“Siboney” or “Canto Siboney” Lyrics
Composer: Ernesto Lecuona, 1927
Style: Jazz, romance, love song to Siboney. Xiomara Alfaro’s version was the composer’s favorite.
Country: Cuba, with several covers from Spain
Listen: Xiomara Alfaro (Cuba, 1957); Plácido Domingo (Spain, opera, 2012); Concha Buika (Spain, jazz, 2013)
Lyrics Translation:
Siboney, yo te quiero,
Yo me muero por tu amor.
Siboney, I love you,
I am dying for your love.
Siboney, en tu boca
La miel puso su dulzor.
Siboney, in your mouth
Honey has left its sweetness.
Ven a mí que te quiero [*alt: aquí]
Y que todo tesoro
Eres tú para mí.
Come to me because I want you [*alt: here]
And because all the treasure
Is what you are to me.
Siboney, al arrullo
De la palma pienso en ti. [*alt: tu palma]
Siboney, with the lullaby
Of the palm I think of you. [*alt: your palm]
Siboney de mi sueño,
Si tú no oyes la queja de mi voz,
Siboney, si no vienes,
Me moriré de amor.
Siboney of my dreams,
If you do not hear the cry of my voice,
Siboney, if you do not come,
I will die of love.
Siboney (Siboney) de mi sueño,
Te espero con ansia en mi caney
Porque tú eres el dueño [*alt: la dueña]
De mi amor, Siboney. [*alt: alma]
Siboney (Siboney) of my dreams,
I wait for you with anxiety in my straw hut
Because you are the owner [*alt changes gender]
Of my love, Siboney. [*alt: soul]
Oye el eco de mi canto de cristal.
No se pierde por entre
El rudo “manigual”.
Siboney, Siboney, Siboney, Siboney…
Hear the echo of my crystalline song.
It does not get lost among
The rough jungle.
Siboney, Siboney, Siboney, Siboney…
Siboney, si no vienes
Me moriré de amor.
Oye el eco de mi canto de cristal,
Oye el eco de mi canto de cristal,
Oye el eco de mi canto de cristal,
No se pierda por entre el rudo manigual.
Siboney, if you don’t come
I will die of love.
Hear the echo of my crystalline song,
Hear the echo of my crystalline song,
Hear the echo of my crystalline song,
So it does not get lost among the rough jungle.
Translation Notes:
“Siboney” sounds like a given name, but I hadn’t heard it before so I looked it up after my initial translation of the song using Concha Buika’s version.
Wikipedia says “Siboney” (also “Ciboney”) refers to the native Taíno people of western Cuba, Jamaica, and the Tiburon Peninsula of Haiti. In present day, it also refers to Playa Siboney (Siboney Beach) in Santiago de Cuba.
I translated this whole song thinking it was a love song to a person, but after listening to other versions and reading the Wikipedia entry, I realize it also works for a metaphor-heavy romance song to a beach that is personified as a lover. Some covers (like Buika’s) definitely make it less ambiguous. This palm tree line was changed in some covers to remove the tree reference and make Siboney a person:
Siboney, al arrullo
De la/tu palma pienso en ti.
Siboney, with the lullaby
Of the/your palm I think of you.
Xiomara Alfaro’s 1957 version says la palma (the palm tree) which makes sense for a beach. However, Concha Buika’s 2013 version says tu palma (your palm, referring to the palm of the hand) which is for a person. Xiomara was from Cuba and had a personal connection to the Cuban island land, whereas Concha is from Spain and did not, so the change makes sense. I heard Concha Buika’s version first and I know that she is bisexual, so I heard the person-lyrics and assumed that Siboney was a woman’s name.
To be fair, the original lyrics did anthropomorphize Siboney Beach and primarily use language for a woman lover, with only a few references that also work for land. For example:
Siboney, en tu boca
La miel puso su dulzor.
Siboney, in your mouth
Honey has left its sweetness.
This is a dual reference to the geographic shape of the beach as well as a woman’s mouth. Honey here can also be warmth and sunshine on the honey-colored beach.
Other Renditions:
Concha Buika, Spanish jazz singer, sings “Siboney” in her album La noche más larga (The longest night), 2013
Xiomara Alfaro, Cuban soprano singer, sings “Siboney” in the 1957 film, ¡Ole Cuba!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20wj3xS-6qg
Connie Francis, Italian-American from New Jersey, sings a soft voiced acoustic and wind instrument version of “Siboney” in 1960
Plácido Domingo, Spanish opera singer, performs a cover of “Siboney”. Posted to YouTube in 2012.
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