Alessandra, Veronica, and Evelyn talk about music, including the genres of Colombia, their favorite artists, and their opinions of the music of today.
Alessandra: Hello friends! Welcome to another episode of Madre Mía! I am Alessandra.
Veronica: Hi, I’m Veronica.
Evelyn: And my name is Evelyn.
Alessandra: Let's start with our topic for today: music. First, what kind of music do you listen to?
Veronica: I like to listen to different types of music. I obviously like Carlos Vives, Shakira, Juanes, Fonseca, who are Colombian. But I also like to listen to large orchestras from the sixties, seventies, which bring back memories of when I was a child, like Nelson Henríquez, Nelson y Sus Estrellas. But I also like listening to Elton John, Billy Joel, Rod Stewart, and I love Michael Bublé, who sings romantic songs.
Alessandra: Nice, Oma?
Evelyn: I am like your mom. I like all kinds of music. I love great Italian operas, I like jazz, blues. I love the songs, for example, by John Lennon, I love the old music from yesteryear of my time, and from yesteryear of the time of my parents, for example, boleros by Agustín Lara, things like that.
Alessandra: I like Latin music, like reggaetón, but of course I like some songs from the United States. But for me, I listen to Latin music because it is an important way that helps me learn Spanish. Because it is easier to memorize. Sometimes when I hear a word or phrase, I associate it with the lyrics of a song. And then, what are your favorite singers or groups?
Veronica: Well, the ones I already mentioned, and I also like Queen, I like ABBA, also Sebastián Yatra. And the truth is that many artists, even if they are - even if some only have a song that fascinates me, but the author may not be so famous.
Alessandra: Yes, me too, I love those. Oma?
Oma: For example, I love John Lennon's music.
Alessandra: The Beatles?
Oma: Not The Beatles, but John Lennon. I love many other artists, there are so many. I love the great tenors and sopranos that exist today, they are so many, and so talented. And well, it depends on the type of music, but I love many.
Alessandra: Well, I also like a lot of artists, but my favorites today are reggaetón players, like J Balvin, Bad Bunny, and many others, but they are ---
Veronica: The most…
Alessandra: The most popular, of course. Third question: what are the typical musical genres of Colombia?
Veronica: Well, there is cumbia, vallenato…
Alessandra: But, but, what is la cumbia?
Veronica: It is a typical Colombian dance, I don't know how to explain it.
Alessandra: It’s a genre and a dance.
Veronica: Yes, it is a genre and a dance.
Alessandra: Oma, do you know more about la cumbia?
Evelyn: Well, I know cumbia as a dance, more than a type of music, a genre of music. It's a typical dance--
Alessandra: It has three steps, right?
Evelyn: I think yes, yes, yes yes yes, very beautiful, it is danced with a candle, and it is a flirting dance between women and men. The man flirts with the woman and she passes a candle while they dance and with her big skirt--
Veronica: La pollera (skirt).
Evelyn: La pollera (skirt). The skirt goes by as she dances. It goes up and so on, and then what else? What is your other question?
Alessandra: No, there are many more - champeta. It comes from Africa, right? Is it true?
Veronica: I couldn't answer that because I'm not sure.
Alessandra: I think so, I think that, well, the diversity in the musical expressions found in Colombia can be seen as the result of a mixture of indigenous, African and European influences (especially Spanish), as well as more modern Americans.
Evelyn: Right, right. Many of the typical dances, yes, originated, or came from Africa, certain sounds, the drum and--
Alessandra: El Mapalé.
Evelyn: El Mapalé. Very Africa. Very very African.
Alessandra: And you said el vallenato, right?
Veronica: El vallenato, yes.
Alessandra: Like Carlos Vives.
Veronica: Well Carlos Vives, he sings like a modern vallenato. I mean he started--
Alessandra: What does that mean? What is the difference?
Veronica: He is not a modern vallenato, but he has made old songs, the -- as modernized, like La Piragua which is an old song, I don't remember - I don't know what year it would be, but he sang it again a little more modern.
Alessandra: Who are the ancient or original vallenatos?
Veronica: O Escalona, I'm not sure but Escalona, there is I don't know, I don't remember--
Alessandra: Oma, I think Oma knows more.
Evelyn: Your mom has a better memory than I do, but yes, definitely Escalona. Those typical vallenatos that you are mentioning were from my time but yes, many singers have modernized them.
Veronica: Like Carlos Vives, he even made a series in which he represented Escalona.
Alessandra: Ahh.
Veronica: Yes. And he has sung many of Escalona's songs.
Alessandra: Who else today, like Carlos Vives, is there?
Veronica: Fonseca?
Alessandra: Fonseca, Fonseca, that’s it, that’s it, that’s it.
Veronica: I love Fonseca too. Fonseca, I love all the songs on Fonseca.
Alessandra: Yes, yes. Well, there are more like bambuco, llanero, horopo --
Veronica: Joropo.
Alessandra: Joropo, excuse me. But yes, there are many. Continuing, what are the best concerts you've ever been to? Oma, first?
Evelyn: I have not been to many concerts. I'm an older person, I don't go to concerts, I don't like those -- those huge crowds.
Alessandra: But when you were a child, no?
Evelyn: No, there weren’t any, when I was a child there were no concerts. Those things are from this modern era, but...
Alessandra: Ah okay.
Veronica: You have never seen Julio Iglesias in concert, have you?
Alessandra: No, she says no. It's okay. Mom?
Veronica: Well, Carlos Vives, Juanes, I saw Juanes.
Alessandra: Yes, you are my dad went--
Veronica: We went.
Alessandra: Yes, you went without me. Sin mi or sin yo?
Veronica: No, to Carlos Vives?
Alessandra: No, Juanes.
Veronica: Ah, Juanes and Juan Luis Guerra. It was a concert with them two.
Alessandra: Ah, yes, yes. I was very jealous.
Veronica: Ah yes.
Alessandra: And I did go to Carlos Vives in Manhattan and it was amazing and we were able to go near the stage.
Veronica: Yes, from the stage.
Alessandra: From the stage, yes. I love Carlos Vives.
Veronica: It was really good, that concert.
Alessandra: And also in Seville, I went to the Sebastián Yatra concert, I love Yatra. And it was in a smaller place, so in that concert we were very close to him and the stage too. And at one point, he tossed his shirt into the crowd--
Veronica: Yes, he threw it out to the public.
Alessandra: Yes Yes! But at that time I wasn't looking, was I looking back, detrás or atrás?
Veronica: Yes, atrás (back)?
Evelyn: You were looking back.
Alessandra: Backwards, so I couldn't catch it, but the person who was like that behind me?
Veronica: Behind me.
Alessandra: Behind me, caught it.
Veronica: She caught it, ah.
Evelyn: What a shame!
Alessandra: Yes, and was it a shirt I could wear-- put on?
Veronica: Could use.
Alessandra: Use, yes.
Evelyn: But would you have washed it?
Alessandra: Ooh.
Verónica: No, no.
Alessandra: Yes, he was very sudadoso?
Veronica: Sudoroso (sweaty) or sudado (sweaty)?
Evelyn: He was all sweaty.
Alessandra: Yes, yes.
Veronica: Yes, and we have tickets to go see him and Ricky Martin--
Alessandra: And Enrique Iglesias.
Veronica: Enrique Iglesias in October, but we don't think it’s going to--
Alessandra: I think they have changed the date for next year.
Veronica: Next year.
Alessandra: I think so, I’m not sure.
Veronica: Yes, I want to see them together.
Alessandra: Yes, yes. Where and when do you usually listen to music? Well, for me, I listen to music in my car or on the way to work or classes, but nowadays we cannot do that, so, at home or in the car.
Veronica: Yes, I do in the car or when I do chores around the house, sometimes I play music, yes.
Alessandra: Yes, Oma?
Evelyn: When I ride in my car and occasionally at home when I'm not working, I like to listen to jazz, I love jazz, but classical jazz.
Alessandra: Yes, and also when I walk, I like to walk, and sometimes I listen to music or podcasts. Yes. Do you think music can affect your mood?
Veronica: Yes I think so. Because it is a-- when I play dance music and lively music like that, they make me want to do things more. That is, it puts one in better spirits.
Alessandra: Mm hm. Oma?
Evelyn: I like music when I'm calm, I'm resting, and sometimes there is-- I play music that makes me sad, but it is sad and at the same time happy, because it reminds me of my parents, my childhood. I love that, I love the music that brings back memories. I really like that.
Alessandra: Yes me too. And I also like to listen to music before I go anywhere, to a party or when I was younger, or an adolescent, before school, before I left, I liked to listen to music to wake up a little bit, and put myself in a -- yes, a state of mind, well--
Veronica: Positive.
Alessandra: Positive, positive, yes. And I think Oma-- Oma likes this question, but what do you think of the music that teens listen to today? Or how has music changed over the years?
Evelyn: Frankly, in all sincerity, I don't like it.
Alessandra: Why?
Evelyn: I don't like it, it doesn't seem romantic to me like music used to be. It is not-- it has no lyricism that the music of before had.
Alessandra: But which--
Evelyn: I don’t understand, I don’t understand it--
Alessandra: No, I understand your point of-- your point of view, like in TikToks. Excuse me Excuse me, smaller/younger listeners, but sometimes yes, the lyrics don't have very strong meanings, would you say?
Evelyn: Yes, there is a lot... I think, for example, well, in that rap music, the vulgarities are terrible. I don't like music with such vulgarity. I like the music-- yes there is very nice music, for example, if you think of Mexican corridos, they were-- they are songs about events, they are like stories. That music is very beautiful, I really like it.
Alessandra: Mm, yes, I understand. I don't like to make generalizations. Mom, do you have another opinion on popular music?
Veronica: Depends on which popular music--
Alessandra: Yes.
Veronica: I mean, I don't like rap. There is some reggaetón that I do like, others I don't like, it depends on--
Alessandra: Yes, I know with reggaetón--
Veronica: I like the rhythm, what I like in the songs.
Alessandra: Yes, that’s what I like.
Veronica: The lyrics-- I don't pay attention to the lyrics.
Alessandra: I know, I know, yes.
Veronica: It's the-- the beat of the song that makes you dance.
Alessandra: Yes, that, that. The rhythm and yes, the spirit.
Veronica: Yes.
Alessandra: Yes. And do you play any instrument?
Veronica: Not me, I never learned.
Alessandra: Never?
Veronica: I always wanted to learn the piano but I never learned any instrument. I don't have the artist gene, not art nor music.
Alessandra: Yes, you always say that genre has skipped you?
Veronica: Yes.
Alessandra: Would you say that?
Veronica: No no, genre no, but gene?
Alessandra: Gene, gene.
Veronica: The gene skipped me.
Alessandra: Yes, yes.
Veronica: Because I do not, I have nothing of an artist, not music nor painting.
Alessandra: But your brother, and who else?
Veronica: And my mom and I, well, many, many people in the-- in my family are artists, that is, painters, musicians--
Alessandra: But you have other talents!
Veronica: Well, not music or art.
Alessandra: Oma?
Evelyn: I would have loved to be a pianist, but I could never use two hands. I always had a problem with that. The same with Spanish dance, for example, when I was in Spain I tried to learn how to do the sevillanas, dance sevillanas. Either I danced or played castanets, but I couldn't do both at the same time.
Veronica: You couldn’t coordinate?
Evelyn: I couldn't coordinate the dance with the castanets. Same thing with piano, right hand, left hand, it must be something--
Alessandra: Mental.
Evelyn: --having to do with dyslexia or something, I don't know, from the right side of the brain to the left side of the brain.
Alessandra: No. But still--
Evelyn: I do not know. I always wanted to play an instrument.
Alessandra: Yeah, you're still a-- an artist with--
Veronica: Painting, of painting.
Alessandra: Yes, painting.
Evelyn: I like to paint, yes. I haven't done it for a long time, but when I retire, I will dedicate myself again.
Alessandra: Yes, I played the piano, but a long time ago. What always is most difficult for me is playing the song with the rhythm it should be, the song. Do you understand?
Veronica: Yes, yes.
Alessandra: Yes, I’m slow.
Evelyn: But you know that we do have a good pianist in the family.
Alessandra: Yes.
Evelyn: Your cousin, Antonio, plays divinely.
Alessandra: Yes.
Evelyn: He’s phenomenal.
Alessandra: He’s a genius.
Evelyn: Genius, yes, he learned in two years, he learned and has played some beautiful pieces.
Alessandra: Yes, and he doesn’t have to look at any music paper.
Evelyn: He doesn’t have to see the scripts, the--
Veronica: Yes, and he also plays the drums really well.
Alessandra: Yes.
Veronica: Incredible.
Evelyn: The saxophone too.
Alessandra: Yes.
Veronica: And you also played the-- the trumpet…
Alessandra: Oh yeah, I already forgot.
Veronica: And the guitar a little, right?
Alessandra: Oh no, but no, I wasn't very good.
Veronica: No but, you also like to sing.
Alessandra: Oh yes, I love to sing. That is what I like the most.
Evelyn: You know what-- what's my dream?
Alessandra: I know your dream! That I sing Ave María?
Evelyn: Yes.
Veronica: That you sing Ave Maria.
Evelyn: One day, I would love to hear you sing Ave María.
Veronica: You have to put it on this podcast!
Alessandra: Oof--
Veronica: When you learn it.
Alessandra: Ooh, I don’t know, I don’t know.
Evelyn: In Latin, in Latin.
Alessandra: We’ll see, someday, I don't know. If you were to do karaoke, what would be your favorite song to sing? Oma?
Evelyn: Bueno, este… Tequila!
Alessandra: Which? How does that song go?
Evelyn: Tequila!
Alessandra: (*Humming*)
Veronica: That?
Evelyn: Tequila!
Alessandra: Why? Because you only have to sing or say just one--
Evelyn: A single word, very easy!
Alessandra: How smart you are.
Veronica: Yes.
Evelyn: Of course!
Veronica: I don't know, I don't really know. It would be… let's say La Piragua. The canoe of Guillermo Cubillos!
Alessandra: For me, it would be Bennie and the Jets by Elton John.
Veronica: Ah yes, that one is good. Yes, any by Elton John would be good.
Alessandra: Yes yes yes. And you went to the Elton John concert, me too, but somewhere else.
Veronica: Yes, right, about a year or two years ago, part of his retirement, the retirement tour.
Alessandra: Yes. If you could listen to just one song for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Evelyn: Imagine by John Lennon.
Alessandra: Aw, how cute.
Veronica: That’s good, that’s good.
Alessandra: Yes.
Veronica: I don't know, I don't know, I don't know.
Alessandra: It’s very difficult.
Veronica: Yes, because there are so many songs that I like, but I don’t know if I could choose one.
Alessandra: Choose an artist.
Veronica: Carlos Vives.
Alessandra: Me too.
Veronica: Or Sebastian Yatra.
Alessandra: Me too.
Veronica: Well, modern ones, no? There are others, well there are others ...
Alessandra: Yes, but it’s just that they are very good.
Veronica: Yes.
Alessandra: Yes, I would say Nací (I was born) ... no, excuse me ... Volví a Nacer (I was re-born) by Carlos Vives, or Ella es Mi Fiesta (she is my party).
Veronica: That is also good, yes.
Alessandra: Yes. Now we come to the favorite themes part. The first: what is your favorite favorite series?
Veronica: My favorite series--
Alessandra: Today, now.
Veronica: From today? From now? It would be Money Heist, but, I mean, well yes. Especially the first season.
Alessandra: Mm, yes. Oma?
Evelyn: I loved House of Cards, but that is over. And I loved the other one I just finished watching called Bloodline.
Alessandra: Oh yeah. We are watching that too.
Evelyn: Very good, very good.
Alessandra: I'm watching Cable Girls, and I love Velvet too, and it's like that.
Veronica: Yes, I loved Velvet.
Alessandra: Yes.
Veronica: It was really good.
Alessandra: And favorite movie?
Veronica: Favorite movie is ... Nacho Libre with Jack Black.
Alessandra: Me too! But my friends laugh at me--
Veronica: They laugh at you? They mock?
Alessandra: Yes.
Veronica: Why? Because you like that?
Alessandra: Because it’s not a very serious movie.
Veronica: Serious.
Evelyn: Well, since I'm old-fashioned, I like ... the movie that has been my favorite of all, of all my life has been Lo Que el Viento Se Llevó, Gone With the Wind.
Alessandra: I think ... I don't know if I've seen it, I don't know.
Evelyn: You can see it.
Alessandra: The last one is: what is your favorite season?
Veronica: I like summer. I like the heat, and yes, well, that's why.
Evelyn: I love the spring.
Alessandra: That is my favorite too. Well, we have come to the end of the episode. Thanks for listening! I hope you enjoyed it. Thank you!
Veronica: Thank you!
Evelyn: Until next time!
Alessandra: See you!
Verónica: Bye!
Alessandra: Bye!
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