Cielito Lindo

"Cielito lindo" is a popular Mexican song from a Spanish copla, popularized in 1882 by Mexican author Quirino Mendoza y Cortés (c. 1859–1957). It is roughly translated as "Lovely Sweet One". Although the word "cielo" means sky or heaven, it is also a term of endearment comparable to sweetheart or honey. "Cielito", the diminutive, can be translated as "sweetie"; "lindo" means cute, lovely or pretty. Sometimes the song is known by words from the refrain, "Canta y no llores" or simply the "Ay, Ay, Ay, Ay" song.

Commonly played by mariachi bands, it has been recorded by many artists in the original Spanish as well as in English and other languages. Even though the song talks about the "Sierra Morena", a mountain range in the south region of Spain, in recent decades it has come to be widely known as a theme song for Mexico, based in the Spanish background of the country, particularly at international events, like the FIFA World Cup.

Lyrics

The scheme corresponds to the Spain Castilian classical stanza known as "seguidilla," i.e. seven lines of alternating heptasyllabic and pentasyllabic verses. Lyrics vary widely from performer to performer and every singer is free to add some new verse to his or her own interpretation. Some of the most traditional lyrics are the following:

Enrique Iglesias

Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler (/ɛnˈriːkeɪ ɪˈɡlɛsiəs/; Spanish: [enˈrike iˈɣlesjas]) (born 8 May 1975), is a Spanish recording artist and record producer. He is widely regarded as the King of Latin Pop. Iglesias started his career in the mid-1990s on an American Spanish Language record label Fonovisa under the name Enrique Martinez, before switching to the stage name Enrique Iglesias, and turning into one of the biggest stars in Latin America and the Hispanic Market in the United States. By the turn of the millennium, he had made a successful crossover into the mainstream market and signed a multi-album deal with Universal Music Group for US $68,000,000 with Universal Music Latino to release his Spanish albums and Interscope to release English albums. In 2010, he parted with Interscope and signed with another Universal Music Group label Republic Records to release bilingual albums. In 2015, Enrique parted ways with Universal music group after a decade. He signed for Sony Music and it has been reported that it is one of the biggest contracts offered to any artist in recent years in terms of advances and royalties. His upcoming albums will be by Sony Music Latin in Spanish and RCA in English.