Ok, every kid, Spanish speaking or not, knows the catchy tune of La Cucaracha, but may not know the lyrics, or even what the heck they’re singing about.
Intermediate learners should know the word cucaracha means “cockroach.” So why are we singing about it, and what’ does it mean? I did some research and found lyrics and differences of opinion:
La cucaracha, La cucaracha
Ya no puede caminar
Porque no tiene, porque le falta
La patita principal. (Ahora, catas otra vez, cambiando La patita principal a la pata terciario, entonces secundario)Ultima Verso:
Ya la murio la cucaracha
Ya la lleven a enterrar
Entre cuatro zopilotes
Y un raton de sacristan.
Translation:
The cockroach, the cockroach
Can’t walk anymore
Because it doesn’t have, because it’s lacking
The front leg (then you sing about the second leg, third leg, etc…)Final Verse:The cockroach just died
And they carried him off to bury him
Among four buzzards
And the sexton’s mouse.
The song is sort of a Mexican “Yankee Doodle.” It’s been around, they say, since the Mexican revolution. It’s catchy, so it hangs on. Some historians think the cockroach referred to is symbolism for Pancho Villa, bandido revolutionary general who escapades are well known (c. 1916-1926). But, it’s hard to say since you can find a ton of different lyrics, depending where you look, including some that sing about the cucaracha’s inability to walk porque le falta marijuana que fumar, but that makes absolutely no sense at all.
