"En mi Viejo San Juan" (''In my Old San Juan'') is a composition by Puerto Rican composer and singer Noel Estrada. Interpreted by numerous singers and translated into various languages, the song is "widely known around the world". There are musical interpretations in German, English and French. Over 1,000 distinct recordings of the song have been made worldwide. The song was written in 1942 for Estrada's brother who had been deployed to

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and was feeling nostalgia for his

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

motherland. The song has become an anthem of Puerto Rican emigration to New York.

Background

The song was first recorded by El Trio Vegabajeño in 1943 under the label RCA Victor and later under Mar-Vela. The song had an immediate impact and many other versions followed. Two later interpretations achieved large popularity as well as measured by radio ratings: those of Manuel Jiménez Quartet (RCA Víctor, 1948) and the one by Joe Valle with Moncho Usera and his orchestra (Seeco, 1949).

Theme

Together with

La Borinqueña "" (from the native name of Puerto Rico, ''Borinquen'' or ''Boriquen''), ) is the official anthem of Puerto Rico. After Puerto Rico became known as "The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico" in 1952, the first elected governor, Luis Muñoz Marín, sig ...

and Preciosa, "En mi Viejo San Juan" is considered a

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and Europea ...

by many Puerto Ricans, especially those who live far away from their Caribbean homeland,

. In this context, the song was put in juxtaposition with Anglo songs including America from

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play '' Romeo and Juliet'', the story is set in the mid ...

and America by Neil Diamond. In more general terms, and despite its original military motivation and origins, the song reflects the sentiments of not just Puerto Ricans stationaed abroad as servicemen as was Estrada's brother Eloy Jr., but those of the entire DiaspoRican community as well. By all measures, nevertheless, the song is a reflection of Estrada's "intimate" love connection with his motherland.

Popularity

"En mi Viejo San Juan" is considered a classic and has been performed by numerous artists. Originally interpreted by El Trío Vegabajeño, the song would later be interpreted by artists like Luis Miguel, Javier Solis,

Vikki Carr Florencia Vicenta de Casillas-Martínez Cardona (born July 19, 1940), known by her stage name Vikki Carr, is an American vocalist. She has a singing career that spans more than four decades. Born in El Paso, Texas, to Mexican parents, she has p ...

Danny Rivera Danny Rivera (born 27 February 1945) is a singer and songwriter born in San Juan whose career spans nearly 50 years. He is well known in Puerto Rico for his political activism. In 2008, Rivera acquired Dominican Republic citizenship. After 12 ye ...

Marco Antonio Muñiz Marco Antonio Muñiz (born 3 March 1933) is a Mexican singer from Jalisco, Mexico. Known all over Latin America, he also acted in the 1965 film '' Sinful'' ( Spanish: El Pecador). He belongs to the Golden Age of Mexican cinema. Early life and car ...

, Trío Los Panchos,

Rafael Cortijo Rafael Antonio Cortijo (December 11, 1928 – October 3, 1982) was a Puerto Rican musician, orchestra leader, composer and percussion instrument craftsman. Early Career As a child, Cortijo became interested in Caribbean music and enjoyed th ...

Ismael Rivera Ismael Rivera a.k.a. "Maelo" (October 5, 1931 – May 13, 1987), was a Puerto Rican composer and salsa singer. Early life Rivera was born in Santurce, Puerto Rico, a sector of San Juan, Puerto Rico. He was the first of five children born t ...

, Celia Cruz, and

Rocío Dúrcal María de los Ángeles de las Heras Ortiz (4 October 1944 – 25 March 2006), better known professionally as Rocío Dúrcal (), was a Spanish singer and actress. Widely successful in Mexico, she earned the sobriquet of ''Reina de las Rancheras'' ...

, plus "hundreds of other voices including

Libertad Lamarque Libertad Lamarque Bouza (; 24 November 1908 – 12 December 2000) was a Mexican-Argentine actress and singer, one of the icons of the Golden Age of Argentine and Mexican cinema. She achieved fame throughout Latin America, and became known as " ...

, Ginamaría Hidalgo, and Felipe Pirela. In 1999, Mexican singer-songwriter

Marco Antonio Solís Marco Antonio Solís Sosa (born 29 December 1959) is a Mexican musician, singer, composer, and record producer. Born and raised in Ario de Rosales, Michoacán, Solís began his musical career at the age of six, performing part of Los Hermanito ...

performed a live cover of the song during his concert in the Centro de Bellas Artes which was included on his live album '' En Vivo'' (2000). His version peaked at number 23 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Latin Songs and number eight on the

Regional Mexican Airplay Regional Mexican Airplay (also referred to as Regional Mexican Songs) is a record chart published by ''Billboard'' magazine. It was established by the magazine on October 8, 1994, with "La Niña Fresa" by Banda Zeta being the first number-one so ...

charts in the United States. In 2012, American pianist

Arthur Hanlon Arthur Hanlon is an American pianist, songwriter and arranger who is widely known in the Latin music realm and has had multiple hits on the Billboard chartMarc Anthony for Hanlon's album ''Encanto del Caribe'' (2012). It was presented during the first concert to ever be recorded on the Castillo de San Cristóbal. The song has also been recorded in at least three other languages in addition to its original Spanish version: English, German, and French. "There are versions in all musical genres, including

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to inst ...

, acústico,

tango Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries as the result of a combina ...

bolero Bolero is a genre of song which originated in eastern Cuba in the late 19th century as part of the trova tradition. Unrelated to the older Spanish dance of the same name, bolero is characterized by sophisticated lyrics dealing with love. It has ...

ranchera Ranchera () or canción ranchera is a genre of traditional music of Mexico. It dates to before the years of the Mexican Revolution. Rancheras today are played in virtually all regional Mexican music styles. Drawing on rural traditional folk musi ...

, and even a disco version by Oscar Solo". The song is heard in over 50 Mexican and over 20 Puerto Rican motion pictures, including "Romance en Puerto Rico" (1961) and Antonio Aguilar's "Mi aventura en Puerto Rico" (1975). "En mi Viejo San Juan" has been recorded by American, Russian, German, French, Japanese orchestras, among others. The first known interpretation in French was by the vedette Lolita Cuevas. At least over 1,000 distinct recordings of the song have been made worldwide. The only other

s to have achieved such popularity are "Obsesión" and "Perdón" (by Pedro Flores) y "Piel canela" (by

Bobby Capó Félix Manuel "Bobby" Rodríguez Capó (January 1, 1922 – December 18, 1989) was a Puerto Rican singer and songwriter. He usually combined ballads with classical music and was deeply involved in Puerto Rican folk elements and even Andalusi ...

) followed by "Desvelo de amor" and "Capullito de alelí" (by

Rafael Hernández Marín Rafael Hernández Marín (October 24, 1892 – December 11, 1965) was a Puerto Rican songwriter, author of hundreds of popular songs in the Latin American repertoire. He specialized in Puerto Rican styles such as the canción, bolero and guarach ...

Legacy

In 1971, during the mayoral administration of

Carlos Romero Barcelo Carlos may refer to: Places ;Canada * Carlos, Alberta, a locality ;United States * Carlos, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Carlos, Maryland, a place in Allegany County * Carlos, Minnesota, a small city * Carlos, West Virginia ;Elsewhe ...

, the song was adopted as the official city anthem of the City of San Juan. The city of San Juan also passed a resolution making the author of the song (Estrada) an honorary citizen of the city. The 1988 Tato Laviera's "Mainstream Ethics" poem uses most of the lyrics of En mi Viejo San Juan to depict the Puerto Rican "revolving door" migration motif.''The Island as Mainland and the Revolving Door Motif.''
Patricia M. Montilla. A Companion to US Latino Literatures. Carlota Caulfield, Darién J. Davis, eds. p.51.

Recordings

Following is a partial list of recordings of the song by year. * Noel Estrada (RCA Victor, 1943) * El Trio Vegabajeño (RCA Victor, 1943) * Manuel Jiménez Quartet (RCS Victor, 1948) * Joe Valle with Moncho Usera and his orchestra (Seeco, 1949) *Julito Rodríguez y su Trío Los Primos (Ansonia, 1957) *Ñico & His Latin Brass (Discuba, 1960) *Cortijo y Su Combo en voz de Ismael Rivera (Gema, 1961) *Billo's Caracas Boys en voz de José Luis Rodríguez (Velvet, 1964) *Gilberto Monroig (Borinquen, 1964) *Leroy Smith & His Melo’stone (Borinquen, 1964) *Javier Solís ( Columbia, 1965) *Luis Pérez Meza (

Musart Discos Musart is a Mexican record label founded in 1948. It is headquartered in Mexico City and remains one of the country's biggest labels, focusing on Mexican music, as well as international releases licensed from various labels around the world. ...

, 1965) *Libertad Lamarque ( RCA Victor, 1966) *Sonia La Única (RCA Victor, 1967) *Juan Legido (Velvet, 1967) * Felipe Rodríguez "La Voz" y su Trío Los Antares (RCA Victor, 1967) *Los Chavales de España en voz de Luis Tamayo ( Tico, 1967) *Quetcy Alma Martínez "La Lloroncita" (Pop Art, 1967) *Leo Marini con la Sonora Matancera (Seeco, 1972) *Antonio Aguilar (Musart, 1974) *Ismael Miranda (Fania, 1975) *Oscar Solo (Borinquen, 1977) *Francis "El Songo" Santana (Kubaney, 1979) *Ramoncito Rodríguez y su Trío Los Andinos (Ritmo y Sonido, 1991) *Prodigio Claudio (Combo, 1991) *Cuarteto Los Kintos (Disco Hit, 1992) *Julia Barrera ( CR, 1992) *Ángel Náter y su Orquesta Escambrón en voz de Noel Linares (Oeran, 1995) *Jimmy Rey (Sonolux, 1997) *Gerardito Fernández ( Sony Latin, 1998) *Charlie Zaa (Sonolux, 1998) *José Feliciano (PolyGram Latino, 1999) *Eddie Ricardo (Maci, 2003) *Lupillo Rivera (Sony Latin, 2004) *Modesto Nieves, virtuoso cuatrista (HCP, 2004)

Notes

References

{{authority control 1943 songs Songs about Puerto Rico Spanish-language songs North American anthems Marco Antonio Solís songs Vikki Carr songs Trio Los Panchos songs Celia Cruz songs Rocío Dúrcal songs Military history of Puerto Rico Boleros RCA Victor singles