Talk:La Cucaracha

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having the virse with Marijuana que fumar. seems innaproprate. A better verse would be Una pata para andar. as it is the one more often sung, especially to children. Also, here is an example of a political version of 'la cucaracha'.

La dictadura, en Costa Rica,

Ya no puede medrar.

Por que le falta, por que no tiene,

Una vota para apoyar.

Una cosa, no me de risa,

Cuando no soy un camisa.

Ya se van los rebelditos,

Porque vienen los opresorcitos.

Poco después de, ustedes vienen,

Los americanos venir para ayudan.

Para la ayuda, llegar tarde,

Y muchas mas moró por que si el.

--1 black hand 17:25, 16 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Horn

I'm pretty sure that la cucaracha is a very famous tune for a car horn. Can someone clarify this on my talk page user: swinger222

It was actually in a Simpsons episode, wasn't it? 70.17.9.57 02:45, 30 April 2006 (UTC)

Yeah, where Homer designed a car for his half-brother Herb, which ended up ruining his business. I don't know how famous it is, but someone in my old neighborhood had one, as I frequently heard him honking it from my apartment. -- stubblyhead | ^T/_c 20:35, 9 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] About the marihuana in the lyrics

Some people think this is a joke. However, this version of the lyrics is very well established, and I would say even standard in Mexico. It is included as part of the "Corrido de la muerte de Pancho Villa", written about 80 years ago, which also attributes authorship of La Cucaracha to Pancho Villa himself. You can find the whole corrido in many places on the web, such as http://ingeb.org/songs/panchovi.html . You can also find a long version of La Cucaracha at http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Styx/9466/corridos.html . Itub 00:05, 30 May 2006 (UTC)

That's cool, if it's the authentic version. Wikipedia is here to give unbiased information, not to be PC. The marijuana was the answer to a question on a musical quiz show here in Oz earlier this week, which is why I looked it up. We have an old song book for kids that substituted "un cigarro" in the Spanish lyrics (the English lyrics provided were not a translation, but made up for Australian kids), which these days is nearly as inappropriate as pot. --Kelly holden 12:21, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

This is solely for anecdotal reasons, but as a child my (Mexican) grandmother sang me the song complete with the marijuana lyric. It's the version the Mexican-american kids at my school sang, too. It was no big thing. Just wanted to share. - Murcielago 05:23, 28 June 2006 (UTC)

I remember as a kid learning lyrics that had something to do with chocolate, but I don't recall if it was used in place of marijuana. Anyone else? -- stubblyhead | ^T/_c 20:37, 9 August 2006 (UTC)

In Argentina it's definitelly not marijuana. It's "las dos patitas de atrás" (comment at Clarín newspaper, Mexican Embassy in UK). Also common is the "Una pata para andar" version. I'm strongly against the marijuana version. Mariano(t/c) 10:17, 31 August 2006 (UTC)

Itub, I left this message above regarding the wording of the lyrics, and provided some sources at least I consider more important than the normal amateur site. It went unanswered for more than two weeks before I decided to take action and change the las phrase. You jumped to revert my edits, leaving no reference of the "las dos patitas de atras" version nor any message at the talk page. What's more, you claim that to be the "real" version, providing no sources. I feel like reverting back to my version, but will let you explain your actions and source your position. Mariano(t/c) 08:30, 14 September 2006 (UTC)

I already sourced it above. Search google, and you'll find that the majority of sites have the marijuana lyrics. It's understandable that a government site will want to use the censored version, but the government is not an authority about folk songs (as it would be for the national anthem). The link at the bottom of the article, http://www.straightdope.com/columns/010727.html , gives the marijuana lyrics and says that "sometimes the last line is replaced with a bowdlerization".

If you don't believe in "amateur" websites, look at books in print: the marijuana lyrics are in common use since the Mexican revolution and you can find them everywhere. Some examples include 500 Best-Loved Song Lyrics by Ronald Herder, Drug Wars: Political Economy of Narcotics by Curtis Marez, Intervention: The United States and the Mexican Revolution, 1913-1917 by John S. D. Eisenhower, Reefer Madness: The History of Marijuana in America by Larry Ratso Sloma, Popular Music in American History by William Reid, Spanish Loanwords in the English Language: A Tendency Towards Hegemony Reversal, by Félix Rodríguez González, Popular Musics of the Non-Western World: An Introductory Survey by Peter Manuel, and El corrido mexicano: Antología by Vicente T. Mendoza. Note that some of these examples are serious history books. You can find all of the books I mentioned via google's book search. Itub 15:03, 14 September 2006 (UTC)

Fact: Most Mexicans fighting in the Mexican revolution were good ol' bud smokers (including) Pancho Villa himself. Now, from other places I read, the original song is about a Mexican revolutionary that refused to march without Marijuana, or something like that... JokersAce0 07:06, 27 November 2006 (UTC)JokersAce0

All the documented evidence about General Villa is that he mostly got off on the muchachas, and rarely if ever drank or puffed. The original song apparently dates from the reconquista of Spain from the Moors, but as an oral tradition, documenting the evolution of the song is impossible. Tubezone 07:53, 27 November 2006 (UTC)