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Cachumbambe (Cuba, merengue)

from All Around This World: Latin America by All Around This World

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about

This is a Cuban kids’ song All Around This World jazzed up with a merengue arrangement. A cachumbabme is a seesaw. Take a listen to this version from the Florida Folklife from the WPA Collections, 1937-1942, currently held by the Library of Congress.


The original version has the Old Lady Ines, a beloved archetype of the super-strong Cuban “little old lady,” smoking tobacco but refusing to drink coffee. After much deliberation, All Around This World chose to bring Ines to the U.S. and put her on a health kick, keeping the reference to Cuban coffee but changing the lyrics to suggest she’ll drink guarapo, which is a drink of raw sugar cane juice. How dare we do such a thing?? Not as a slight to the tradition of the hardy Cuban woman! We decided to bring Ines to the U.S. in song in a way that American kids may be more inclined to relate to her, and nowadays cigar-smoking grannies in the U.S. are few an far between. Though, in retrospect, we certainly could have kept a little kick in her and had her eschew the guarapo in favor of a thick cup of coffee. In class we’re able to right this wrong by letting the kids know that Ines may occasionally choose a mild sugary beverage, but she didn’t live long enough to earn the right to be called “Old Lady Ines” by playing it safe.

lyrics

Cachumbambe, la vieja Ines,
Se bebe guarapo y no toma cafe
Cachmubambe, old lady Ines
She will drink guarapo and she won't drink cafe.

credits

from All Around This World: Latin America, released October 1, 2013
Vocals: Tony Perez
Bass: Rob Hagopian
Piano/Keyboard: John Stengel
Trombone: James Negron
Drums/percussion: Francois Zayas
Percussion: Arturo Stable
"Cachumbambe" is traditional, Englsh lyrics and Arrangement by Jay Sand

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All Around This World Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

All Around This World is a unique, interactive music program for children 0-9 years old that encourages kids and their families to explore the world by enjoying great global melodies, rhythms and movement.

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