One of the best versions of Malagueña Salerosa on the Internet. I don’t know who the performers are, unfortunately.

Malagueña Salerosa (also known as La Malagueña) is a well-known Son Huasteco or Huapango song from Mexico, which has been covered more than 200 times by recording artists. The song is that of a man telling a woman (from Málaga, Spain) how beautiful she is, and how he would love to be her man, but that he understands her rejecting him for being too poor.

The best version of the “Malagueña Salerosa”

The image below (and the image I used as the background of the youtube video) is an artwork of Manuel Zardain, titled “Mariachi 2”.

Manuel Zardain is known for his ability to capture the spirit of Mexico. Most of his works depict Mexican fiestas in vivid oil paintings. He uses oil on canvas to make his mariachi impressionistic creations. Zardain’s work can be found in collections in U.S., Holland, France, Spain, Japan, and Colombia among other countries.

Malagueña Salerosa - Mariachis 2 (Manuel Zardain)
Mariachis 2 (Manuel Zardain). Technique: Acrylic on canvas, Size:16.5′ x 12.5′

Malagueña Salerosa Lyrics

Spanish

Que bonitos ojos tienes
Debajo de esas dos cejas
Debajo de esas dos cejas
Que bonitos ojos tienes.

Ellos me quieren mirar
Pero si tu no los dejas
Pero si tu no los dejas
Ni siquiera parpadear.

Malaguena salerosa
Besar tus labios quisiera, pues
Besar tus labios quisiera.
Malaguena salerosa
Y decirte nina hermosa.

Que eres li……..da y hechicera,
Que eres linda y hechicera
Como el candor de una rosa.

Si por pobre me desprecias
Yo te concedo razon
Yo te concedo razon
Si por pobre me desprecias.

Yo no te ofrezco riquezas
Te ofrezco mi corazon
Te ofrezco mi corazon
A cambio de mi pobreza.

Malaguena salerosa
Besar tus labios quisiera
Besar tus labios quisiera.
Malaguena salerosa
Y decirte nina hermosa.

Eres lin……..da y hechicera,
Que eres linda y hechicera
Como el candor de una rosa.
Y decirte nina hermosa.

English translation

What pretty eyes you have,
Under those two eyebrows.
Under those two eyebrows,
What pretty eyes you have.

They want to look at me
But if you don’t let them
But if you don’t let them
Not even take a blink

Malaguena Salerosa (Rose leave of Malaga)
To kiss your lips is what I want
To kiss your lips is what I want
Malaguena Salerosa (Rose leave of Malaga)
And to call you: “beautiful girl”

For you are sweet and bewitching,
For you are sweet and bewitching,
As the innocence of a rose.

If you despise me because I am poor,
I grant you reasoning,
I grant you reasoning,
If you despise me because I am poor,

I do not offer you wealth (riches)
I offer you my heart.
I offer you my heart
In exchange for my poverty.

Malaguena Salerosa (Rose leave of Malaga)
To kiss your lips is what I want
To kiss your lips is what I want
Malaguena Salerosa (Rose leave of Malaga)
And to call you: “beautiful girl”

For you are sweet and bewitching,
For you are sweet and bewitching,
As the innocence of a rose.
And to call you: “beautiful girl”

Malagueña musical genre

The malagueña is a genre of folk music from eastern Venezuela, most notably from the island of Margarita. It is characterized by a solo vocal performance and typical accompaniment of a mandolin, a cuatro, and a guitar, with a rhythm in 3/4 time.

The malagueña traces its origins back to Andalusia, evidenced clearly in the name, as “malagueña” pertains to the city of Málaga in southern Andalusia. This link is further evidenced by the malagueñas palo of flamenco, which has a similar harmonic progression to the Venezuelan genre.

There is a further possibility that the malagueña entered Venezuela not directly from Andalusia but instead through settlers from the Canary Islands. Isleño folk music also includes a style of malagueña which derives from the flamenco palo.

Like the Venezuelan malagueña, the isleño malagueña’s timple accompaniment marks the beats of the 3/4 time, wherein flamenco it is more common to perform the malagueñas in “cante libre”. Furthermore, multiple verses are typically performed in the isleño and Venezuelan malagueñas, whilst in flamenco, it is not uncommon to perform only one verse.

Given these commonalities with the Canary Islands malagueña, coupled with Venezuela’s long history of Canarian settlement and immigration, there is support to the origin of the Venezuelan malagueña in the Canary Islands as opposed to the Spanish mainland.

Margariteño musician and composer José Elías “Chelías” Villaroel proposes an alternate etymology for the malagueña, suggesting that the genre was originally entitled halagüeña (from halagar “to flatter”) due to the flattering nature of the lyrics, and only later was the “m” added via conflation with the existing musical styles from Spain and Andalusia. He also attests that it originated in the Venezuelan state of Sucre.

There’s also a famous Ernesto Luciano song named malagueña.

Sources

M. Özgür Nevres

Published by M. Özgür Nevres

I am Özgür Nevres, a software engineer, a former road racing cyclist, and also an amateur musician. I opened andantemoderato.com to share my favorite music. I also take care of stray cats & dogs. This website's all income goes directly to our furry friends. Please consider supporting me on Patreon, so I can help more animals!

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