Isabel Vargas Lizano was born in San Joaquín de Flores, Costa Rica. She goes by Chavela, which is a nickname for Isabel. At only 14, she fled her native country due to lack of musical career opportunities, seeking refuge in Mexico, where an entertainment industry was burgeoning. For many years she sang on the streets but in her thirties she became a professional singer. In her youth, she dressed as a man, smoked cigars, drank heavily, carried a gun and was known for her characteristic red jorongo, which she still dons in performances.
Her first album, Noche de Bohemia (Bohemian Night), was released in 1961 with the professional support of José Alfredo Jiménez, one of the foremost singer/songwriters of the Mexican cancion ranchera. Vargas has recorded over eighty albums thereafter. She was hugely successful during the 1950s, 1960s and the first half of the 70s, touring in Mexico, the United States, France and Spain and was close to many prominent artists and intellectuals of the time, including Juan Rulfo, Agustín Lara, Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, Dolores Olmedo and José Alfredo Jiménez. She partly retired in the late 1970s due to a 15 year-long battle with alcoholism, which she has described in her autobiography (Y si quieres saber de mi pasado [And if you want to know about my past], published in 2002) as "my 15 years in hell" At 81 years old, she publicly declared that she was a lesbian.
Vargas returned to the stage in 1991, performing at the venue "El Habito" in Coyoacan, Mexico City.She debuted at Carnegie Hall in 2003 at the age of 83 at the behest and promotion of Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar, a long-time admirer and personal friend of Vargas.
In April 2012 she released her latest album "Luna Grande" a tribute to Spanish poet Federico García Lorca.
Rogaciano
Chavela Vargas Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Se murio su huapanguero
Ya no se oye aquel falsete
Que es el alma del trovero
Rogaciano se llamaba
Rogaciano el huapanguero
Eran sones de la sierra
La azucena y la cecilia
Lloran, lloran sin consuelo
Malagueña salerosa
Ya se fue su pregonero
En los verdes cafetales
Más allá de aquel potrero
Alguien dice que de noche
Se aparece el huapanguero
Rogaciano se llamaba
Rogaciano el huapanguero
Eran sones de la sierra
Las canciones del trovero
La azucena y la cecilia
Lloran lloran sin consuelo
Malagueña salerosa
Ya se fue su pregonero
The lyrics to Chavela Vargas's song Rogaciano are a tribute to a talented and beloved huapanguero (a musician who performs the huapango, a traditional style of music from the Huasteca region of Mexico) named Rogaciano who has passed away. The first two lines set a mournful tone, stating that the Huasteca region is in mourning for its lost musician. The lyrics then lament that Rogaciano's distinctive falsetto voice, which is essential to the huapango, can no longer be heard. The chorus repeatedly emphasizes Rogaciano's name and his talent as a huapanguero.
Line by Line Meaning
La huasteca esta de luto
The Huasteca region is mourning
Se murio su huapanguero
Their huapanguero (folk musician) has died
Ya no se oye aquel falsete
One can no longer hear that falsetto voice
Que es el alma del trovero
Which is the soul of the troubadour
Rogaciano se llamaba
His name was Rogaciano
Rogaciano el huapanguero
Rogaciano, the huapanguero
Eran sones de la sierra
He played sones (a type of folk music) from the mountains
Las canciones del trovero
The songs of the troubadour
La azucena y la cecilia
The flowers Azucena and Cecilia
Lloran, lloran sin consuelo
Are crying, crying without consolation
Malagueña salerosa
Malagueña salerosa (a traditional song)
Ya se fue su pregonero
Their herald has already gone
En los verdes cafetales
In the green coffee fields
Más allá de aquel potrero
Beyond that pasture
Alguien dice que de noche
Someone says that at night
Se aparece el huapanguero
The huapanguero appears
La azucena y la cecilia
The flowers Azucena and Cecilia
Lloran lloran sin consuelo
Are crying, crying without consolation
Malagueña salerosa
Malagueña salerosa (a traditional song)
Ya se fue su pregonero
Their herald has already gone
Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing
Written by: VALERIANO TREJO OLGUIN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@mxstarman9505
Querida chamana que VIVA MÉXICO 🇲🇽
@adolfocastro7153
solo dios va a tener la suerte de tenerte para el solo y que le cantes a dios chabela descansa en paz
@margaritaramosotarola883
Descansa en Paz querida Guapanguera.
@vladimirjavierbasiliorazur9212
Hermoso!. En México Chavela. Acá Chabuca.
@pabouff
Adios, Lindisima Senora del Huapango !
@marcosvelazquez707
Chavela no era cantante era trovadora Chabela no cantaba Chabela sigue trovabdo
@Leticiaconz
Qué sentido tiene que en esta letra diga Malagueña salerosa?
@tenchorico2394
La Malagueña Salerosa es un canción en ritmo de Huapango. Ya que Rogaciano era el Hupanguero de su pueblo, es muy probable que la hallase cantado; por ello era su "pregonero" (alguien que mediante su voz difunde algo). Chao!
@mariasoto8600
Leticia con Z
La canción se llama Rogaciano "El huapanguero"...El Huapango es un ritmo muy popular en la música mexicana y "La malagueña salerosa" es como el himno del huapango porque no hay huspanguero quien no se la sepa.
@Leticiaconz
Muchas gracias. Conocemos "La malagueña salerosa" pero no nos habíamos fijado en que tiene ritmo de huapango. Un besico.