María Natalia Lafourcade Silva (born 26 February 1984) is a Mexican pop and… Read Full Bio ↴María Natalia Lafourcade Silva (born 26 February 1984) is a Mexican pop and folk singer-songwriter who since her debut in 2003 has been one of the most successful singers in Latin America. Lafourcade's voice has been categorized as a lyric soprano.

Lafourcade was born in Mexico City, Mexico, surrounded by music and art. Her father is the Chilean musician Gastón Lafourcade who had French parents and her mother is the pianist María del Carmen Silva Contreras. Her uncle is the Chilean writer Enrique Lafourcade, a representative of the so-called "Generation of the 50s". She attended Instituto Anglo Español, a Catholic middle school, and studied painting, flute, theater, music, acting, piano, guitar, saxophone and singing. When she was 10, Natalia sang in a Mariachi group.

She grew up in Coatepec, Veracruz, Mexico, where she studied music with her mother, María del Carmen Silva Contreras, imitating artists such as Gloria Trevi and Garibaldi. Her mother studied piano with a specialty in musical pedagogy and is the creator of the Macarsi Method for musical training and personal development for children and educators. She adapted and practiced the method with Natalia to help her rehabilitate through music following a head injury from being kicked by a horse.

When she was 17, Loris Ceroni gave Lafourcade the opportunity to be in a pop/rock group under his guidance. Lafourcade was hesitant, and Ceroni instead encouraged her to become independent. Lafourcade produced her first LP under the label of Sony Music. It was recorded in Italy and was cowritten with Aureo Baqueiro. Sabo Romo played in 2 songs. Natalia Lafourcade is a mix of pop, rock, bossa-nova and Latin rhythms. It features the songs "Busca Un Problema", "Elefantes", "Te Quiero Dar", "Mírame, Mírate", and her biggest hit, "En El 2000".

In 2005, she released Casa, her second album, but this time as Natalia y La Forquetina, the name of her band. Produced mostly by Café Tacuba's Emmanuel del Real, Casa presents a more mature, rock-oriented sound while retaining pop and bossa-nova influences on a few tracks, such as lead single "Ser Humano" (pop-rock) and its follow-up "Casa" (pop-bossa-nova). Aureo Baqueiro returned to produce the few tracks not produced by del Real. More than a year after Natalia departed from La Forquetina, she recorded an instrumental album called The 4 Seasons of Love under Sony BMG label. She also wrote the Lyrics for "Tú y Yo" from Ximena Sariñana's self-titled album.

In 2009, she released the album Hu Hu Hu, a top 10 album in Mexico. The album was produced by Emmanuel del Real (who produced "Casa" in 2005), Marco Moreno and Ernesto García. It was nominated for Best female Pop Vocal Album at the 2009 Latin Grammy Awards (won by Laura Pausini) and Best Latin Pop album at the 2010 Grammy Awards (won by La Quinta Estación). Club Fonograma also named the album the second best of 2009, and the seventh best of the decade.

In 2012, she released a tribute album to Agustín Lara called Mujer Divina.

Her next album, Hasta La Raíz, was released in March 2015. "Nunca Es Suficiente" (It's Never Enough), the first single off the album, was released on 10 February. The track "Hasta La Raíz" was No. 5 of the Viral 50 Global Spotify Chart and the No. 1 on the Viral 50 México chart.

In 2017, she recorded "Remember Me" as a duet with contemporary R&B singer Miguel for the credits of the movie Coco, and together they also performed the song at the 90th Academy Awards ceremony.

2020 saw her release the eponymous Un Canto por México, Vol. 1.

In 2023, She won a Grammy for her album " Un Canto Por México - El Musical"

Un Pato
Natalia Lafourcade Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Un pato
Que va cantando alegremente, qua, qua
Cuando se encuentra a un lindo gato, miau, miau
Para cantar bossa-nova

Un ganso
Se entusiasmo alegremente, qua, qua
Para cantar hacia la gente, qua, qua

Y un perrito que ahí estaba
Empezó a cantar

Cuando quería ensayar
El pobre pato se desafinó
Cuchi, cuchi, cu, no le sale
Sus notas feas eran peor que las del gato
La voz del pato era más que un desacato
Y en la nota final lo empujaron al agua
Y se puso a nadar

Qui, qui, qui, qui
La-ra-na, qui, qui, qui
Qui, qui, qui, qui
Un pato
Se entusiasmo alegremente, qua, qua
Para cantar hacia la gente, qua, qua
Y les canta bossa-nova (qua, qua, qua)
M-mm, m-mm, m-mm-mm

Cuando quería ensayar
El pobre pato se desafinó
Cuchi, cuchi, cu, no le sale
Sus notas feas eran peor que las del gato
La voz del pato era más que un desacato
Y en la nota final lo empujaron al agua
Y se puso a nadar

Qui, qui, qui, qui
La-ra-na, qui, qui, qui
Qui, qui, qui
Un pato
Un pato
Tibiribi, unabani
Parara, pa, pa
Qui, qui, ah
Qui, qui, qui
Qui, qui, qui

Tibiribinabisubiru
Yeah

Overall Meaning

The song "Un Pato" by Natalia Lafourcade is a lighthearted and playful tune that tells the story of a duck who loves to sing bossa nova. The first verse describes a scene where the duck meets a cat and together they start singing in harmony. The second verse introduces a goose and a dog who join the duck in song. However, when the time comes to rehearse, the poor duck finds that he can't sing a single note in tune. His voice is so terrible that the other animals push him into the water, where he starts swimming and singing happily once more.

At its core, "Un Pato" appears to be a song about embracing your own unique quirks and talents, even if others may not appreciate them. The duck's terrible singing voice is not a hindrance to his joy in performing, nor does it diminish his love of music. He keeps singing and swimming, spreading joy and excitement wherever he goes.

The upbeat rhythm and playful lyrics of "Un Pato" make it a popular song among children and adults alike. It has been covered numerous times by different artists and is considered a classic among Latin American children's songs.

Line by Line Meaning

Un pato
A duck

Que va cantando alegremente, qua, qua
Who goes singing cheerfully, qua, qua

Cuando se encuentra a un lindo gato, miau, miau
When he meets a pretty cat, meow, meow

Para cantar bossa-nova
To sing bossa-nova

Un ganso
A goose

Se entusiasmo alegremente, qua, qua
He was excited cheerfully, qua, qua

Para cantar hacia la gente, qua, qua
To sing towards people, qua, qua

Y un perrito que ahí estaba
And a little dog that was there

Empezó a cantar
Started to sing

Cuando quería ensayar
When he wanted to rehearse

El pobre pato se desafinó
The poor duck got off key