Midterm Analysis: The Mexican Corrido By Billy Joel

Midterm Essay “Artists - musicians, painters, writers, poets - always seem to have had the most accurate perception of what is really going on around them, not the official version or the popular perception of contemporary life.” This quote by Billy Joel is true, not just in modern times, but also in the 1920s. The historical context of this time was extremely significant. All over the world, people were protesting for their rights. Workers, women, people of color: they were all making leaps and bounds to achieve reform. Considering this, it is not hard to believe that the people of Mexico wanted to follow suit. The Mexican political climate at this time was anything, but stable. Porfirio Diaz, who had been the dictator of Mexico for thirty

Typically, the corrido is structured in eight-syllable lines arranged in four- or six- line stanzas. The rhyme is usually based on vowel sounds, and either the first and fourth lines rhyme or the first and third and second and fourth lines rhyme. The melody, sung by the male corridista (balladeer) who accompanies himself on the guitar, relies on the text to shape the pitch and rhythm of the song. The melody is repeated with each stanza, but if the corrido has a refrain, it may be sung in a different rhythm.” But more important than the structure of a corrido, is the content. Corridos typically made some kind of statement about the current state of the world, usually in a narrative structure. “The corrido can be used to a tell a very personal story, but it is best known as a type of folk song that talks about national identity, cultural pride, and community life.” Mexicans developed this form of expression to say something about the world they were living in. First, they were oppressed by the dictatorial Porfirio Diaz, then they were bullied by the American government and greedy employers. And though corridos aren’t the best source for a unbiased history of what was happening at the time, they did capture “the emotional, cultural, and political sentiments of the community that produced it.” Corridos could vary depending on the time and the writer. Corridos of the early 1920 often “celebrated the proud Mexican nationalism of heroes who stood up to enemies, such as the Diaz dictatorship or the Texas Rangers.” But later developments told the tale of a group of people who had to choose between a tumultuous civil war in their home country, or a new country filled with obstacles they had never faced