Music on a Saturday Night

Last night, Alejandro and I were downtown, walking down Juárez Avenue on our way to catch the Metrobus back to the apartment.  There was a trio singing romantic songs from the Golden Age of Mexican music... the 1930s through the 1950s.  

They were very good, and they reminded me of the trios that play "boleros" in Yucatán.  I told Alejandro, that if they were playing at a sidewalk café in Mérida, I could spend the entire evening listening to them while sipping a glass of X´tabentún on the rocks.

Well, as it turned out, we spent two hours listening to them perform classic songs until they finally called it a night.  The crowd was generously putting money in their tip jar, and not just coins.  Every time they said that they were playing their last song, people would give them more money to continue playing.  Many, including Alejandro, were quietly singing along and swaying to the music.  And we were not just a bunch of old fogies listening to old fogey music.  There were young people in the crowd.  I think that young Mexicans generally have a greater appreciation for the music of their parents and grandparents than young people in the U.S.

I used to play this song, "Quizás, Quizás, Quizás" (Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps) in my classroom.  It became popular in the U.S. and was first recorded in English by Desi Arnaz (of "I Love Lucy" fame) in 1948.  Notice that by this time, people have started dancing to the music.

Here's a song you will probably recognize.  It was written in 1932 by a sixteen year old Mexican girl who had never been kissed, and it become an international hit.

"Bésame, bésame mucho,

Como si fuera esta noche la última vez.

Bésame, bésame mucho,

Que tengo miedo perderte, perderte después."

"Kiss me, kiss me a lot,

As if tonight were the last time.

Kiss me, kiss me a lot, 

I am afraid to lose you, lose you afterwards."

By the time the trio was done, they had attracted a crowd of around 100 people, people were singing along in full voice, and numerous couples were dancing there on the sidewalk of a busy Mexico City avenue.  It was joyous night of classic Latin music.  One fellow next to Alejandro said it was the best concert he had ever heard.  It was the kind of experience that makes me fall in love with Mexico all over again.

By the way, they are on social media, and the name of their group is Trio Triana.