuana que fumar.

marijuana to smoke.

Ya muri la cucaracha

The cockroach just died

ya la llevan a enterrar

now they take her to be buried

entre cuatro zopilotes

among four buzzards

y un ratn de sacristn.

and a mouse as the sexton.

This version, popular among Villist soldiers, contains hidden political

meanings, as is common for revolutionary songs. In this version, the
cockroach represents President Victoriano Huerta, a notorious drunk
who was considered a villain and traitor due to his part in the death
of revolutionary President Francisco Madero.
Due to the multi-factional nature of the Mexican Revolution,
competing versions were also common at the time, including
the Huertist, anti-Carranza stanza:
Spanish

English

Ya se van los carrancistas,

And the Carrancistas,

ya se van haciendo bola,

are on full retreat,

ya los chacales huertistas

and the Huertistan jackals

se los trayen de la cola.

have them caught by the tail.

An example of two Zapatist stanzas:

Spanish

English

Oigan con gusto estos versos

Hear with pleasure these verses,

escuchen con atencin,

listen carefully:

ya la pobre cucaracha

now the poor cockroach

no consigue ni un tostn.

doesn't even get a tostn (50 centavo

or cent coin)

Todo se ha puesto muy caro

Everything has been very expensive

con esta Revolucin,

in this Revolution,

venden la leche por onzas

selling milk by the ounce

y por gramos el carbn.

and coal by the gram.

Among Mexican civilians at the time, "La Cucaracha" was also a

popular tune, and there are numerous examples of non-aligned
political verses. Many such verses were general complaints about
the hardships created by the war, and these were often written by
pro-Zapatistas. Other non-aligned verses contained references to
multiple factions in a non-judgmental manner:
Spanish

English

El que persevera alcanza

The one who perseveres, achieves

dice un dicho verdadero

Tells a saying

yo lo que quiero es venganza

What I want is revenge

por la muerte de Madero.

For the death of Madero.

Todos se pelean la silla

Everyone fights for the chair

que les deja mucha plata

Which gives them lots of money

En el norte vive Villa

In the north lives Villa,

en el sur vive Zapata.

In the south lives Zapata.

Other verses[edit]
Apart from verses making explicit or implicit reference to historical
events, hundreds of other verses exist. Some verses are new and
others are ancient; however, the lack of references and the largely
oral tradition of the song makes dating these verses difficult if not
impossible. Examples follow:
Spanish

English

Cuando uno quiere a una

When a man loves a woman

y esta una no lo quiere,

but she doesn't love him back,

es lo mismo que si un calvo

it's like a bald man

en la calle encuentra un peine.

finding a comb in the street.

Mi vecina de enfrente

My neighbor across the street

se llamaba Doa Clara,

used to call herself Doa

Clara, [English: Mrs. Clara]

y si no se hubiera muerto

and if she hadn't died

an as se llamara.

that's what she would still call herself.

1. La Cucaracha (chorus
only)

MENU
0:00

Performed by Sean Buss &

Elisa

Problems playing this file? See media help.

Performers of the song[edit]

Paz Flores y Montalvo Francisco (1934) a Villist version.

Louis Armstrong (1935)

Dick Mine (1936)
The Gumm Sisters, featuring Judy Garland
Les Negresses Vertes
Liberace
Big Walter Horton
Louis Prima
Mills Brothers
Xavier Cugat
Charlie Parker
The Skatalites (1964) as "Ska-Racha"
Bill Haley & His Comets (1966) as "La Cucaracha a Go-Go"
James Last (1967)
Speedy Gonzales
Doug Sahm
The Baja Marimba Band

The Gipsy Kings

Riders In The Sky
Los Lobos
Kumbia Kings (2002)
Chingon (2004) as "Cuka Rocka"
Lila Downs (2004) on the CD "Una Sangre"
Orphei Drngar (2006) "La Cucaracha arr. Robert Sund"
Big Idea (2008) featured in DDR Disney Channel Edition
The Wiggles
Slowpoke Rodriguez
Zebda
Goin' Bulilit Theme song to show
Mr. Bungle within their track "Hypocrites" from their first demo
"The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny"
Milva
Ricardo Rodriguez
Piata Protest (2013)
Leon Schuster"Hel kommie Bokke" a support song for the
South African National Rugby team nicknamed Springboks or
Die Bokke.[1]