When I saw this single, I had to look twice. Although the title 'Hijo de la luna' is featured prominently on the sleeve, the French subtitle is less so. And what did it mean - a French version of the song, or just a translation for the French who don't speak many languages other than French? It turned out to be the former, as made more obvious on the back of the sleeve, where lyrics for the French and Spanish versions appeared.
The Spanish band Mecano have always recorded their songs in multiple languages - and I have the single 'Une femme avec une femme' to prove it. That one was released in 1990, this one a year later - three years after 'Hijo de la luna' was recorded and one year after it was a hit in most of Europe.
The Spanish pop group Mecano released their album 'Aidalai' in 1991: an eclectic mix of intimate ballads, technopop and traditional Spanish music. The album was released amidst rumours of the band splitting up because of creative differences between the band's main songwriters, Nacho Cano and José Maria Cano.
The single 'Tu' was released in the autumn of 1991 and gave them their second and last hit in the Netherlands: it reached number 36 in the Dutch Top 40. As you can hear, this is a mispressing of the single, as it warbles like a madman.
My collection: 7" single no. 3177 Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, February 19, 2000 Cost: 1 guilder Tracks: 'Tu' / '1917'
The sentence 'Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose' was written by Gertrude Stein as part of the 1913 poem 'Sacred Emily', which appeared in the 1922 book 'Geography and Plays'. In that poem, the first 'Rose' is the name of a person. The quote is often interpreted as meaning 'things are what they are'. In Stein's view, the sentence expresses the fact that simply using the name of a thing already invokes the imagery and emotions associated with it.
'Una rosa es una rosa es una rosa', the Spanish translation of Stein's verse, is the chorus of a song by the Spanish pop music group Mecano that appeared on their 1991 album, 'Aidalai'. The lyric of the song tells the story of a man in love with a woman who by turns hurts and soothes him.
My collection: 7" single no. 1685 Found: Free Record Shop, Den Haag, July 11, 1992 Cost: 6 guilders Tracks: 'Una rosa es una rosa' / 'Cruz de navajas'
The fairytale-like 'Hijo de la luna', recorded in 1990 by the Spanish band Mecano, was a major European hit. It reached number 3 in the Dutch Top 40, despite the fact that even most of the Dutch can't understand Spanish.
The lyric of the song depicts a 'gypsy' woman, who prays an entire night to the Moon goddess for a husband. In the end, the moon says that she shall have her man, but in return she wants her first-born child to be turned over to her. When the child is born, it turns out that its skin color does not resemble the father's, but instead is white 'like the back of an ermine' (the white fur of a stoat originating from Armenia), and has grey eyes. The gypsy man automatically assumes that his wife committed adultery, and kills her with a knife. Afterwards, he carries the infant onto the top of a mountain, where he abandons it. The child is taken up into the sky by the moon, and on nights when the moon is full, it is because the child is happy, and when the child cries, the moon will wane to make him a cradle. The chorus throughout the song says that the moon wants to be a mother, yet cannot find a lover who will make her a woman (and therefore, impregnate her), and questions her as to what she would do with a child of flesh.
My collection: 7" single no. 1242 Found: Free Record Shop, Den Haag, June 9, 1990 Cost: 6 guilders Tracks: 'Hijo de la luna' / 'Mujer contra mujer'
The Spanish group Mecano mostly popular in Spain, but they also recorded songs in other languages. Some of their songs were recorded in English, while many of them were recorded in Italian.
This song, 'Une femme avec une femme' is a French version of Mecano's 1988 track 'Mujer contra mujer'. It was released in France in 1990. I bought the single mainly out of curiosity. It doesn't happen often that Spanish acts record French songs...
My collection: 7" single no. 3211 Found: Record fair, September 30, 2000 Cost: 5 guilders Tracks: 'Une femme avec une femme' / 'Mujer contra mujer'
The Spanish group Mecano started as a synthpop outfit in 1981 in Madrid. Mecano consisted of brothers Nacho and Jose Maria Cano and singer Ana Torroja. Their debut album 'Mecano' (1982) was a hit in Spain despite criticism of their overt commercial sound. The follow-up album '¿Dónde Está El País De Las Hadas?' ('Where is fairyland?') featured this single, 'Barco a venus'. It is a slice of cheerful synthpop that attracted my attention almost a decade later.
I found this single during a daytrip in Brussels. It's always nice to stumble upon a single you've been searching for a long time, and this time was no exception.
My collection: 7" single no. 1536
Found: Brussels, October 11, 1991
Cost: 40 Belgian Francs
Tracks: 'Barco a venus' / 'Este chico es una joya'
The Spanish pop group Mecano released their album 'Aidalai' in 1991: an eclectic mix of intimate ballads, technopop and traditional Spanish music. The album was released amidst rumours of the band splitting up because of creative differences between the band's main songwriters, Nacho Cano and José Maria Cano.
The sentence 'Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose' was written by Gertrude Stein as part of the 1913 poem 'Sacred Emily', which appeared in the 1922 book 'Geography and Plays'. In that poem, the first 'Rose' is the name of a person. The quote is often interpreted as meaning 'things are what they are'. In Stein's view, the sentence expresses the fact that simply using the name of a thing already invokes the imagery and emotions associated with it.
The fairytale-like 'Hijo de la luna', recorded in 1990 by the Spanish band Mecano, was a major European hit. It reached number 3 in the Dutch Top 40, despite the fact that even most of the Dutch can't understand Spanish.
The Spanish group Mecano mostly popular in Spain, but they also recorded songs in other languages. Some of their songs were recorded in English, while many of them were recorded in Italian.
The Spanish group Mecano started as a synthpop outfit in 1981 in Madrid. Mecano consisted of brothers Nacho and Jose Maria Cano and singer Ana Torroja. Their debut album 'Mecano' (1982) was a hit in Spain despite criticism of their overt commercial sound. The follow-up album '¿Dónde Está El País De Las Hadas?' ('Where is fairyland?') featured this single, 'Barco a venus'. It is a slice of cheerful synthpop that attracted my attention almost a decade later.