Save The Drama For La Bamba
Where have you gone Lou Diamond Phillips?
I have found that in just about any music environment here in Guatemala, you can’t escape the institution that is La Bamba. It is everywhere.
So what is La Bamba? Well for one, it’s not the #5 combo at your local Mexican restaurant (or actually, it might be). Second, it’s a song. And thirdly, it’s a dance.
La Bamba was created in Mexico over 300 years ago and the lyrics vary quite a bit depending on where you are. Ritchie Valens made the song popular in the 1950s combining rock and roll with the traditional song. Valens, of course, died in an airplane crash and inspired the movie where the incomparable Lou Diamond Phillips played him.
Anyway…
The lyrics go something like this…
Spanish:
A para bailar La Bamba, A para bailar La Bamba, se neccesito, una poca de gracia. Una poca de gracia, y otra cosita.
Ay, arriba, arriba. Ay, arriba, arriba, arriba ire! Yo no soy marinero; por ti, sere.
English:
In order to dance La Bamba, In order to dance La Bamba, you need a little grace. A little grace, and a little something extra.
Hey! Jump, jump, jump we go! I am not a sailor; I will be (here) for you.
I have managed to put together a mix of the La Bamba videos that I have recorded here in Xela. Without further adieu here is La Bamba the remix:
Thinking about the song itself reminded me of one of my favorite stories that kinda, sorta has a bit to do with La Bamba:
A few years ago I realized that sometimes I’m an idiot. Tis true.
I was trying to have an enjoyable birthday out on the town with
friends and I realized that I wanted to go to a centralized place in
Indianapolis where my friends and I could go karaoke-ing. So I sent
out emails to a lot of people and made some calls and decided to go to
a place called Claude and Annie’s on 38th St. in Indianapolis. Now for
those who aren’t familiar this area of Indianapolis is not the most
prominent.
Now the other realization that I came to is that I am a small town
caucasion boy. Not that there is a big deal with that but I’m just
setting up the plot.
So me and a few friends walk into this bar and we are the lightest
people there. Again not a big deal but it was shocking to walk in and
realize the demographic of the area. So you know I figure what the
heck and we stayed.
What became even more comical is that as friend after friend came into
the bar the bouncer at the door started asking my friends if they were
with Jason’s birthday party.
We had to wait a really long time for the karaoke to start because of
the NCAA tournament games that were on. But when it started it did not
disappoint. We heard some really great versions of “Careless Whisper”,
“Nobody’s Supposed to be here”, and “Let’s Stay Together”.
Well I finally decided that because all of my friends were too chicken
to get up and karaoke that I’ll be damned if I set this up and I’m not
going to have the guts to karaoke. So I put in my request and a few
songs later my name was called.
For those of you who don’t know me I have a panache for doing a Humpty
Hump impersonation so I decided it would be the right thing to do in
the atmosphere.
So I start getting into the song and people not in my birthday party
are laughing. Probably more at me than with me, they’re probably
wondering what this crazy cracker is doing up here trying to rap. The
funny thing was that by mid-song I had an entourage of big bootied
black women dancing in front of me, yes probably again making fun of
me but that just made me get more into the song. I think the only time
I was uncomfortable in the song is when he says “Black People, do the
Humpty Hump.” I chose to omit that line from my rapping.
I got a decent crowd reaction and sat back down the rest of the night.
I know that a lot of my friends will probably never forget it.
And I don’t even think for me that was the highlight of the night.
When the Puerto Rican guy came out of nowhere to sing “La Bamba” that
was the funniest thing I’d seen in a while.
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