Listening #17 – “Los Laureles” – Linda Ronstadt (1987)

Instrumentation: Vocals (Ronstadt and background) and typical mariachi band instrumentation – strings (violin), vijuela, horns (trumpet), guitar, and guitarron.

Form: Strophic, as seen in Ronstadt’s simple, multiple verses.

Origin/Genre: This song is in the Mexican ranchera singing/mariachi instrumental tradition. The context of this song is probably one of its most interesting aspects: although Ronstadt’s claim to fame was originally as ‘The Queen of Rock’ in the ‘70s, this song shows her dramatic departure from the music that made her famous, and a return the music of her roots.

Melody: In comparison to the first song, “When Will I Be Loved”, Ronstadt’s melody here is much more intricate and complex. It demonstrates many dips, ornamentations, and unusual interval leaps, as is typical of the ranchera songs we have listened to previously. While a much more distinct melody, and perhaps less accessible to some of Ronstadt’s audience, I personally find this song’s melody to be more compelling and interesting – and, in my opinion based off of Ronstadt’s delivery, so does she.

Texture: On first listen, this song seemed to me to be a prototypical ranchera song. The song and Ronstadt’s voice possess all the basic, necessary elements of a ranchera song. However, after multiple listen, I would say that the missing aspect of the song that would give it the full weight of a true ranchera song would be experience. After having listened to Beltrán and other great ranchera singers, Ronstadt sounds somewhat inexperienced and lacking the full mastery of vocal expression that the older women have.

Lyrics: As is typical of mariachi songs, Los Laureles revolves around love: here, the singer discusses the beauty and characteristics of the laurel trees, all the while inserting sly references to her lover. Ronstadt draws special significance from these lyrics, as her father sang them, along with others, to her in childhood. This undoubtedly helped her in expressing to the listener the song’s significance and value to her.

Personal Response: I find this song to be so much more compelling than “When Will I Be Loved”. This is not because I prefer mariachi music to pop/rock music - actually, the opposite is often the case. Rather it is because I feel that on this album, Ronstadt made music with the distinct aim of pleasing herself, rather than pleasing the critics, or even her fans, which I think is a difficult but ultimately necessary decision for musicians as artists.