In the year 1859, in Tulyehualco, Estado de Mexico2, Quirino Mendoza y Cortés was born.
It is said of him that he is the author of “Cielito Lindo”, a song which we Mexicans have made into our second national anthem.
Still, sometimes people have wanted to rain on our party, some saying that the song is Cuban and many others insisting that its origin is Spanish.
But where do they get this idea? In the first stanza, Quirino wrote:
From the Sierra Morena, pretty little sky, are coming down
A pair of dark little eyes, pretty little sky, of contraband.3
And, as there is no Sierra Morena inside Mexican territory, this has been taken as an argument to demonstrate that “Cielito Lindo” could not have been born in Mexico.
Fortunately, I believe I am in a position to “undo this misdeed”.4
Indeed, the Sierra Morena which is alluded to in the song “Cielito Lindo” is the one which runs through the lands of Andalucía, over in mother Spain.
In fact, that first stanza is a variation of an very old Andalusian lyric, of which we find footprints in traditional songs from that region, such as:
From the Sierra Morena are coming down, are coming down
Two little dark eyes, Olé!
Dolores, two little dark eyes of contraband.3
It goes without saying that the music has nothing to do with that of the Mexican “Cielito Lindo”.
Having already begun, I pulled on the thread and discovered that this innocent stanza reflects the true story that, for centuries, the Sierra Morena was a refuge for Andalusian thieves.
From 1617, I found a text from an anonymous author which is titled: “A true account of the cruelties and robberies which some Gypsy bandits committed in the Sierra Morena.”
In one part it says: “…knowing the cruelties which throughout the Sierra Morena were committed by these thugs, wreaking havoc on the earth. Seeing that they detain passers-by, and abuse them, and very few escape with their lives and livelihoods…”
Later, Andalusian romanticism would make this scenario into a metaphor, singing:
Your face is called the Sierra Morena
Your eyes, thieves that roam there
Your eyes are thieves which rob and flee
Your hair, the wilderness where they hide.
From this old lyric would be born the verses which speak of two dark eyes which, illegally, come down from the Sierra Morena to rob the heart of some defenseless lover.
It should be clarified that “contrabando” originally meant “contra un bando”, in other words, to do something illegal, furtive, or against the law.
“Bandos” were legal codes pronounced by the authorities.
In the colonial era, thousands of Andalusians hopped over the puddle 5 and carried their songs with them; the song about “little dark eyes” which rob hearts must have been one of them.
In Argentina, too, I found a sign of this. A popular song from this country called “Ay que se va!” says:
From the Sierras Morenas are coming down
Zamba, zamba, ay que se va!
Some little dark eyes of contraband3
Zamba, zamba, ay que se va!
Ay que se va! Que se va que se va que se va…
Some little dark eyes of contraband
Zamba, zamba, ay que se va!
Looking at it this way, I believe that what Don Quirino did was use in his song “Cielito Lindo” a stanza which surely he learned as a child, which had come to Mexico as part of the Andalusian heritage.
Now, if we want to be strict, the Andalusian stanza represents something like 10% of the actual song; the rest of the lyrics and music are from Quirino.
So, a song which is 90% Mexican and 10% Andalusian? That’s a pretty good way to reflect our origins, don’t you think?