"Guadalajara" is a well-known mariachi song written and composed by Pepe Guízar in 1937. Guízar wrote the song in honor of his hometown, the city of the same name and state capital of the Mexican state of Jalisco.
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Versions
The song was first popularized by Lucha Reyes, a Mexican singer who was born in Guadalajara and is often regarded as the "mother of ranchera music".
In the 1940s, Mexican singer Irma Villa recorded the song and sang it in the musical film Canta y no llores... (1949). Her rendition was later remastered and released in the compilation album Irma Villa, La Reina del Falsete: Todos sus éxitos.
In the early 1950s, Mexican singer Flor Silvestre recorded the song for Columbia Records; her version became a success and was included in two compilation albums: Canciones mexicanas, vol. 1 and Flor Silvestre canta sus éxitos (1964).
Demetrio González, a Spanish-born singer of Mexican music, performed the song in the film Los cinco halcones (1962).
One of the most popular interpretations outside of Mexico was that of Elvis Presley in the final scene of the film Fun in Acapulco (1963). Other notable non-Mexican interpreters of this song were Nat King Cole on his album More Cole Español (1962), Percy Faith on Viva the Music of Mexico (1958), and Desi Arnaz on The Best of Desi Arnaz Mambo King. Among the notable Mexican interpreters are to mention Rafael Jorge Negrete and Vicente Fernández.
Lyrics
The entire lyrics are published below. Many performers omit some of the verses. For example, Pedro Infante and Elvis Presley have only sung the first two verses; Presley sang the second verse twice and replaced the first two lines in the repetition as follows: Ay ay ay ay ay ay! Mis hermanos. Ay ay ay ay! Mexicanos. (i.e. Ay ay ay ay ay ay! My brothers. Ay ay ay ay! Mexicans.).