"Luna de Xelajú" is a popular

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

waltz The waltz ( , meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom dance, ballroom and folk dance, in triple (3/4 time, time), performed primarily in closed position. Along with the ländler and allemande, the waltz was sometimes referred to by the ...

composed by

Paco Pérez Francisco "Paco" Pérez Muñoz (1916–1951) was a singer, composer, and guitarist from Guatemala. Biography Pérez was born on April 25, 1916, in Huehuetenango, Guatemala to José Pérez and Luz Muñoz. At the age of 6, he acted in the municipal t ...

in 1944. The title translates as "moon of Xelajú". "Xelajú" (pronounced sheh-lah-HOO) is the Kʼicheʼ Maya name for the Guatemalan city

Quetzaltenango Quetzaltenango (, also known by its Maya name Xelajú or Xela ) is a municipality and namesake department in western Guatemala. The city is located in a mountain valley at an elevation of above sea level at its lowest part. It may reach above ...

, popularly called "Xelajú", or "Xela". The song was written to Eugenia Cohen, with whom the author was in a relationship but who eventually left him, because her parents disapproved. Despite the specific context in which the song was written, it is sometimes referred to as Guatemala's second national anthem. The song has been performed by several musical acts, including Guatemalan singer and Grammy Award-winner

Gaby Moreno Maria Gabriela Moreno Bonilla (born 16 December 1981) is a Guatemalan singer-songwriter and guitarist. Singing in both English and Spanish, Moreno's music covers many genres including Latin, alternative, blues, folk and Americana. She has won ...

. In 2023, she recorded a collaboration with actor

Oscar Isaac Óscar Isaac Hernández Estrada (born March 9, 1979) is an American actor. Recognized for his versatility, he has been credited with breaking stereotypes about Hispanic and Latino Americans, Latino characters in Cinema of the United States, H ...

, which was released as a single and included on her album ''X Mí (Vol. 1)''.

Song lyrics

The following are the song's lyrics, although it is frequently performed instrumentally: Luna gardenia de plata Que mi serenata te vuelves canción Tú que me viste cantando Me ves hoy llorando mi desilusión Calles bañadas de luna Que fueron la cuna de mi juventud Vengo a cantarle a mi amada Mi luna plateada de mi Xelajú Vengo a cantarle a mi amada Mi luna plateada de mi Xelajú Luna de Xelajú Que supiste alumbrar En mis noches de pena Por una morena de dulce mirar Luna de Xelajú me diste inspiración La canción que hoy te canto Regada con llanto de mi corazón En mi vida no habrá Más cariño que tú Por que no eres ingrata Mi luna de plata Luna de Xelajú Luna que me alumbró En mis noches de amor Hoy consuelas la pena Por una morena Que me abandonó

Popular culture

"Luna de Xelajú" became a favorite among

Macintosh Mac is a brand of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 1984. The name is short for Macintosh (its official name until 1999), a reference to the McIntosh (apple), McIntosh apple. The current product lineup inclu ...

users in the mid-1990s, with the release of a novelty application called "Jared, the Butcher of Song", written and published by Freeverse Software. In the app, an

8-bit In computer architecture, 8-bit integers or other data units are those that are 8 bits wide (1 octet). Also, 8-bit central processing unit (CPU) and arithmetic logic unit (ALU) architectures are those that are based on registers or data bu ...

rendering of a smiley face attempts to sing the song, with light guitar accompaniment.Archived a
Ghostarchive
and th
Wayback Machine

References

External links

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"Luna de Xelajú"
performed by Gaby Moreno and Oscar Isaac Music of Guatemala Culture of Guatemala Songs in Spanish {{worldmusic-song-stub