"De colores" ('' /nowiki>Made/nowiki> of Colors'') is a traditional

Spanish language Spanish () or Castilian () is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin spoken on the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. Today, it is a world language, gl ...

folk song Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

that is well known throughout the

Spanish-speaking world Hispanophone refers to anything related to the Spanish language. In a cultural, rather than merely linguistic sense, the notion of "Hispanophone" goes further than the above definition. The Hispanic culture is the legacy of the vast and prolonge ...

. It is widely used in the

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

Cursillo ''Cursillos in Christianity'' (, "Short courses of Christianity") is an apostolic movement of the Catholic Church. It was conceived in Spain between 1940 and 1949 and began with the celebration of the so-called "first course" from January 7 to 10, ...

movement and related communities such as the Great Banquet, Chrysalis Flight, ''Tres Días'',

Walk to Emmaus Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined as an "inverted pendulum" gait in which the body vaults over ...

, and Kairos Prison Ministry. The song is also associated with the

United Farm Workers The United Farm Workers of America, or more commonly just United Farm Workers (UFW), is a labor union for farmworkers in the United States. It originated from the merger of two workers' rights organizations, the National Farm Workers Associatio ...

union, as one of the most commonly heard songs during rallies.

History and origins of the song

Though the song is associated with

Mexican folklore Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

, it is not known for certain when and where it originated. It is believed to have been in circulation throughout the

Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...

since the 16th century, with melodies brought over from Spain during the

colonial era Colonial period (a period in a country's history where it was subject to management by a colonial power) may refer to: Continents *European colonization of the Americas * Colonisation of Africa * Western imperialism in Asia Countries * Col ...

. "De Colores" shares one of its melodic lines with the chorus of Italian folk song "Bella ragazza dalle trecce bionde." Some modern lyrics are widely understood to have been created by a group of Cursillo participants in

Majorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest of the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, seventh largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. The capital of the island, Palma, Majorca, Palma, i ...

, Spain, after one of the earliest Cursillo retreats in the 1940s. Today, in addition to being used as the unofficial anthem of the Farm Worker Movement and as an inspirational song in Cursillo workshops, the song is often taught in schools in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

—from elementary school to community colleges—as an example of a common Mexican folk song. It frequently appears in collections of children's songs.

Common song words

''De colores'' is typically sung in Spanish, but there are different English translations of the song in circulation, and the song has been translated into other languages. The lyrics depict an expression of joy and a celebration of all creation with its many bright colors. Below are five of the most commonly heard verses. Many additional verses (and variations of these verses) are known to exist, some including Christian references and some including more specific to farm life or labor union issues to be used as a rallying-song for farm-laborers.

Recordings

''De colores'' has been recorded by many different artists, including

Los Lobos Los Lobos (, Spanish for "the Wolves") is a Mexican American rock group, rock band from East Los Angeles, California. Their music is influenced by rock and roll, Tex-Mex, country, zydeco, folk, R&B, blues, brown-eyed soul, and traditional ...

Joan Baez Joan Chandos Baez (, ; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing mo ...

Raffi Raffi Cavoukian (, born July 8, 1948), known professionally by the mononym Raffi, is an Armenian-Canadian singer-lyricist and author born in Egypt best known for his children's music. In 1992, ''The Washington Post'' called him "the most p ...

Nana Mouskouri Ioanna "Nana" Mouskouri ( ; born 13 October 1934) is a Greek singer and politician. Over the span of her career, she has released an estimated 450 albums in at least thirteen languages, including Greek language, Greek, French language, French, ...

Tish Hinojosa Leticia ("Tish") Hinojosa (born December 6, 1955, San Antonio, Texas) is a singer-songwriter, recording in both Spanish and English. Early life and career Hinojosa is the youngest of 13 children. Hinojosa's parents were Mexican immigrants. K ...

Arlo Guthrie Arlo Davy Guthrie (born July 10, 1947) is an American folk music, folk singer-songwriter. He is known for singing protest song, songs of protest against social injustice, and storytelling while performing songs, following the tradition of his fa ...

, José-Luis Orozco, Justo Lamas, Baldemar Velasquez,

Tara Strong Tara Lyn Strong (; born February 12, 1973) is a Canadian and American actress. She is known for her voice work in animation, websites, and video games. Strong's voice roles include animated series such as '' The Powerpuff Girls'', '' The Fair ...

, Rachael Cantu,

Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and social activist. He was a fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s and had a string of hit records in the early 1950s as a member of The Weav ...

, Ismael Rivera, Nancy Honeytree, and

Tao Rodríguez-Seeger Tao Rodríguez-Seeger (born 1972) is an American contemporary folk musician. A founder of the Mammals, he is the grandson of folk musician Pete Seeger. He plays banjo, guitar, harmonica and sings in English and Spanish. Biography Rodríguez-See ...

; and has been referenced in the Flobots song " Handlebars". It was featured in the 1988 movie ''

The Milagro Beanfield War ''The Milagro Beanfield War'' is a 1988 American comedy-drama film directed by Robert Redford, based on a novel by John Nichols. The movie features an ensemble cast including Ruben Blades, Richard Bradford, Sônia Braga, Julie Carmen, James G ...

''. Part of the song was also performed in the 1989

biographical film A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or group of people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from Docudrama, docudrama films ...

Romero The name Romero is a nickname type of surname for an Ancient Roman or a modern day Italian. The name was originally derived from the Latin word Romaeus and the Greek word Romaios, which mean Rome, Roman. #A person on a religious journey or pilgrim ...

'' by Raúl Juliá, as Saint Óscar Romero, the Archbishop of San Salvador assassinated nine years prior, and a group of nuns. It was featured in an episode of the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

show ''

Let's Go Luna ''Let's Go Luna!'' is an educational animated children's television series created by Joe Murray that aired on PBS Kids. Murray formerly worked on the Nickelodeon animated series ''Rocko's Modern Life'' and Cartoon Network animated series ''Ca ...

'' in between the segments "What's the Big Idea?" and "The Day of the Dead".

References

{{reflist Mexican folk songs Songs in Spanish Joan Baez songs Year of song unknown Songs with unknown songwriters