Footnotes on the Pollera Colorá and the Simpsons

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It is hard to resist adding here the following two footnotes to yesterday’s entry about “La Pollera Colorá.” They were both cited in an article in Colombia’s weekly, Semana, back in August 2006.

(http://www.semana.com/noticias-enfoque/wilson-choperena-autor-pollera-colora/96576.aspx).


First, this song is so well known around the Spanish speaking world that the producers of “The Simpsons” (the version dubbed in Spanish) had Bart sing it in an episode of the show. So here’s Bart singing La Pollera Colorá in Spanish:



The second is sadly ironic. Semana reported that during a 2006 concert in Bogotá featuring Cuban star Omara Portuondo and Colombian counterpart Carlos Vives, the audience was delighted when the duet interpreted La Pollera Colorá. When Wilson Choperena, who lives alone in a small room in the outskirts of the city, found out about it, he lamented that he hadn’t been invited. “But even with a free ticket” the article reads, “he still couldn’t have made it. He couldn’t afford the bus fare.” Apparently his only income is the $700 USD that he receives every six months as royalties for his work. “He survives thanks to charity” explains Semana and quotes Choperena as saying that he recently recorded a new album. He sells copies of it for 7 to 10 dollars to his friends and anyone who might want to buy it.

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