Mi Negrito [Song]

Uploaded by William Calliste
MI NEGRITO
By Gloria Alcazar

Yo estoy muy enamorado de un negro que es muy saleroso
Sus labios son como la miel y su amor que mi enloquece
Yo estoy muy enamorado de un negro que es muy saleroso
Sus labios son como la miel y su amor que mi enloquece.

I am so much in love with a black man who is very charming
His lips are like honey and his love drives me crazy
I am so much in love with a black man who is very charming
His lips are like honey and his love drives me crazy.

Ay negrito, dame un besito que sin tu amor yo me muero
Ay negrito, dame un besito que sin tu amor yo me muero.

Oh, black man, give me a kiss, without your love I'll die

Ese negro me quiere mucho y me enriquece con su beso
Dios querra que sea así y que nunca nos separemos
Ese negro me quiere mucho y me enriquece con su beso
Dios querra que sea así y que nunca nos separemos.

This black man loves me and enriches me with his kiss
God wills it so that we will never be separated
This black man loves me and enriches me with his kiss
God wills it so that we will never be separated.

Ay negrito, dame un besito que sin tu amor yo me muero
Ay negrito, dame un besito que sin tu amor yo me muero

Oh, black man, give me a kiss, without your love I'll die.

Si te vas mi negrito lindo, ay, por Dios que yo mi muero
Sin te no vale vivir ese ruego que no me dejes
Si te vas mi negrito lindo, ay, por Dios que yo mi muero
Sin te no vale vivir ese ruego que no me dejes.

If you go away black man, by God, I will die
Without you life is not worth living, this plea is that you would not leave me.
If you go away black man, by God, I will die
Without you life is not worth living, this plea is that you would not leave me.

Ay negrito, dame un besito que sin tu amor yo me muero
Ay negrito, dame un besito que sin tu amor yo me muero

Oh, black man, give me a kiss, without your love I'll die.

Source: The lyrics posted on this blog are often transcribed directly from performances. Although it is my intention to faithfully transcribe I do not get all the words and I have a knack for hearing the wrong thing. Please feel free to correct me or to fill in the words that I miss by dropping me a message via e-mail. I'd be forever grateful. Thanks in advance! ..............................................................................................................................


A Note From The Gull

Thank you, Gloria Alcazar.

I never heard this song performed live by the composer but I have loved its delicious sweetness from the very first time that I heard it many, many years ago. Thanks so much to William Calliste for uploading it so that it can be shared by the world.

Gloria Alcazar

Gloria Alcazar, long deceased, was a Venezuelan who came to Trinidad to learn English and eventually ended up getting married and living here. She was the lead singer with San Jose Serenaders and made an unforgettable contribution to the parang in this country.

"Says Lennox [Flores], “We were looking for a lead singer. My brother Wayne was travelling on the train and saw this girl, Gloria Alcaza, on the train with a cuatro. He approached her and she agreed to sing with us. I had a problem – how would Trinidad accept this change from male to lead female; no women were singing then, they were just following and clapping in the background, carrying the rum and coffee.

“We brought in Gloria, it was said that she grew up in Maracaibo, but was Trinidadian. She had more of a Venezuelan accent so the other bands said this girl is not a Trini and so cannot be allowed to compete. At first the judges thought the whole group were Venezuelans and we placed last. Gloria brought the Venezuelan influence, folk songs, and the group of young teenagers singing with proper Spanish, caused a frenzy. People started to sit up and take notice. I am sure that her proper pronunciation influenced future generations of parang singers.” SOURCE

Sharlene Flores was her successor and among all the gifts that Sharlene has shared with us, she is also to be thanked for being the living Ark who in her art has preserved some of Gloria's style of singing for the future. Sharlene "recorded a five-track LP, one of which she composed and arranged entitled “Recuerdos” (Memories) in tribute to the late Gloria Alcazar, whom she loved dearly." SOURCE

I am never sure how to translate "negrito" into Trinbagonian English, since we do not formally address a person [not directly anyway] by his or her colour and on those occasions when it is attempted among strangers, there is always the risk of offending. It is different among friends because I have heard good friends affectionately addressing each other by their skin colour or ethnicity - Black man, Indian, white man, Carib, Chinee, Potogee, Spanish, etc. Sometimes these names stick and become nicknames.

In this song, "negrito" is definitely a term of endearment. As mentioned above, the composer, Gloria Alcazar, was Venezuelan and "negrito" is not automatically a racial slur in that country or in Latin America. I have encountered the words negra, negrita, negro and negrito in several of their songs, including love songs.

"In Brazil and Portugal, negro is the most respectful way to address people of Black African descent, with preto [portuguese for black] sometimes being considered politically incorrect or a racial slur...

"For example, one might say to a friend, "Negro ¿Como andas? (literally "Hey, black one, how are you doing?"). In this case, the diminutive negrito can be used, as a term of endearment meaning pal, buddy or friend. Negrito has come to be used to refer to a person of any ethnicity or color, and also can have a sentimental or romantic connotation similar to sweetheart, or dear in English...

"In Chile, where people of African descent are few, negro or negra is used in colloquial contexts to refer to dark skinned people of any race and, by itself, does not represent an insult." SOURCE

Unless the one being addressed asks you to do so, just assume wherever you find yourself in the world, that persons do not want to be perceived as a colour before all else.

"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.

Blessed is all of creation
Blessed be my beautiful people
Blessed be the day of our awakening
Blessed is my country
Blessed are her patient hills.

Mweh ka allay!
Guanaguanare