"Madrecita" song by Osvaldo Farrés that today we Cubans all sing no matter where we are

May 12, 2019

Little Mother

This sentimental song has traveled the world. Its author is known, but not how it was composed. I learned its origin in 1988 in an interview that has remained unpublished until today, with a nephew of the composer, Enrique Farrés Lorenzo, also now deceased, that has remained unpublished until today.

Enrique said that the song arose when an elderly woman of 80 years old whom his uncle Osvaldo loved infinitely, told him something that made him think. It was his mother, Caridad Vázquez:

"Ah, my son, you have always been inspired by beautiful women and you have made very lovely compositions, but you have never dedicated one to me, the one who brought you into the world, raised you and loves you like no one else. When are you going to do it? Come on, I don't want to die without hearing it."

Osvaldo Farrés, born in Quemado de Güines, Las Villas, on January 13, 1902, composed many very Cuban songs, some of which are still heard, sung and known by heart today.

His nephew was 85 years old when he told us about Madrecita. We never forgot that his eyes grew moist as he told us that his uncle had written the lyrics and music for Acércate más (1940); Toda una vida (1943); Tres palabras (1944); No me vayas a engañar (1945); Quizás, quizás (1946) and many other classic boleros, "with which we older folks courted or fell in love on different occasions and in different places."

I remember that he argued that these numbers had been sung by Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Sarita Montiel and by important Cuban and foreign singers and groups in different eras.

That's life. The healthy concern of the author's mother made a song that is emblematic and pays tribute to the living mother and to the deceased mother on a sacred day like this be born for the world musical staff.

In the dialogue to which I refer, Enrique maintained that he was not only Osvaldo Farrés' nephew on his father's side, but also the paternal grandson of Caridad Vázquez, his little old woman, the woman who asked him for the famous ineffable theme that we remember. In other words, Osvaldo was the brother of Enrique's father: Juan Manuel Farrés Vázquez.

"My uncle Osvaldo Farrés died in the United States on December 22, 1985, at age 83, but he never stopped being Cuban, neither he nor his songs. First he was propaganda chief of La Polar. He became known with the song Mis cinco hijos (1937), a very acclaimed guajira-son, but Madrecita, as it interpreted the feelings of all children, broke his own records," Enrique recalled at that meeting that I now recall.

Likewise on that visit the interviewee wanted us to listen on his record player to the 78 rpm vinyl record—in which the Cuban singer Fernando Albuerne precisely performed Madrecita, accompanied by the orchestra of Enrique González Mantici and the chorus of the Trio of the Lago Sisters—, one of those privileges that we journalists have… On Side A one could hear:

"Little mother of my beloved soul,/ in my chest I carry a flower./ Don't mind the color it has / because in the end, you are, mother, a flower./ Your love is my treasure, little mother, / in my life you have been and will be, / the refuge of all my sorrows / and the cradle of love and truth./ Although I may have loves in life, / that fill me with happiness, / like yours, never, my mother, / like yours I will never find. / Little mother of my beloved soul, / in my chest I carry a flower /, don't mind the color it has, / because in the end you are, mother, a flower" /.

On Side B and in his own voice, Osvaldo Farrés made his dedication to the beloved mother: "Little mother, this song is written for you, and in this inspiration of mine I want to summarize the deep affection for all the mothers of the world for being good, for being selfless and for being holy. May these phrases be for you, born from the depths of my soul, because you are the supreme embodiment of all that is noble and great in the world. We always turn to you like a loving chest that keeps all our anguishes, sorrows and joys.

"In our tribulations, you are our refuge and comfort and our only truth. Your maternal lap and your love know of all the tenderness and all the sacrifices. Like your love, there is none. You are what is truly positive in life. And now listen to the last verse of my song, born from the heart of a son who you know never failed the sacred duty of worshipping his mother. In it I say what I dedicate with all my heart to all the mothers of the world."

However, by the ironies of life, in 1954, on the date of the record, although Caridad Vázquez was glad to know that her son had pleased her, she was deaf and could not hear either the song or the dedication.

Author: Abel Rojas Barallobre. Taken from Juventud Rebelde