"El reloj" () is a song of the

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 h ...

genre, with music and lyrics by Mexican composer and singer

Roberto Cantoral Roberto Cantoral García (7 June 1935 – 7 August 2010) was a Mexican composer, singer and songwriter. He was known for composing a string of hit Mexican songs, including "El Triste", "Al Final", "La Barca" and " El Reloj" The Sociedad de Auto ...

, then a member of the Los Tres Caballeros trio.

History

Cantoral composed the song in 1956, in

Washington D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, in front of the

Potomac River The Potomac River () is in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and flows from the Potomac Highlands in West Virginia to Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography D ...

, at the end of a Los Tres Caballeros tour of 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 ...

. During the tour he had had an affair with one of the girls participating in the show, who was to return to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

the next morning. This love episode, and the presence of a lounge clock during their last meeting, were the events that inspired Cantoral, who would soon turn the relatively trivial episode into the story of a deep love. Los Tres Caballeros premiered the song in 1957 and it was an immediate success. The following year it was recorded by trio

Los Panchos Originally, Trio Los Panchos were a '' trío romántico'' formed in New York City in 1944 by Alfredo Gil, Chucho Navarro, and the Puerto Rican Hernando Avilés. The trio became one of the leading exporters of the bolero and the romantic balla ...

in 1958. Since then, it has been interpreted by countless artists, in several languages. Lines from the song feature in a scene from the biographical film ''

Selena Selena Quintanilla-Pérez (; April 16, 1971 – March 31, 1995) was an American singer-songwriter. Known as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Tejano Music", her contributions to music and fashion made her one of the most cel ...

'' in which

Abraham Quintanilla Abraham Isaac Quintanilla Jr. (born February 22, 1939) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is the father of Tejano singer Selena and was her manager throughout her life. Quintanilla was born to a Mexican-American family in ...

teaches them to his daughter,

, by way of introducing her to the Mexican side of her

Chicano Chicano (masculine form) or Chicana (feminine form) is an ethnic identity for Mexican Americans that emerged from the Chicano Movement. In the 1960s, ''Chicano'' was widely reclaimed among Hispanics in the building of a movement toward politic ...

heritage.Christy Huffman.
"El reloj: the clock"
''Corsicana Daily Sun'', 16 December 2018.

Interpreters of "El reloj"

;Spanish version :*

José José José Rómulo Sosa Ortiz (17 February 1948 – 28 September 2019), known professionally as José José, was a Mexican singer. Also known as ''El Príncipe de la Canción'' (The Prince of Song), his performance and vocal style have influenced ma ...

Il Volo Il Volo (; ) is an Italians, Italian operatic pop Trio (music), trio, consisting of Gianluca Ginoble, Piero Barone, and Ignazio Boschetto. They describe their music as "popera". Having won the Sanremo Music Festival 2015, they represented Italy ...

Juan d'Arienzo Juan d'Arienzo (December 14, 1900 – January 14, 1976) was an Argentine tango musician, also known as ''"El Rey del Compás"'' (''King of the Beat''). He was a violinist, band leader, and composer. He was the son of Italian immigrants and used ...

José Feliciano José Montserrate Feliciano García (; born September 10, 1945) is a Puerto Rican musician. He recorded many international hits, including his rendition of the Doors' " Light My Fire" and his self-penned Christmas song "". Music genres he explo ...

Alejandro Fernández Alejandro Fernández Abarca (; born 24 April 1971) is a Mexican singer. Born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, he is the son of the Mexican singer Vicente Fernández. Nicknamed as " El Potrillo" by the media and his fans, he has sold over 20 million rec ...

Lucho Gatica Luis Enrique Gatica Silva (11 August 1928 – 13 November 2018),
''The New York Times''. Retriev ...

(

Latin Grammy Hall of Fame The Latin Grammy Hall of Fame is a hall of fame established by the Latin Recording Academy to recognize "early recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance that were released more than 25 years ago". LARAS is also the same organiza ...

inductee) :*

Luis Miguel Luis Miguel Gallego Basteri (; born 19 April 1970) is a Mexican singer and record producer. Born in Puerto Rico to an Italian mother and a Spanish father, he is often referred to as Honorific nicknames in popular music, ''El Sol de Mexico'' ...

(#2

Hot Latin Tracks The ''Billboard'' Hot Latin Songs (formerly Hot Latin Tracks and Hot Latin 50) is a record chart in the United States for Latin songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Since October 2012, chart rankings are based on digital sales, ...

, #1

Latin Pop Airplay Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area around Rome, Italy. Through the expansion of ...

; recipient of the BMI Latin Award in 1999) :*

Neil Sedaka Neil Sedaka (; born March 13, 1939) is an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Since his music career began in 1957, he has sold millions of records worldwide and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and other artists, collabo ...

:* :es:Jorge Valdez :* French Latino ;Japanese version :*

Chiemi Eri was a Japanese singer and actress. Eri was born as on January 11, 1937 in Tokyo, Japan. She was born to a musician father and a mother who was a singer, thus encouraging her musical career. She started her singing career at the age of 14 with ...

:* Graciela Susana :* ja:Teruhiko Aoi :* ja:Jun Anna :* ja:Yoichi Sugawara :* ja:Hiroshi Mizuhara

References

External links

El reloj (Youtube: Original version of 1957 by Los Tres Caballeros)
1957 songs 1997 singles Boleros Mexican songs Songs in Spanish Latin Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients Luis Miguel songs Song recordings produced by Luis Miguel Warner Music Latina singles Songs written by Roberto Cantoral {{Song-stub

History

Interpreters of "El reloj"

See also

References

External links