pinche u.s. government, stealing from us again

mierda. mierda. mierda. this makes my stomach turn...

...the Border Patrol now has migracorridos that sing of the danger immigrants face when crossing the border illegally...What Mexican listeners don't know is that the migracorridos are the U.S. government's latest effort to convince migrants to stay home.

: san antonio express-news

foto : sf chronicle

it's not enough apparently to steal our land and our labor. also now our music.

not enough to build a 3-tiered fence, extend it all the way into the ocean, put floodlights and barbed wire on it, and set armed men and dogs to guard it. not enough to enact policies that separate families, that force transnational workers to cross further into the desert where they are more likely to die. no, the migra has to try to disguise state propaganda as popular music and infiltrate the mexican radio airwaves as well. but a song cannot go up against the desire to feed a family... a todos los inmigrantes: que dios los proteja en el camino...

culture is a weapon (thank you, amilcar cabral). time for us to use it against them. ¡la tierra es para quien la trabaja!


**

and now for some corridos de verdad (as opposed to the fake migra-sponsored variety)...

here is amparo ochoa's version of a famous corrido which dates from the days of the mexican revolution:

adelita : amparo ochoa



victor jara (chileno) had such an affection for the corrido that he recorded a mexican revolution one too:

el corrido de pancho villa : victor jara



also here is the obligatory narco-corrido, perfected by los tucanes:

niño de oro : los tucanas de tijuana



and, of course, any proper discussion of these songs should include the beloved corridos of los tigres del norte. and since it's awhile since i posted any rock en español, here are 3 corridos from the tributo a los tigres del norte album, a great compilation of roqueros covering tigres songs.

la tumba falsa : ely guerra



el circo : maldita vecindad



contrabando y traición : la lupita



these lines are from el circo, about political corruption in mexico & the pri party/salinas family despotism. i think they also work for the above-mentioned migra scheme. que se vayan a la chingada esos running dogs.


pura tranza. puro circo. pura farsa.
la misma tranza, la misma farsa, es pura tranza, la misma farsa
pura pura tranza, puro puro circo, pura pura pura pura farsa!