Alirón
"Alirón" is pronounced "ah lee ron".
Alirón
Aliron
Canción infantil
Children's Song
(Spanish)
(English)
Tanto vestido blanco, tanta parola.
Y el puchero a la lumbre con agua sola.
Alirón tira del cordón si vas a Valencia.
Dónde irás amor mío sin mi licencia.
Tanto jubón de seda tantos encajes
sin tener una silla donde sentarse.
Alirón tira del cordón si vas a la Italia.
Dónde irás amor mío que yo no vaya.
Tanto reloj de oro tanta cadena
luego vas a su casa y ahí no hay cena
Alirón tira del cordón si vas a Valencia
Dónde irás amor mío sin mi licencia.
Llevan los señoritos en el zapato
un letrero que dice no tengo un cuarto
Alirón tira del cordón si vas a la Italia
Dónde irás amor mío que yo no vaya
Por no tener un cuarto para un espejo
en el cubo del agua se mira el necio
Alirón tira del cordón si vas a Valencia.
Dónde irás amor mío sin mi licencia.
You wear a white suit and chitchat so much
Yet the pot by the fireside has only water.
Aliron* pull on the string, if you go to Valencia.
Where will you go, my love, without my permission?
You wear a silk doublet** and such lace
Without having a chair to sit on.
Aliron pull on the string, if you go to Italy.
Where would you go, my love, where I wouldn't go?
They wear gold watches and such chains,
Then you go to their home and there is no dinner.
Aliron pull on the string, if you go to Valencia.
Where will you go, my love, without my permission?
The noble sons have on their shoes
A sign that says "I haven't got a penny".
Aliron pull on the string, if you go to Italy.
Where will you go, my love, where I wouldn't go?
Because he has no penny to buy a mirror,
The dummy looks at himself in the bucket of water.
Aliron pull on the string, if you go to Valencia.
Where will you go, my love, without my permission?
Notes
*"Alirón" is sometimes "aciclón", "acitrón" or "arrión"…
**A doublet is a fitted men's jacket worn from the middle ages until the middle of the 17th Century in Western Europe.
Additional verse
Tanto coche de lujo, tanto boato
y en llegando a casa no tienes plato.
(You have a luxury coach, such ostentation
And when you're home, you have no plate.)
Sheet Music
Thanks and Acknowledgements
Many thanks to Marie-Claire Grousset for contributing this song and to Monique Palomares for translating it (with Lisa Yannucci).
Image: Painting of Sir Charles Blount circa 1594 (painter unknown).
¡Muchas gracias!