Arrieros somos
Y en el camino andamos
y cada quien
tendra su merecido...
Songs like Arrieros Somos, Adios Mi Chaparrita, El Desterrado, and so many others touch on la soledad that Don Octavio believes is ingrained in the very essence of the Mexican identity. Throughout the semester, as singers and styles have changed, this simple theme has endured as a running motif in many of the songs. The Cancionero de la Soledad is tremendous in Mexican song, and certainly gives weight to Don Octavio's words.
This week, I depicted a solitary arriero walking along a lonely camino. It's unclear if he is returning or leaving, but his long shadow cast against the green, blue, and yellow landscape is meant to evoke the colors, tone, and mood that I felt while listening to much of the music this semester.
Another theme that is hard for me to not think about is the notion of Old Mexico. As an anglo trying to understand Mexico's richness, I am often confronted by my preconceptions of Mexico as a place and culture before I entered the class. I won't lie; I had, and still have, a strong romantic connection to the place, but from an outsider's understanding of Old Mexico as culturally rich and quaint.
This week I watched Linda Ronstadt's "Canciones de mi Padre" and was confronted for the first time all semester by this external, Old Mexico point of view. In the video, Ronstadt constructs a fantastic image of Mexico as she sees it as an American from the southwest with family connections to Mexico. It was interesting to see her portrayal of the people, their songs, and the place, and I have to admit that this is a story about Mexico that Mexican singers and Don Octavio are not telling.....
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