#BoTB — Día de Muertos special: Llorona

The Mexican fascination — some would say 'obsession' — with death dates back to before the European encounter. Most pre-Columbine civilizations had beliefs based on the concept of duality (twins, for instance, were considered sacred, as were homosexuals and hermaphrodites in many of these cultures)... And nothing embodies the essence of duality like life and death.

Mictlantecuhtli, god of the underworld (or Mictlan). Sculpted in raw clay in life size. Found in a building dedicated to the cult of death at El Zapotal, La Mixtequilla, in the Mexican state of Veracruz.

Photo: Carlos Blanco / Raíces / Arqueología Mexicana

Within this cult to the dead — not quite to ancestors, mind you, in the Asian sense, but rather to the actual extinguishing of life — there are many myths, many legends, that formed the foundations of an entire belief system that would shape the Americas. Like much of prehispanic culture, they survived through syncretism: they were adapted into a Christian context, given a "proper" veneer of European civilization, and set loose among the Spanish crown's newest subjects to do the job all those friars couldn't do.

The Día de Muertos, the Day of the Dead — November 1st and 2nd — is, perhaps, the prehispanic tradition that best illustrates this. It's not a Mexican Halloween, though... It's not creepy, or scary, nor does it involves pranks of any kind. The Day of the Dead, quite simply, is the day that our dead loved ones come back to visit with us. And, rather than a motive for fright, it's a cause for celebration... I'll post more about it tomorrow (and, since I'm in Mexico at the moment, I'll try to get some good photos to share with you)... This was meant only as a brief introduction to the Battle being played out here today and, as usual, I'm rambling on and on and on...

La Llorona is one of these prehispanic-turned-modern myths. Every important culture in the territory that we now know as Mexico had some sort of legend or story about a woman that wailed along the banks of a river. In some cases it's a goddess, a sort of siren that lured men to her in order to a) drive them insane, or b) murder them. (In some cases it was actually a) and b)...) The fact that this legend survived once the Spanish Colonia set in is testament to how deep the belief is ingrained into Mexican DNA... Although the modern version doesn't involve a goddess (or virgin or saint of any kind) but rather a woman who's lost her children — that's what she wails: "¡Ay, mis hijos!" (Oh, my children!) — there are still remnants of the "holy" sense this legend sprouted from. And proof of that is in the popularity of the song, Llorona, made famous outside Mexico by the 2002 movie Frida:

But the song is far, far older than that. So old, as a matter of fact, that no one seems to agree who composed it. Or even what the official lyrics are. Like most traditional Mexican songs, each new interpreter adds, or changes, or skips... (I'd love to translate them for you, but... well, it's a bit more complicated than I thought.)

The singer who made it famous, though, was Chabela Vargas—a woman born half a century too early, whose trademark gritty voice and general lack of feminity scandalized two generations and earned the admiration and respect of the next two. She sings in the Frida soundtrack, but that version is incomplete and, quite sincerely, not one of her best. Here's the one that I like of hers (with the bonus of some Frida photos... the actual Frida, not the movie, not Salma Hayek):

CONTESTANT NUMBER ONE:

Chabela Vargas

Contestant Number Two, funnily enough, also sings on the Frida soundtrack... And that version is one of the very best I've heard. I give you

CONTESTANT NUMBER TWO:

LILA DOWNS

What do you think? Which version struck you as better (or less worse)? If you had to listen to one of these — absolutely had to, no other choice — which one would you prefer? Let me know in the comments! I'll count up the votes, add my own, and post the results on the 7th.

In the meantime, here's another Llorona interpreter... Not one of my favorites, but the animation with it, if you're not familiar with the Day of the Dead traditions, you might enjoy watching.

Felíz Día de Muertos! Remember to hop over to these other blogs and check out their own Battles... Some pretty epic ones will be fought, and your vote can make a world of difference. Oh, and awesome Debbie D. Doglady has a teaser for you at her Battle post... She's going to host me on Monday 9th Nov, as part of the MIRACLE tour in blogs, and the song she chose for today's Battle is the key.

STMcC Presents 'Battle of The Bands'

Far Away Series

Debbie D. ("Doglady")

Holli's Hoots and Hollers

Your Daily Dose

Alex Cavanaugh

Tossing It Out

Mike's Ramblings

Jingle Jangle Jungle

Curious as a Cathy

Cherdo on the Flipside

The Sound of One Hand Typing

Women: We Shall Overcome

J. A. Scott

Book Lover

Angels Bark

dcrelief ~ Battle of The Bands

NovelBrews

Thanks for the visit!

P.S. — I'm traveling in Mexico this week, and internet is... well, intermittent. I'm having trouble getting the laptop connected, and when it does connect, YouTube videos take forever to load, let alone play. So I'm way behind on my BoTB visits... But I will get there. I promise. And I apologize for the delay.