"En mi Viejo San Juan" (In my Old San Juan) is a composition by
Puerto Rican composer and singer
Noel Estrada. Interpreted by numerous singers and translated into various languages, the song is "widely known around the world".[2] There are musical interpretations in German, English and French. Over 1,000 distinct recordings of the song have been made worldwide.
The song was written in 1942[3] for Estrada's brother who had been deployed to
Panama during
World War II and was feeling nostalgia for his
Puerto Rico motherland.[4] The song has become an anthem of Puerto Rican emigration to New York.[5]
Background
The song was first recorded by El
Trio Vegabajeño in 1943 under the label
RCA Victor and later under Mar-Vela. The song had an immediate impact and many other versions followed. Two later interpretations achieved large popularity as well as measured by radio ratings: those of
Manuel Jiménez Quartet (RCA Víctor, 1948) and the one by Joe Valle with Moncho Usera and his orchestra (Seeco, 1949).[1]
Together with
La Borinqueña and
Preciosa, "En mi Viejo San Juan" is considered a
national anthem by many Puerto Ricans, especially those who live far away from their
Caribbean homeland,
Puerto Rico.[a] In this context, the song was put in juxtaposition with Anglo songs including
America from
West Side Story and
America by
Neil Diamond.[7] In more general terms, and despite its original military motivation and origins, the song reflects the sentiments of not just Puerto Ricans stationaed abroad as servicemen as was Estrada's brother Eloy Jr., but those of the entire
Puerto Rican diaspora as well.[1][8] By all measures, nevertheless, the song is a reflection of Estrada's "intimate" love connection with his motherland.[9]
The song has also been
recorded in at least three other languages in addition to its original Spanish version: English, German, and French. "There are versions in all
musical genres, including
instrumental,
acústico,
tango,
bolero,
ranchera, and even a
disco version by Oscar Solo".[26] The song is heard in over 50 Mexican and over 20 Puerto Rican motion pictures, including "Romance en Puerto Rico" (1961) and
Antonio Aguilar's "Mi aventura en Puerto Rico" (1975). "En mi Viejo San Juan" has been recorded by American, Russian, German, French, Japanese orchestras, among others. The first known interpretation in French was by the
vedetteLolita Cuevas. At least over 1,000 distinct recordings of the song have been made worldwide. The only other
boleros to have achieved such popularity are "Obsesión" and "Perdón" (by
Pedro Flores) y "Piel canela" (by
Bobby Capó) followed by "Desvelo de amor" and "Capullito de alelí" (by
Rafael Hernández Marín).[1]
Legacy
In 1971, during the mayoral administration of
Carlos Romero Barcelo, the song was adopted as the official city
anthem of the
City of San Juan.[a][27][28] The city of San Juan also passed a resolution making the author of the song (Estrada) an honorary citizen of the city.[29]
The 1988 Tato Laviera's "Mainstream Ethics" poem uses most of the lyrics of En mi Viejo San Juan to depict the Puerto Rican "revolving door" migration motif.[30]
Recordings
Following is a partial list of recordings of the song by year.[1]
Noel Estrada (RCA Victor, 1943)
El Trio Vegabajeño (RCA Victor, 1943)
Manuel Jiménez Quartet (RCS Victor, 1948)
Joe Valle with Moncho Usera and his orchestra (Seeco, 1949)
Julito Rodríguez y su Trío Los Primos (Ansonia, 1957)
Ñico & His Latin Brass (Discuba, 1960)
Cortijo y Su Combo en voz de Ismael Rivera (Gema, 1961)
Billo's Caracas Boys en voz de José Luis Rodríguez (Velvet, 1964)
^
abBall (2008) "Written during World War II by Noel Estrada, "En mi Viejo San Juan" is one of the most famous ballads of Puerto Rico. The song captures the longing of Puerto Rican emigrants and soldiers for their distant homeland. For many Puerto Ricans, it remains today a kind of second national anthem, and it was adopted as the official city anthem of San Juan."[6]
^Ruiz Patton (1998) "She must have known there was a large Puerto Rican population in the audience because she included in her set the song, "En mi Viejo San Juan," "In my Old San Juan." The crowd of about 6,500 went wild, arms in the air, standing and cheering when they heard her begin the song."[22]
^María de la Luz Reyes. Words Were All We Had: Becoming Biliterate Against the Odds. p.122. María de la Luz Reyes, editor. Chapter 10. Boriquen Querido: Growing Up Bilingual in a Military Family. Teachers College Press. 2011.
ISBN9780807770764.
^Salazar, Jaime Rico (1993) [unknown]. Centro Editorial de Estudios Musicales (ed.). Cien años de boleros: Su historia, sus compositores, sus mejores intérpretes y 600 boleros inolvidables (in Spanish). p. 541.
^Maria Viruet. La Hija de Fela y Aladino. Palibrio. 2012.
ISBN9781463330422. p.16.
^Fernando Díez Losada. Género de los toponímicos. In, La tribuna del idioma. Editorial Tecnológica de Costa Rica. 2004.
ISBN9789977661612. p.396.
^Noel Estrada.Archived 16 January 2014 at the
Wayback Machine Clarissa Santiago-Toro, National Foundation for Popular Culture. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
^María de la Luz Reyes (2011). "Chapter 10: Boriquen Querido: Growing Up Bilingual in a Military Family". In de la Luz Reyes, María (ed.). Words Were All We Had: Becoming Biliterate Against the Odds. Teachers College Press. p. 122.
ISBN9780807770764.