Today, Rosalía has given her fans something that is both old and new: She has covered the traditional Mexican folk song “La Llorona” for the first time.
Rosalia sings on the song (translated from Spanish), “Alas, Llorona, Llorona / Llorona, bring me to the river / Cover me with your shawl, Llorona / Because I am dying of cold.”
In Mexican folklore, La Llorona is the ghost of a woman who kidnaps children and drowns them. The story goes that her husband loved their two sons and not her, so when she caught him with another woman, she drowned the children in a river and then drowned herself. She was denied entry into heaven until she found the souls of her sons, so now she cries and drowns children in the same river in which she drowned her sons. A Linda Cardellini-starring film based on the story, The Curse Of La Llorona, was released last year.
The performance actually took place a few days ago, as part of Se Agradece, a livestream music festival. Trebel, a music streaming platform and one of the event’s organizers, described the event in an Instagram post as (translated via Google) “a concert where music and solidarity become oneself.” The post continues, “For years we have taken the applause on stage, now we have to recognize all those heroes who are outside risking their lives to save ours.” Aside from Rosalía, the event also featured Maluma, Luis Fonsi, J Balvin, and many others.
Watch Rosalía perform “La Llorona” above.