Born in the "City of Palaces" (Mexico City), Eugenia Leon discovers her musical calling at the College of Sciences and Humanities in Naucalpan, where she lent her voice for the compositions of her schoolmates.
During the turbulent 70's, young people started to identify with the musical movement known as La Trova, singing about Latin American life, liberty, and soul.
Those influences defined her style and her future path, and she never looked back.
When she turned 18, she decided to study at the National School of Music. Those were hard times, constantly switching jobs, and learning from life's blows and surprises.
Encouraged by her sister, Eugenia Leon formed a musical group called "Victor Jara", with a totally Latin American folk style. Afterwards, she forms the group Sanampay, with the same roots. She left Sanampay in 1982 to pursue a solo career, based on a repertoire of songs from contemporary Mexican composers, and including also boleros and music from Brazil.
She releases her first recording in 1983, "Asi te quiero", and traveled all over Mexico with a small group of musicians playing in various gigs.
Eugenia Leon's career took a definite turn in 1985, when she entered the OTI International Festival at Seville (Spain) representing Mexico, with Marcial Alejandro's song "El Fandango Aqui". As a devastating earthquake hits Mexico City on September 19th, right while she's competing at the Festival, Eugenia transformed the pain of her people into strength, and turned her voice into the utmost expression of courage and hope. She was awarded First Place in the competition.
Since then, she has recorded more than 20 albums, all diverse and unique. Among the composers that have given her songs are Fito Paez, David Haro, Joan Manuel Serrat, Marcial Alejandro, Armando Manzanero, Jose Alfredo Jimenez, Francisco Gabilondo Soler and Maria Grever. She has also explored diverse styles such as mariachi, bolero and tango. In 1998, the government of the Mexican state of Veracruz granted her the Agustin Lara award, as homage for her excellent interpretation of the songs of the famous composers.
Commemorating her 30 years as singer, Eugenia Leon staged a concert at the National Auditorium in Mexico City (the largest venue in the country) on November 1st, 2003, selling it out completely. The concert was a spectacular show with Mariachi Vargas and the Orquesta Sinfonica de las Americas, enthralling the audience with samples covering Eugenia's entire career and musical repertoire.
Eugenia Leon is the best Mexican singer according to many, while others also consider Eugenia's concerts and recordings to be a guarantee of high quality. In any case, Eugenia helps to make sure that the musical spirit of Mexico will remain alive and well.
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Eugenia León got her start in the New Song Movement, Latin America's equivalent to the rise of Bob Dylan and company in North America and Europe. With a repertoire that pairs contemporary composers with the creators of the traditional music of Latin America and Mexico, Ms. León is not locked in to any one genre. Rather she seeks to nurture her music with elements of theater, cabaret, and opera. Her association with actors, poets, painters, and writers imparts a distinct and rich dimension to the production and staging of her music.
In 1985, her rich voice and assured stage presence guaranteed her the top prize at the OTI International Song Festival in Spain. Since then she has participated in other prestigious events such as the Pan Pacific Music Festival in Japan, the Kennedy Center’s AmericArtes Festival in Washington, DC, the Latin Festival in New York City, Expo Seville in Spain, and the Americas Summit in Cartagena, Colombia. Ms. León was also invited to entertain the thousands of women gathered for their global summit in Beijing, China.
Back home in Mexico, audiences know that Eugenia León's musical style transcends the trendy ups and downs of the world of commercial music, and she regularly packs the top venues of the nation meeting demands of fans expectant of quality songs passionately delivered. This performer/audience relationship, she believes, leads to ever higher levels of musical culture in a country fairly bursting with song. The end of an Eugenia León concert often finds the entire crowd on it's feet applauding, at once, the Mexican popular music culture, and the artist who has given it a new voice.
With her roots deep in Mexican culture, she has also taken on the task of reaffirming the ties with other Latin American cultures. Her recent live recording of Tangos has renewed Mexico's love affair with this genre.
Along these lines, she paid homage to Mexico's most dearly loved children's song composer, Francisco Gabilondo Soler’s Cri Cri (Mister Cricket) with a shimmering recording of many of his most frolicsome melodies. Accompanied by the Baja California Symphony Orchestra, Eugenia León has gifted a new generation of Mexican children with the imagination and identity of this joyfully playful tunesmith.
Malena
Eugenia León Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Y en cada verso pone su corazón
A yuyo del suburbio su voz perfuma
Malena tiene pena de bandoneón
Tal vez allá en la infancia su voz de alondra
Tomó ese tono oscuro de callejón
O acaso aquel romance que sólo nombra
Cuando se pone triste con el alcohol
Malena canta el tango con voz de sombra
Malena tiene pena de bandoneón
Tu canción tiene el frío del último encuentro
Tu canción se hace amarga en la sal del recuerdo
Yo no sé si tu voz es la flor de una pena
Sólo sé que al rumor de tus tangos
Malena te siento más buena
Más buena que yo
Tus ojos son oscuros como el olvido
Tus labios apretados como el rencor
Tus manos dos palomas que sienten frío
Tus venas tienen sangre de bandoneón
Tus tangos son criaturas abandonadas
Que cruzan por el barro del callejón
Cuando todas las puertas están cerradas
Y ladren los fantasmas de la canción
Malena canta el tango con voz quebrada
Malena tiene pena de bandoneón
The lyrics of Eugenia Leòn's song "Malena" tell the story of a woman who sings tango like no one else. In each verse, she pours her heart out, infusing her voice with the essence of the suburb's weed. Malena carries a heartache that resonates with the melancholy sound of the bandoneón, a traditional Argentine instrument often associated with tango.
The lyrics suggest that Malena's unique and dark tone may have originated from her childhood in the streets, or perhaps from a love affair that she only mentions when she becomes sad and turns to alcohol. Her tango singing is described as having a shadowy voice, and the sorrow she feels is compared to that of a bandoneón.
The lyrics further explore Malena's emotions and experiences through vivid imagery. Her song is likened to the coldness of a final encounter and the bitterness of memories. It is unclear whether her voice represents the flower of sorrow, but it is undeniable that her tangos evoke deep feelings. The singer admits to feeling that Malena is better than them, and is touched by the rawness and authenticity in her tango.
Malena's appearance is also described, with her eyes being as dark as oblivion, her lips tightly closed like resentment, her hands cold like two doves, and her veins flowing with the blood of a bandoneón. Her tangos are portrayed as abandoned creatures that traverse the muddy alleyways, when all the doors are closed and the ghosts of the song start to howl.
Overall, "Malena" is a poetic and introspective song that delves into the complexity of a woman's emotions expressed through the art of tango.
Line by Line Meaning
Malena canta el tango como ninguna
Malena sings the tango like no one else
Y en cada verso pone su corazón
And in each verse, she puts her heart
A yuyo del suburbio su voz perfuma
Her voice perfumes the suburb's weed
Malena tiene pena de bandoneón
Malena has the sorrow of a bandoneón
Tal vez allá en la infancia su voz de alondra
Maybe back in her childhood, her voice like a lark
Tomó ese tono oscuro de callejón
Took on that dark tone of the alley
O acaso aquel romance que solo nombra
Or perhaps that romance she only mentions
Cuando se pone triste con el alcohol
When she gets sad with alcohol
Malena canta el tango con voz de sombra
Malena sings the tango with a shadowy voice
Malena tiene pena de bandoneón
Malena has the sorrow of a bandoneón
Tu canción tiene el frío del último encuentro
Your song has the coldness of the last encounter
Tu canción se hace amarga en la sal del recuerdo
Your song becomes bitter in the salt of memory
Yo no sé si tu voz es la flor de una pena
I don't know if your voice is the flower of sorrow
Sólo sé que al rumor de tus tangos
I only know that at the sound of your tangos
Malena te siento más buena
Malena I feel you're better
Más buena que yo
Better than me
Tus ojos son oscuros como el olvido
Your eyes are dark like forgetfulness
Tus labios apretados como el rencor
Your lips are tight like resentment
Tus manos dos palomas que sienten frío
Your hands are two doves that feel cold
Tus venas tienen sangre de bandoneón
Your veins have the blood of a bandoneón
Tus tangos son criaturas abandonadas
Your tangos are abandoned creatures
Que cruzan por el barro del callejón
That cross through the mud of the alley
Cuando todas las puertas están cerradas
When all the doors are closed
Y ladren los fantasmas de la canción
And the ghosts of the song bark
Malena canta el tango con voz quebrada
Malena sings the tango with a broken voice
Malena tiene pena de bandoneón
Malena has the sorrow of a bandoneón
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Demare, Manzi
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind