(SOUNDBITE OF NATALIA LAFOURCADE’S “MI TIERRA VERACRUZANA”)
FELIX CONTRERAS, HOST:
From NPR Music, this is ALT.LATINO. I’m Felix Contreras.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “MI TIERRA VERACRUZANA”)
NATALIA LAFOURCADE: (Singing) In my homeland of Veracruz, I just want to drink coffee, a little sugar and cane, to get my feet moving, off the beaten path…
CONTRERAS: Mexican vocalist Natalia Lafourcade is on the kind of creative run that will become a defining moment in her career. Her new album, “Un Canto Para México,” is a stunning musical statement that is both a celebration of Mexican folk music and just the right kind of musical balm we need these days. If you’ve been a fan of hers de ella, you’ve watched her de ella pivot from being a more pop-oriented singer to becoming a musician with a deeper appreciation and fascination for acoustic folk music from throughout Latin America and specifically her home country of Mexico. We’ve also watched her go from winning a Latin Grammy for the best new artist in 2013, to winning a Grammy in 2016. And for the last two years, she’s won the best folk album Latin Grammy for her album “Musas” and ” Muses Vol. 2.” But it’s not the awards that impress when considering her music. As we’ll hear in this week’s show, Natalia Lafourcade is a deeply sensitive and mentally creative vocalist who surrounds herself with like-minded musicians who can help her produce the kind of art that we’re going to feature on this week’s show. We’re going to hear lots of music this week, and we’re starting with the track “Mi Tierra Veracruzana.” The title reflects the album’s deep dive into the Mexican folk form known as son jarocho from the Gulf state of Veracruz. Coming up, an interview with Natalia Lafourcade. But first, let’s set the mood with “Mi Tierra Veracruzana.”
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “MI TIERRA VERACRUZANA”)
LAFOURCADE: (Singing) A yellow red paints the flower, blue of your gulf and red of passion. See you again, see you again, I want to love you. See you again, see you again. Bread with coffee. Bread with coffee. Bread with coffee. Bread with coffee. Bread with coffee. Bread with coffee. Bread with coffee. Bread with coffee. In my land of Veracruz I only want to drink coffee, a little sugar and cane, to get my feet moving. From the stem of a banana, from its green and brown skin. I’m all over again, I just want to see you again. See you again, see you again. My land of Veracruz, I want to see you. See you again, see you again. My Veracruz land, I want to love you. See you again, see you again. My land of Veracruz, I want to see you. See you again, see you again. My land of Veracruz, I want to love you. See you again, see you again, see you again, my land of Veracruz I want to see you. See you again, see you again, see you again, my land of Veracruz, I want to love you. Pampas.
CONTRERAS: Natalia Lafourcade, thank you so much for joining us again on ALT.LATINO. It’s a pleasure to have you back, and this time from your home near Veracruz, Mexico. So thank you, for being with us.
LAFOURCADE: No, thank you so much. Thank you very much too. It’s my pleasure.
CONTRERAS: The record is so beautiful. The record is just an amazing step forward from what you did with “Musas.” And it seems like when we talked last time about “Musas,” it was a chance for you to get back to the roots of traditional Mexican music in general. But this time it was – it’s very specific to your home land, your home region. How did that come about? Is this part of an evolution of you to rediscover your roots, your roots?
LAFOURCADE: Well, first, I feel very happy that you liked it and so proud of this piece of music that we made. I think that it is the way it is because it’s music made by a whole community. It’s not only me. It’s many great musicians and artists all involved in this piece of music. And also, the magic thing about this project is that it wasn’t going to be an album. It was supposed to be only a concert, you know, like, a concert that we had to raise funds. And this is the reconstruction of the Son Jarocho Documentation Center, a very important place for music and culture here in Veracruz that was damaged by the earthquakes in 2017. So it’s a whole cause behind this project. And while we were preparing the concert, we said, like, we shouldn’t leave this only in a concert. Like, we should actually put it in an album. And then we had so much music that we decided to make two volumes of this project. And it’s beautiful because of the purpose behind. It’s beautiful because of the art and the musicians and the artists around it and the way it all happened. For me, it’s like a gift that life and the universe brought to me.
CONTRERAS: It’s a very similar story that you told when we talked about “Musas,” and it was just supposed to be something, and then it ended up being this – an outpouring of amazing music with amazing musicians. And you ended up with two volumes of “Musas,” too.
LAFOURCADE: Yeah. Actually, it’s funny because yeah, in this album we have – you can listen to music that was part of “Musas,” that was part of “Hasta La Raíz,” that was part of Agustín Lara’s music, as well. So it seems to be, like, the conclusion of all these different projects that I’ve been through, all these different projects that have been preparing myself to be able to come now and sing a song like “El Balajú,” like “Serenata Huasteca,” which are very, very traditional songs from Mexico, and that probably before I wouldn’t have been able to interpret them because I wouldn’t even know how to approach them. But because of I’d been getting closer to these changes and to these influences, it is that maybe this time it was easier for me, like, to find my own way of approaching this music.
CONTRERAS: This is “El Balajú/Serenata Huasteca” from “Un Canto Para México.”
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “EL BALAJÚ/SERENATA HUASTECA”)
LOS COJOLITES: (Singing) Balajú went to war, and he didn’t want to take me, and he didn’t want to take me. Balajú went to war, he told his companion “Let’s go sailing, to see who gets there first, to the other side of the sea.” Ariles and more arils, arils of the carrizal. His horse plows into the water, the one on top did not crowd him. Ariles and more arils, reed arils, the bees stung me, but I ate the honeycomb. Ariles very well arils, arils from the cove. I was also a sailor, freshwater and saltwater. Ariles very well arils, arils from the open sea, I don’t follow any signs, my thoughts are free. Ariles, very well Ariles, we don’t know where they are, throughout the entire earth, these are times of darkness. Ariles, very good Ariles, the sound of your sandal, when you walk, pretty, my beloved and sweet Natalia. I present to you a girl, whose essence is light, pretty face, pretty eyes and she comes from Veracruz. With her voice and her guitar, she always brings happiness, let’s welcome Natalia Lafourcade with applause.
LAFOURCADE: (Singing) That I like the balajú, just for its sound, just for its sound, that I like the balajú. Also the cu bird and the one with the purple ribbon, but more my Veracruz, land of beautiful call. Ariles and more arils, arils of the one who went to give water to his horse, and it died of thirst.
LOS COJOLITES: (Singing) Ariles and more arils, arils of the carrizal.
NATALIA LAFOURCADE AND THE COJOLITES: (Singing) The bees stung me, but I ate the honeycomb. Oh, oh!
LAFOURCADE: (Singing) I sing at the foot of your window, so that you know that I love you, you don’t love me at all, but I die for you. They say that I am dead, that I wake up from my dreams, but they are wrong, because I have to be your owner.
LAFOURCADE AND LOS COJOLITES: (Singing) What am I going to do, if I really love you. I already adored you, and I can’t forget you.
LAFOURCADE: (Singing) They say that to get you I need a fortune, that I must bring down the stars and the moon from the sky. I will not lower the moon, nor the stars either, and although I have no fortune, you will love me little by little.
LAFOURCADE: (Singing) What am I going to do and what am I going to do if I really love you, if I really love you, I already adored you, I already adored you, and I can’t forget you, and I can’t forget you. What am I going to do and what am I going to do if I really love you, if I really love you, I already adored you, I already adored you, and I can’t forget you, and I can’t forget you. The stars and the moon. I will not lower the moon, nor the stars either, and although I have no fortune, you will love me little by little.
LAFOURCADE AND LOS COJOLITES: (Singing) What am I going to do and what am I going to do if I really love you, if I really love you, I already adored you, I already adored you, and I can’t forget you, and I can’t forget you. What am I going to do and what am I going to do if I really love you, if I really love you, I already adored you, I already adored you, and I can’t forget you, and I can’t forget you.
CONTRERAS: Natalia, talk to me a little bit about your earliest days listening to music. Like most people, you probably heard maybe a little bit of pop music but also some traditional music. What were you – what were some of the earliest sounds that you heard as a young child?
LAFOURCADE: The first music that I was very moved by – because of my parents and because they come from the classic world, it was all the time classic music at home, do you know? Like, I was listening to a lot of Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Debussy, este – but then I became a big fan of interpreters (ph) like Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone. I was listening to a lot to Bjork, to Fiona Apple, to PJ Harvey. Of course, like, pop music like Michael Jackson, like Whitney Houston, all the stuff, also – like, I was very, like, into that, until I run into Agustín Lara’s music, and then I just started listening to more music in Spanish and trying to find music from Mexico and Latin America that I would like. That was the moment when I started listening more to more like Violeta Parra, Mercedes Sosa, Toña la Negra, La Lupe, Simón Díaz, to Brazilian music, as well, to Caetano Veloso, to Gilberto Gil, Elis Regina – different artists that I was more, like, into but that were more from Mexico and Latin America – so a little bit of everything, really.
CONTRERAS: (Laughter) Yes, that is a whole lot of everything.
LAFOURCADE: Yeah. Really, I can tell you that I like music.
CONTRERAS: There’s a common story among – not just among musicians, but among people who have really a strong passion for music. They grow up with a certain – hearing a certain kind of music and usually from their parents. Like, myself – I’m Mexican American from California. So my parents – you know, they’d listen to American music. They were born here. But they also listened to – my mother, especially – mariachi, corridos. But as a kid, 10 years old, I would change the radio in the morning and listen to Jackson 5 and, you know, music from the ’70s, and I sort of rejected that music. And it wasn’t until I got older and appreciated both my culture and the nuances in the songwriting and the passion of the music for mariachi, from all the songwriters that you mentioned, that I began to accept it. Did you go through a period like that, when you said, no, that’s old-fashioned music. I want to hear modern music?
LAFOURCADE: Of course, yes, I did (laughter). Yeah. I think we all (laughter) – yeah. Yeah, there was a moment I was more attracted to singing – actually to singing in English, which was in my language, but I was more like, oh, maybe I can try and see if I can go and sing in other countries. And I don’t know why, but I was thinking that way. I was too young, and I wasn’t seeing, like, how close to something, like, very rich I was, which was my proper culture and people and music and all the stuff that we have in my country. Eventually, I was like, maybe I can get closer to all that richness around me and take different influences from my roots and from my people, from my music and put all that into my own music, you know, and try to find my own way of expression and to find my own way to put it out, right? So that’s what I eventually was able to do, to value all these different things that we have that before I wasn’t paying that much attention.
CONTRERAS: Let’s hear another song. One of the ones that immediately jumped out to me was the song “Veracruz.” Tell us a little bit about that song, who wrote it and why you included it on the album.
LAFOURCADE: The composer of “Veracruz” was Agustín Lara, who is one of my favorite composers. I actually made a whole album as a tribute to his music. And yeah, “Veracruz” was that song that I wasn’t able to put into that album, and I listened to a lot to that song and Toña la Negra voice. Of course, she’s a great singer, so I was hoping to be able to have a very beautiful version of that song that shows through the music the beautifulness that we have in Veracruz. And I grew up in Veracruz. I live in Veracruz. Veracruz is one of my favorite places here in Mexico, so…
CONTRERAS: And I love the first two lines. I was born with the silver moon, and I was born with…
LAFOURCADE: …With the soul of a pirate.
CONTRERAS: That is beautiful and so powerful at the same time.
LAFOURCADE: Yeah.
CONTRERAS: This is the song “Veracruz” from Natalia Lafourcade.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “VERACRUZ”)
LAFOURCADE: (Singing) I was born with the silver moon, and I was born with the soul of a pirate. I was born a jarocho rumbero, a true troubadour and I left far from Veracruz. Veracruz, little corner where they make their nest. The waves of the sea, Veracruz, a little piece of homeland that knows how to suffer and sing. Veracruz, your nights are a flood of stars, palm trees and women. Veracruz, vibrates in my being, one day I will even have to return to your distant beaches. (Vocalizing). Your nights are a flood of stars, palm tree and woman. Veracruz, vibrates in my being, one day I will even have to return to your distant beaches.
CONTRERAS: Natalia, you’ve talked about son jarocho. Something very curious is – it happened here in the United States, which I’m sure you’re aware of. In Southern California, probably within the last 10 years, maybe a little longer, there are a number of groups made up of Chicanos or Mexicanos who have lived here for a long time, here in the United States on this side of the border – throughout the Southwest, actually, all through Southwest – taken to son jarocho as a way to reconnect to Mexico and their own roots, but also as a way to resist, as a political statement. I have friends who have studied and even achieved their Ph.Ds looking at son jarocho as a sound of resistance. So it’s taken on a whole new appreciation for son jarocho. Have you heard any of that? Have you tapped into that? And what do you think of this rebirth of son jarocho with these groups throughout the Southwest? And they’re all younger musicians like yourself.
LAFOURCADE: Well, that was one of the parts that made me love this music and. This changes so much, and that makes me feel so attracted and so willing to learn even more. I feel like I know very little about this. And, you know, one of the moments that I fell in love with this community was when I went to the Seminario of Son Jarocho that they gave eleven a year in Luna Negra. And there is a moment where many people from the community of Jaraneros come to this area, to Jáltipan and to Luna Negra. And they get together. They made the Fandango. They share music all day, all night. It’s a beautiful thing. And for me to see all these young people, like, loving this music so much, it gave me hope for how things can change in our societies and in our country. Like, to see how they love their roots and how they love their music, their own thing – it was just like, wow, I didn’t know we have this. And I didn’t know that there were so many people so proud and so open, like, to share. And that was one of the reasons that I wanted to and that I said, I want to be part of this. I want to learn more. I want to bring this influence into my music and to see bands and people like Los Cojolites but also, like, younger musicians, new musicians, like El Quinto Cerro, like Flor de Uvero, bands like Los Vega, like Son de Madera, and like the same White Monkey. To see all these people, like, working in this music and sharing this music is so inspiring.
CONTRERAS: That leads us perfectly into the next song I would like to play, “Sembrando Flores.” Tell us about that one. What does the title mean, first of all? Translate the title for the people who don’t speak Spanish, and then tell us about the song.
LAFOURCADE: Sembrando flores would be planting flowers, putting flowers on the earth. “Sembrando Flores,” it’s one of my favorite tracks by Los Cojolites. It’s probably one of the songs that they play the most because many people love this one. Me, personally, it’s one of my favorite. It has a lot of poetry in the words that it uses. It’s really about life. It’s about, like, having a good life, like, and living a good life.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “SOWING FLOWERS”)
LOS COJOLITES: (Singing) My mother told me one day spring was blooming, spring was blooming my mother told me one day.
LAFOURCADE AND LOS COJOLITES: (Singing) My mother told me one day spring was blooming, spring was blooming my mother told me one day
LOS COJOLITES: (Singing) With great wisdom, may he live life, may life live with great wisdom.
LAFOURCADE AND LOS COJOLITES: (Singing) May I live life with great wisdom, may I live life with great wisdom. My mother told me that she should plant flowers, that she should go out to the fields to look for love. My mother told me that she should plant flowers, that she should go out to the fields to look for love.
LOS COJOLITES: (Singing) My mother told me to go out to the field, my mother told me to go out to the field.
LAFOURCADE AND LOS COJOLITES: (Singing) My mother told me to go out to the field, my mother told me to go out to the field.
LOS COJOLITES: (Singing) That I would cut a flower to bring him in his saint, to bring him in his saint that I would cut a flower.
LAFOURCADE AND THE COJOLITES: (Singing) That I should cut a flower to bring to her on her saint’s day, my mother told me to go out to the field. My mother told me that she should plant flowers, that she should go out to the fields to look for love. My mother told me that she should plant flowers, that she should go out to the fields to look for love.
LAFOURCADE: (Singing) Ah! With great wisdom he lived life. My mother told me one day. Yes sir! That I would plant a flower, to deliver it to her saint, to deliver it to her saint, that I would plant a flower.
LAFOURCADE AND LOS COJOLITES: (Singing) My mother told me to plant flowers, to go out to the field to look for love, my mother told me to plant flowers, to go out to the field to look for love.
CONTRERAS: You’re listening to ALT.LATINO. We’re having a conversation with Natalia Lafourcade, who’s in her home in Veracruz-near Veracruz, Mexico. Natalia, again, thanks for joining us. Let’s talk about some of the musicians that are on the album. Tell us about some of the musicians and some of the guest artists that are on the record that help you make this beautiful album.
LAFOURCADE: There are many artists singing and sharing the music on this album. We have a mariachi juvenile from Tecalitlán, which is one of the most important things to say because all the music has a lot of this traditional music from Mexico, goes, like, from ranchero to bolero, cumbia, norteño and the influence of son jarocho . We have Carlos Rivera. We have Leonel García singing a Juan Gabriel song. We have Jorge Drexler singing “Para Qué Sufrir.” We have Emmanuel del Real, Café Tacvba Meme singing “Lo Que Construimos.” We have Panteón Rococó in “Un Derecho De Nacimiento” and also Los Cojolites in many different tracks of the album. The arrangements and all that – it comes from Los Cojolites.
CONTRERAS: Natalia, I have just one last question for you. You know, I’m sure there was no way you could have planned this, but with this lockdown around the world, I’m hearing from friends, and I’m going through this myself, of a little bit of self-examination, of going within because everything else is so locked out. Just thinking about our lives, thinking about how precious life is, first of all, and then thinking about our lives and who we are and how we got to these places where we are in our lives and our careers with our families – it’s a very big existential moment, I think.
LAFOURCADE: Everything.
CONTRERAS: And this album is perfectly suited for that because, as you’ve been saying all along through this interview, it was a reexamination of identity as a Mexican, as an artist. It’s a perfect companion, this album, to what we’re going through right now, and there’s no way you could have planned that. Have you noticed that at all? Has anyone pointed out that out because it just struck me when I listened to the album over and over – she’s speaking to this moment right now that we’re living through right now all over the world.
LAFOURCADE: Yeah. I didn’t prepare that, really. I didn’t know we were going to go through this situation right now. I also believe that as human beings, we needed that so much, to value all those things about life. We were just going too fast, you know? I feel like the universe was just saying, please, people, stop. Stop it. Stop. Go inside. Think about the way you’re living your lives and what is important for you now, because there are many things that are even more important that we are not even seeing. And it was important to be closer to our houses, to be closer to – like, more inside ourselves.
And there was a moment I was thinking, maybe it’s not the right moment for us to release an album because there are so many things happening in the world, and it’s weird just to say, like, hey, I have a new album. Hey, listen to it, listen to it. But then I was like, maybe I should do it because the music – it’s so powerful, and it has this magic thing that heals – heals the spirit, heals our souls, our hearts. And it has so much from everyone who put something into it. It’s not only me. It’s many, many people and many different things there that I said, no, let’s release it, and let’s share it, and let’s see if this can make people travel and make people think and feel and be alive during this time. So it makes me very happy that – what you’re saying, because we weren’t expecting what happened. We didn’t prepare anything. But at a certain point, it’s magic, just the way it makes you feel.
CONTRERAS: It’s the universe once again speaking to us, and we have to be very careful to listen.
LAFOURCADE: Yeah.
CONTRERAS: I want to ask you about one more song, “Cucurrucucú Paloma.” Who’s the guitar player on this amazing interpretation? You – this is unlike anything I’ve heard of this song.
LAFOURCADE: Wow, that’s so nice. It’s me. It’s me playing guitar. You know, the producer…
CONTRERAS: (Laughter) Wow.
LAFOURCADE: It’s me with my electric guitar. You know, I didn’t want to put any electric instrument on this album. I wanted to respect a lot the way all these instruments from all these genres would sound. I was telling the producer, like, let’s not bring any other instrument that has nothing to do to these different types of music that we’re playing on the album. But there was one thing that he was asking me, and I’m so happy that he did. And he was saying, please, you put your electric guitar because that’s part of your universe, your music universe. And it is your universe and also what we have here with all these musicians. So why not you, like, just play “Cucurrucucú” with your guitar just the way you do it in your concerts, and that way we have both? We have these very traditional instruments but also your electric guitar and your voice. And then I wanted to have a big arrangement of “Cucurrucucú,” and he said, no, please. Let’s do it only you and your guitar, and it’ll be fine. So I thank a lot Kiko Campos because I like a lot the track. It’s very beautiful. It’s a very beautiful song.
CONTRERAS: It’s more than fine. It’s the perfect way to end the album. It’s fantastic. It’s one of my favorite versions of all time now, and I’m not just saying that.
LAFOURCADE: Yeah.
CONTRERAS: It’s just perfectly executed. Natalia Lafourcade, thank you so much for taking time to talk to us here on ALT.LATINO. You’re always welcome back anytime. Hopefully, we can have you back in when we talk about “Volume 2.” And let’s get this music out to the world because it can certainly help heal.
LAFOURCADE: Thank you. Thank you so much. It’s a great pleasure. Thank you so much for all the feedback from the album. I really appreciate it. And for me, like, the best thing is to see how people enjoy music and most a piece of music just the way we did it. So thank you so much.
CONTRERAS: Until next time.
LAFOURCADE: Until next time, thank you and have a good day.
(SOUNDBITE OF NATALIA LAFOURCADE SONG, “CUCURRUCUCÚ PALOMA”)
CONTRERAS: You’ve been listening to ALT.LATINO from NPR Music. I’m Felix Contreras. Thank you for listening, and be careful. Be safe out there.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “CUCURRUCUCÚ PALOMA”)
LAFOURCADE: (Singing) They say he didn’t eat, he just started crying, they say he didn’t sleep, he just started drinking. They swear that the sky itself shook when it heard her cry. How he suffered from her for her, that until her death he called her. Oh, oh, oh, oh, she sang. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, she moaned. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, she cried with mortal passion, she died. That a sad dove very early in the morning was going to sing to her, to her little house alone with its little doors wide open. They swear that that dove is nothing more than her soul, which is still waiting for the unfortunate woman to return. Oh, what an unfortunate bastard. Cucurrucucú, dove, cucurrucucú, don’t cry. Stones never, dove, what do they know about love. Cucurrucucú, cucurrucucú, cucurrucucú, dove. Cucurrucucú, cucurrucucú, cucurrucucú. Paloma, don’t cry for him anymore.
Posted from: https://www.npr.org/transcripts/859483553
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