Spain through Flamenco Songs: 'Me Llaman Curro Frijone'

What are flamenco songs about? It's fun to delve into them, because it helps us get to know about Spain, its culture and people.

Hi everyone

Today we're going to listen to a song (Letra) of the Bulerías por Soleá course in MAESTROS Flamenco.

Let's listen to it in the video.

Manuel Soto sings it, accompanied by flamenco guitarist, Javier Ibáñez.

Here's the Spanish song:

Me llaman Curro Frijone

Yo no me caso en la vida

por no tener obligación

Here's what this Flamenco song is about.

"My name is Curro Frijone

I will not get married in life

to not have obligations"

This was a Letra that was curious to me because it mentions a personality.

I didn't know who Curro Frijone was so I went to check it out.

Apparently he was a gypsy of a strong personality and there are anecdotes about his life that then went into his Letras!

What I found a bit amusing with this Letra is that he sang "I'm not going to get married (to a particular person)"

Apparently that was the original Letra and he does mention a particular person that he will not marry!

And it also probably tells you about his free-spirited nature too.

So I think Flamenco Letras can be interesting.

Even though we don't know the complete story, you can imagine certain personalities

And what I also read that is interesting is that in Jerez, sometimes they say how well a singer has 'said' the song (Qué bien ha dicho el cante) instead of how well he has 'sung' the cante.

You see, some letras or some songs have a strong narrative, so it's like telling a story

That then makes me remember what Manuel Soto says in our MAESTROS Flamenco online song classes.

He tells us:

"Imagine a story. Imagine you're saying something.
imagine you're sharing something with someone"

So I think that's a useful way for us to get away from being fixated to how to sing it correctly.

And instead, to think about emotion and what you are storytelling!

Categories: Spain through Flamenco Song

Home