8/7/2023 0 Comments Celia cruz paintingWe're also having a good laugh with the naughtiness that characterizes son jarocho, the music of the Mexican port state of Veracruz. As Bishop points out, although it's a glimmering song about romance, there's undeniable sadness to a song about tropical fruit that's sung by a Caribbean exile who now lives in colder climates. Together, we deconstruct the sensual vulnerability of salsa queen Celia Cruz, as she sings about a lover's tamarind-tasting lips, between which she'd like to be trapped, like a broken-winged seagull who can't fly away. This week on Alt.Latino, we're joined by Marlon Bishop from NPR's Latino USA. But cultures use the metaphors that are available to them, and if you've been to Latin America, you know that good fruit abounds. Certainly, we're not the first to draw comparisons that connect sex, fruit, love and life - the Kama Sutra was discussing fruit long before Blades was. Of course, it is a song about sex, but it's romantic and endearing, with a sound play that feels like chewing on a succulent guava: "Esa guayaba no hallaba yo." ("That guayaba I could not find.")įruit is a constant symbol in Latin American art. The song in question is Rubén Blades' "Buscando Guayaba," in which he wistfully sings about searching for a juicy, soulful, golden guava that he's never able to find. That's my opinion, but it's also the suggestion of dozens of Alt.Latino listeners who wrote in for this week's fruit-themed episode. One of the most sensuous songs in all of Latin music is not about sex or love it's about fruit. As "The Lady In The Tutti-Frutti Hat" from The Gang's All Here, Carmen Miranda embodied the sexual, social and political complexities of fruit in Latin America.
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