Career
Jurado began performing flamenco at a very young age, debuting on the big screen in 1962 with Los guerrilleros, acting alongside Manolo Escobar. She also played a main role in 1966's Proceso a una estrella and 1971's Una chica casi decente. While temporarily living in Argentina, the Spanish diva participated in a successful musical called La zapatera prodigiosa, based on Federico García Lorca's work. After teaming with composer Manuel Alejandro, Rocío Jurado became a major and beloved figure on the Latin music scene, acclaimed throughout America and Spain after releasing Muera el amor and Señora, among other hits.
Illness
In 2004, Jurado was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer for which she was treated in Houston, Texas in 2006. In April 2006, she was also treated for acute liver failure in a hospital in Madrid, Spain. On May 26, 2006, Spain's Culture Minister Carmen Calvo announced that Jurado had suffered a stroke, an assertion denied by Jurado's personal physician Dr. Domingo and by her brother and manager Amador Mohedano. She died at 5:15 in the morning on June 1st, 2006, at her home in La Moraleja, Madrid, aged 61. She is buried in her hometown, Chipiona, Cadiz, in the San José Cemetery.
Carmen de España
Rocío Jurado Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Cigarrera, de Sevilla.
Y a los guapos de Triana
Hago andar en coronilla.
Pero no es verdad la historia
Que de mi escribio un frances,
Al que haria en pepitoria
Si yo lo volviese a ver.
Si atravesara los Pirineos.
Carmen de Espana, manola.
Carmen de Espana, valiente.
Carmen con bata de cola
Pero cristiana y decente.
No se quien fue el El Escamillo
Ni tampoco don Jose
Y no manejo el cuchillo
Ni a la hora de comer.
Tengo fuego en la pestanas
Cuando miro a los gache.
Yo soy la Carmen de Espana,
Y no la de Merime,
Y no la de Merime.
Me han cantado en el teatro
Lo mismo que a la Traviata,
Mas le aviso a mas de cuatro
Que voy a meter la pata.
Pues me tiene hasta los pelos
Que ande suerta por hay
Una Carmen de camelo
Que no se parece a mi.
De los pinreles a la peineta
Yo le zumbaba la pandereta.
The lyrics of Rocío Jurado's song Carmen de España introduce the character of Carmen, who is a cigarette maker from Seville that commands the attention of the men from Triana. However, she clarifies that the story that a Frenchman wrote about her is not true, and that she would turn him into a stew if he was to cross the Pyrenees and see her again. Carmen emphasizes that she is the real Carmen from Spain, not the one written by Merimee. She is a courageous woman who wears a flamenco dress with a long train and has fire in her eyes when she looks at men. Despite her reputation, she is a decent and Christian woman that doesn't know who El Escamillo or Don Jose are, nor does she handle a knife at the dinner table. Her frustration with the imitators that don't resemble her inspires her to state that she would beat them with a tambourine.
The song describes the archetype of the passionate and charismatic Carmen that has become a recurring representation in literature and music. The lyrics emphasize the contrast between the real Carmen and the distorted image that some authors have created, suggesting that the character has been seized to spin different narratives. Rocío Jurado's interpretation achieves expressiveness and energy that accentuates the vibrant persona of Carmen.
Line by Line Meaning
Yo soy Carmen la de Espana,
I am Carmen from Spain,
Cigarrera, de Sevilla.
A cigarette maker, from Seville.
Y a los guapos de Triana
And I make the handsome men of Triana
Hago andar en coronilla.
Walk around with their tails between their legs.
Pero no es verdad la historia
But the story is not true,
Que de mi escribio un frances,
That a Frenchman wrote about me,
Al que haria en pepitoria
Whom I would turn into a meat pie
Si yo lo volviese a ver.
If I ever saw him again.
Iba a servime de camafeo
I would use him as a brooch
Si atravesara los Pirineos.
If he ever crossed the Pyrenees.
Carmen de Espana, manola.
Carmen from Spain, stylish and bold.
Carmen de Espana, valiente.
Carmen from Spain, courageous and daring.
Carmen con bata de cola
Carmen with a long train dress
Pero cristiana y decente.
But a respectable and modest Christian woman.
No se quien fue el El Escamillo
I don't know who Escamillo was
Ni tampoco don Jose
Nor do I know Don Jose.
Y no manejo el cuchillo
I don't handle the knife,
Ni a la hora de comer.
Not even during mealtime.
Tengo fuego en la pestanas
I have fire in my eyelashes
Cuando miro a los gache.
When I look at the gypsy men.
Yo soy la Carmen de Espana,
I am the Carmen from Spain,
Y no la de Merime,
And not the one from Merime.
Me han cantado en el teatro
They have sung about me in the theater
Lo mismo que a la Traviata,
Just like they sing about Traviata,
Mas le aviso a mas de cuatro
But I warn more than a few
Que voy a meter la pata.
That I am going to make a fool of myself.
Pues me tiene hasta los pelos
Because I am sick and tired
Que ande suerta por hay
Of the impostor walking around
Una Carmen de camelo
A fake Carmen
Que no se parece a mi.
That is nothing like me.
De los pinreles a la peineta
From my feet to my hair comb,
Yo le zumbaba la pandereta.
I would play the tambourine.
Contributed by Brooklyn Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.