LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Next, we hear a story about the spirit of Los Angeles. It's part of our series called Songs That Move You from NPR's radio show and podcast Alt.Latino, hosted by Anamaria Sayre and Felix Contreras.
ANAMARIA SAYRE, BYLINE: As Los Angeles grapples with the recent wildfires, I've been finding solace in the sound that, to me, is quintessential LA - mariachi.
(SOUNDBITE OF MARIACHI LOCO SONG, "MARIACHI LOCO (EN VIVO)")
SAYRE: Growing up in Southern California, it was the soundtrack to life at home or family parties until a few months ago when it made its way onto the record of one of the most famous rappers in the world. OK, Felix, get this. It's Game 1 of the 2024 World Series, Yankees versus Dodgers. Mexican baseball legend Fernando Valenzuela had just died. And so to open the game, he's being honored by a sound that many Angelinos mourn to - crying mariachi voices.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
DEYRA BARRERA: (Singing in Spanish).
SAYRE: That voice, that's Valenzuela's friend, who, until then, was little-known singer Deyra Barrera. As luck would have it - or maybe you could say that it's just so LA - Kendrick Lamar happens to be in the crowd soaking up that morning grito. The LA Dodgers would go on to win the World Series, and Kendrick Lamar was so moved by Barrera's voice that he invited her to be the first voice heard on his latest album, "GNX."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WACCED OUT MURALS")
BARRERA: (Singing in Spanish).
KENDRICK LAMAR: (Rapping) Yesterday, somebody whacked out my mural. That energy'll make you [expletive] move to Europe.
FELIX CONTRERAS, BYLINE: And the rest, as they say, is history. And for this week's Songs That Move You, we ask Barrera to tell us about a song that moves her.
BARRERA: (Speaking Spanish).
SAYRE: Barrera says the song "My Way" or "A Mi Manera," done by the late mariachi superstar Vicente Fernandez, is about the passing of time for each of us.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "A MI MANERA")
VINCENTE FERNANDEZ: (Singing in Spanish).
BARRERA: (Speaking Spanish).
SAYRE: The song talks about living life your way. So many things happen, things we let go of that we didn't understand. At the end, you did what you wanted your way. But for her, it's not just a message in a song. It's about who in her life lived on her own terms.
BARRERA: (Speaking Spanish).
SAYRE: She says she grew up watching her mom sing, and it was her who taught Barrera her first chords on the guitar before she continued to study music, vocals and performance. Like for me, mariachi was the sound of family for Barrera.
BARRERA: (Speaking Spanish).
SAYRE: She told us she loved just watching her mom play and sing with her guitar. And instead of playing with the other kids, she watched the adults sing and would say, I want to sing. I want to sing.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "A MI MANERA")
BARRERA: (Singing in Spanish).
SAYRE: And she became a singer like her mother. Today, life looks different for Barrera and her mom.
BARRERA: (Speaking Spanish).
SAYRE: Now Barrera's mother is living with dementia, but her memory lives immortalized in the emotional delivery of the song she sang and in Barrera's voice, too.
CONTRERAS: You know, Ana, this song can seem like a curious choice for a mariachi singer, but if we trace the musical breadcrumbs left in its wake, it makes total sense. The song is mostly associated with Frank Sinatra. He released it in March of 1969.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MY WAY")
FRANK SINATRA: (Singing) And I stood tall and did it my way.
CONTRERAS: And it was his song until the flamenco group, the Gipsy Kings, did a popular Spanish language remake in 1987.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "A MI MANERA (COMME D'HABITUDE)")
GIPSY KINGS: (Singing in Spanish).
CONTRERAS: Which expanded the message of self-determination and perseverance to a worldwide Spanish-speaking audience. And the Spanish cover of a popular English language song is not rare. In fact, it reflects the bilingual and bicultural way of life for us Latinos in this country. And while the Gipsy Kings had a hit with their flamenco-tinged interpretation, what paved the way for that was the mariachi take on it released a few years before.
SAYRE: Barrera's favorite version will always be the king of mariachis. And as Barrera's mom's memory slips away, she told us it gives her peace, knowing that through it all, her mother, a singer from Sonora, Mexico, an immigrant to Los Angeles, she lived her life her way.
BARRERA: (Speaking Spanish).
SAYRE: The song is something really close to her heart, she said, a lesson to hold on to from LA to the world.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "A MI MANERA")
FERNANDEZ: (Singing in Spanish).
FADEL: Anamaria Sayre and Felix Contreras, the hosts of Alt.Latino. It's a podcast and radio show that takes a weekly look at Latin music and culture. You can find it online, on the NPR app and on your radio. And they want to hear about a song that moves you. Write to them at alt.latino@npr.org.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "A MI MANERA")
FERNANDEZ: (Singing in Spanish). Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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