“Los campanilleros” is an Andalussian dearest song. Originally, “Los campanilleros” was a Christmass song, but soon it had other connotations due to some lines of the song. A campanillero (maybe could be translated as bell-player) is a person who plays with others religious songs with guitars, bells and other instruments.
This is one of the most known versions:
En los pueblos de mi Andalucía
los campanilleros por la "madrugá"
me despiertan con sus campanillas
y con sus guitarras me hacen llorar.
Yo empiezo a cantar, …
y al oírme todos los pajarillos
que están en las ramas se echan a volar.
Pajarillos que vais por el campo,
seguid a la estrella, volad a Belén,
que os espera un niño chiquito
que el Rey de los Cielos y la Tierra es.
Volad a Belén, …
que os espera un niño chiquito,
que el Rey de los Cielos y la Tierra es.
En la noche de la Nochebuena,
bajo las estrellas y por la "madrugá"
los pastores, con sus campanillas,
adoran al Niño que ha nacido ya.
Y con devoción, …
van tocando zambombas, panderos,
cantando las coplas al Niño de Dios.
A la puerta de un rico avariento
llegó Jesucristo y limosna pidió,
y en lugar de darle una limosna
los perros que había se los azuzó.
Pero quiso Dios, …
que al momento los perros murieran
y el rico avariento pobre se quedó.
Si supieras la entrada que tuvo
el Rey de los cielos en Jerusalén
no quiso ni coches ni calesas,
sino un jumentito que "alquilao" fue.
Quiso demostrar, …
que las puertas divinas del cielo
tan solo las abre la Santa humildad.
In the villages of my Andalusia/ the campanilleros awake me/ at dawn/ and with their guitars make me cry./ I start to sing,/ and hearing me/ all the little birds/ that are in the branches go flying.// Little birds that go by the fields,/ follow the star, fly to Betlehem,/ for a little kid is waiting for you/ for he is the king of Heaven and earth.// In Christmass Eve/ under the stars and at dawn/ the sheepherds with their bells/ worship the now born Kid./ And with devotion…/ they go playing zambombas, tambourines,/ singing couples to God’s Child.// To an old miser man’s door/ came Jesuschrist and asked alms,/ and instead of give him alms, he bait the dogs he had./ But God wanted/ the dogs die at that moment/ and the old miser became poor.// If you knew the kind entry/ the King of Heaven had in Jerusalem,/ he didn’t want cars nor buggy,/ but a rented little donkey./ He wanted to prove/ that the Heaven Holy Gates/ only can be open by the Holy Humility.
Many singers, like the great “Niña de la Puebla”, and groups made a version of this folk-song. Between them I choose two.
Jarcha (that is the name of a mozarabian poetic form) was an Andalussian folk group from Huelva. Was formed in 1972 by María Isabel Martín, Lola Bon, Antonio A. Ligero, Ángel Corpa, Crisanto Martín, Gabi Travé and Rafael Castizo, although many members were changing. Jarcha’s music is Andalussian traditional songs, but with pop arranges. Jarcha also sung poems of Federico García Lorca, Rafael Alberti, Salvador Távora and Miguel Hernández. In his 1975 álbum, Andalucía vive (Andalusia is alive), Jarcha included this version of "Los campanilleros".
En la puerta de un rico avariento
llegó Jesucristo y limosna pidió,
y en lugar de darle la limosna
los perros que había fue y se los echó.
Pero quiso Dios
que los perros de pronto murieran
y el rico avariento pobre se quedó.
Pajarillos que estáis en las ramas
buscando el amor y la libertad,
corre, ve y dile al hombre que quiero
que venga a mi reja por la ‘madrugá’.
Y cuando le vi,
una rosa de vivos colores
corté de su tallo y a él se la di.
En los campos de mi Andalucía
los campanilleros en la ‘madrugá’
me despiertan con sus campanillas
y con sus guitarras me hacen llorar.
Me hacen llorar…
Y al oírlo ‘tos’ los pajarillos
que están en las ramas se echan a volar.
To an old miser man’s door/ came Jesuschrist and asked alms,/ and instead of give him alms, he bait the dogs he had./ But God wanted/ the dogs die at that moment/ and the old miser became poor.// Little birds that are at the branches/ looking for love and freedom,/ run and go to tell the man that I want/ him to come to my fence door at dawn./ And when I saw him,/ I cut a colorful rose from its stalk/ and I gave it to him.// In the fields of my Andalusia/ the campanilleros at dawn/ they awake me with their little bells/ and with their guitars make me cry./ They make me cry…/ And when all the little birds that are in the branches hear it/ take a fly.
Nuestro Pequeño Mundo (Our Little World) was a folk group born in 1968 under the auspiciuos of great folklorist and folksinger Joaquín Díaz. Its original members were Pilar Alonso "Pat", Laura Muñoz, Ignacio Sáenz de Tejada, Juan Alberto Arteche, Juan Ignacio Cuadrado, Chema Martínez, Jaime Ramiro y Gabriel Arteche: many of them were also musician in the recordings and recitals of many songwriters. NPM was one of the first group of that which is name is World Music: a band of interpreters of folk music from all around the world: Pete Seeger, Dubliners, Nina Simone, Kingston Trio; Peter, Paul & Mary; of Spanish songwriters like Lluís Llach, Serrat and Pablo Guerrero; and, of course, Spanish folk-songs. In his 1975’s album, Al amanecer (At dawn), included this wonderful version, with words of Jiménez Montesinos:
En los campos de mi Andalucía
los campanilleros en la madrugá
me despiertan con sus campanillas
y con sus guitarras me pongo a llorar.
Los gitanos que van por el monte,
cantando y bailando al amanecer
de mil soles que maduran el trigo
pudriendo el quejido de un viejo rabel,
suplicando al amor,
con las manos al cielo mirando
la frialdad del rocío
de un sabio cantor.
En la historia del mundo no ha habido
los gritos tan claros de una nación,
santiguando con agua bendita
las manos rojizas de un santo patrón
que reza al andar a las flores
de un campo marchito
cargadito de espinos
de amargo aguijón.
In the fields of my Andalusia/ the campanilleros at dawn/ they awake me with their little bells/ and with their guitars I start to cry.// The gypsys that go by the mount/ singing and dancing at dawn/ of a thousand suns that make mature the wheat/ rotting the mourn of an old rebec// begging to love/ with the hands to the sky looking/ the coldness of the dew/ from a wise singer.// In the history of world hasn’t been/ a nation’s so clear cries,/ making the sign of cross with holy water/ the red hands of a patron saint// that pray as he walks to the flowers/ of a withered field/ loaded of hawthorns/ with bitter sting.
La Zamarra de Gustavo 