Lyrics:
Estas son las mañanitas
Que cantaba el rey David
A las muchachas/los muchachos bonitos
Se las cantamos así
Despierta (nombre), despierta
Mira que ya amaneció
Ya los pajaritos cantan
La luna ya se metió
Translation:
This is the song of the morning
That King David sang
To the good-looking girls/boys
We sing it like this
Wake up (name), wake up
See that it has dawned
Now the little birds are singing
The moon has already set
Context:
(In informant’s words:) “Las Mañanitas” is a Spanish song that we sing in Mexico on birthdays… I don’t know if they also sing it in other, uh… Latin American countries, but… we do it on everybody’s birthday in our family, and our friends in Mexico. And sometimes if we’re with close family, uh, like my parents or cousins or siblings, or in Mexico, there’s another verse that we sometimes… uh, add, which goes:
“Que linda está la mañana
En que vengo a saludarte
Venimos todos con gusto
Y placer a felicitarte
El día en que tú naciste
Nacieron todas las flores
En la pila del bautismo
Cantaron los ruiseñores
Ya viene amaneciendo
Ya la luz del día nos dio
Levántate de mañana
Mira que ya amaneció”
Translation:
“How lovely is the morning
On which I come to greet you
We’re all coming with relish
And pleasure to congratulate you
The day on which you were born
All the flowers were born
On the altar of baptism
Sang the nightingales
Now daybreak is coming
Now the light of day has reached us
Get up in the morning
See that it has dawned”
Thoughts:
It is interesting that this traditional birthday song revolves around the motif of morning and dawn to symbolize a new year of life for the birthday person, as well as other symbols of “new life” such as flowers and birds, which are also often used to represent springtime. It also contains images central to Christianity (King David, baptism), which is unsurprising for a song sung in a culture that is (traditionally) steeped in religion. This is, to my knowledge, the most common Spanish birthday song (perhaps now rivaled by a Spanish translation of the common English “Happy Birthday” song), and one that has, without fail, been sung at every single Mexican birthday I have attended, including my own.
Annotations:
For another version of the song (as well as videos of various performances) see:
“Las Mananitas.” Mexican Birthday Song, Explore Hispanic Culture, www.explore-hispanic-culture.com/las-mananitas.html.