Las Mañanitas

For the town in Panama, see Las Mañanitas, Panama.

Las Mañanitas is a traditional Mexican birthday song sung in Mexico and other Latin American countries at birthday parties, usually early in the morning to awaken the birthday person, also before eating cake, and especially as part of the custom of serenading women. In Mexico, Las Mañanitas is sung to men and women of all ages. In some countries, such as Colombia, the song is only sung to girls, especially on their 15th birthdays. Perhaps the most famous rendition of "Las Mañanitas" is that sung by Pedro Infante to "Chachita" in the movie Nosotros los pobres.

Lyrics

Spanish original

English translation

Estas son las mañanitas que cantaba el rey David. Hoy por ser día de tu santo, te las cantamos a ti. Despierta mi bien, despierta, mira que ya amaneció ya los pajarillos cantan la luna ya se metió. Qué linda está la mañana en que vengo a saludarte venimos todos con gusto y placer a felicitarte. El día en que tu naciste nacieron todas las flores y en la pila del bautismo cantaron los ruiseñores. Ya viene amaneciendo, ya la luz el día nos dio. Levántate de mañana mira que ya amaneció.

This is the morning song that King David used to sing. Today being the day of your saint, we sing it to you. Wake up my dearest, wake up, see now that the day has dawned the sparrows are singing, the moon has finally set. How lovely is this morning, when I come to greet you we all come with joy and pleasure to congratulate you. The very day you were born all the flowers first bloomed and in the baptismal font all the nightingales sang. The dawn has come my darling, and the sunlight is here for us. Rise up and shine with the morning and you'll see that here's the dawn.

Often if being sung instead of played from a recording, "mi bien" ("my dear") is replaced with the name of the person being celebrated, e.g. Despierta Jacob, despierta, mira que ya amaneció. Single syllable names are stretched through the two original notes, and longer or compound names are often elided to fit the music, such as Guadalupe or "José Alberto", which in Spanish would be sung "Josealberto", creating a diphthong in the second syllable.

The second line of the first stanza is sometimes sung "... a las muchachas bonitas se las cantamos aquí", or, in English, "... to the pretty girls we sing them here". In some regions is changed instead of hoy por ser día de tu Santo te las cantamos aqui.

Years ago, it was common to give a child the name of the patron saint that corresponded to the day the child was born. (see Calendar of saints) Thus, a child born on March 17th was named Patrick (Patricio for a boy or Patricia for a girl). Someone born on December 12th was often named Guadalupe. (See also name day), and someone born on December 25 was named Jesús. This is why there are so many Mexicans with this name, which is not common in the U.S.

Puerto Rico

Main article: Las Mañanitas (celebration)

Las Mañanitas are also an annual event held in Ponce, Puerto Rico, dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe. It consists of a pre-dawn festival parade, followed by a Catholic mass, the Ponce Marathon athletic competition, and a popular breakfast. The celebration was started in the 1960s by immigrant Mexican engineers. The early morning, pre-dawn celebration is attended by over 10,000 people, including mayors and other prominent figures. The city of Ponce offers a free breakfast to everyone present at the historic Ponce City Hall after the religious Mass concludes.

Mexico

Every year, during the night between the 11th and 12th of December, mañanitas are sung to the honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe by Mexico's most famous and popular artist in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

See also

• Laura Vázquez Blázquez, "Leyendas, historias, canciones e himnos populares." Culturas Populares. Revista electrónica vol. 1, pp. 1–25. (January–April 2006).
• Olga Martha Peña Doria, "La dramaturgia femenina y el corrido mexicano teatralizado." Sincronía, Fall 2002, p. 2.

External links

• Las mañanitas – lyrics versions and printed sources
• (Spanish) Las mañanitas, versiones e intérpretes
• Sheet music: arrangement for guitar quartet (PDF, 218 kB)
• Pedro Infante and other characters sing "Las Mañanitas" in scene from Nosotros los pobres on YouTube