Last year I wrote about the importance of the piñata in the Mexican celebration of Las Posadas. Las Posadas is a popular holiday in Mexico that’s celebrated before Christmas. Mexican people sing songs called Cantos para romper la piñata (Songs for Breaking the Piñata), while their children try to hit the piñata.
Many people have asked me the tune to these piñata songs over the past year. Happily, I just found someone singing one on YouTube. Here you can watch it below. The lyrics are listed first in Spanish followed by an English translation…
Dale, dale, dale,
No pierdas el tino,
porque si lo pierdes
pierdes el camino.Hit, hit, hit,
Don’t lose your aim,
Because if you lose it,
You lose the way.
This article was posted on Saturday, December 22nd, 2007 at 8:08 pm and is filed under Cantos para romper la piñata - Songs for Breaking the, Cantos para romper la piñata - Songs for Breaking the, Children's Songs, Countries & Cultures, Games Around the World, Holidays Around the World, Languages, Las Posadas, Las Posadas Songs, Mama Lisa, Mexican Children's Songs, Mexico, Spanish, Video, YouTube. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
22 Responses to “A Spanish Song for Breaking the Piñata That’s Popular for Las Posadas in Mexico + a Video”
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December 22nd, 2007 at 8:42 pm
I am looking for the lyrics to “Cielito Lindo”, i think thats the name of the song that begins with……”Ay, ay,ay, ay. cantas no llores……
My father used to always sing it to me, and he just passed away, and it would mean alot to me if someone can help.
Thanks!
Sandy
December 22nd, 2007 at 9:05 pm
Below are the lyrics to “Cielito Lindo” as posted on Wikipedia. It was written by Quirino Mendoza y Cortés from Mexico in 1882.
1) De la sierra morena, cielito lindo, vienen bajando
Un par de ojitos negros, cielito lindo, de contrabando
(chorus:) Ay ay ay ay, canta y no llores
Porque cantando se alegran, cielito lindo, los corazones
2) Ese lunar que tienes, cielito lindo, junto a la boca
No se lo des a nadie, cielito lindo, que a mí me toca
(chorus)
3) De tu casa a la mía, cielito lindo, no hay más que un paso
Ahora que estamos solos, cielito lindo, dame un brazo
4) Una flecha en el aire, cielito lindo, lanzó cupido
Y como fue jugando, cielito lindo, yo fui el herido
(chorus)
December 23rd, 2007 at 9:51 am
And here is the literal translation
From the dark mountain range, pretty little darling
Two little black eyes, pretty little darling, are going down.
Alas, alas, alas, sing and don’t cry
Because by singing, the hearts, pretty little darling, are rejoicing.
This beauty spot that you have, pretty little darling, next to the mouth
Don’t give it to anyone, pretty little darling, because it’s mine.
From your house to mine, pretty little darling, there’s only a step
Now that we’re alone, pretty little darling, give me your arm.
Cupid threw, pretty little darling, an arrow through the air
And as he was playing, pretty little darling, I got hurt.
December 23rd, 2007 at 10:48 am
Thanks for the English translation Monique!
October 15th, 2009 at 3:00 pm
I like to have the lyrics for the song la pinata from the cd a christmas in Mexico from coro anawin. It is for a school presentation and the pace of the song is so fast it is diffucult to get the words
Thank you
December 6th, 2010 at 1:57 pm
This little song is two easy chords on the guitar.
Here are the chord changes.
If you have a little kid, you can sing it slow.
If you have a power-hitter, you can speed it up.
Its fun.
Enjoy.
(D)Dale, dale (A7)dale
No pierdas el (D)tino
Por que si lo (A7)pierdes,
Pierdes el (D)camino
Ya le diste(A7)uno
Ya le diste (D)dos
Ya le diste (A7)tres
Y tu tiempo se (D)acabo
August 8th, 2011 at 12:40 am
I’m looking for a song our class sung during a Christmas program back in the mid-70’s. It was a pinata song but it is not the one that goes, “Dale, Dale, Dale”. I think some of the words go, “La que buena, la que buena, la que buena, que buena, que buena.” Then the pinata breaks and the children scatter and collect the candy. If you could help that would be great and much appreciated.
August 8th, 2011 at 8:14 am
Hi Sandy – We posted Cielito Lindo with another translation on our Mexican song pages. -Mama Lisa
February 22nd, 2012 at 12:52 am
Thanks for the chords, Mike.
March 27th, 2012 at 3:20 pm
Beebee. i remember some of that song, as I was a kid in the 70s. “Brillant lanterns are lighted, in chorus united, piñata. There’s no need to remind us, with blindfolds they bind us, piñata. Then it goes into the ‘la que buena’ part.
December 17th, 2012 at 3:51 pm
Thia is Not the whole song but it is a little helpful
February 3rd, 2015 at 3:38 am
BeeBee… I too sang this song in the 70’s for a Christmas program at school. I remember the song going like this.
Brilliant lanterns are lighted our friends are invited in chorus united piñata.
There is no need to remind us, with blindfolds they bind us in chorus united piñata.
la que buena, que buena, que buena, que buena.
All the children will scramble for candy, all the children will scramble and shout.
all the children will grab for a cookie, and the other good things that spill out.
May 22nd, 2015 at 8:10 pm
Brilliant lanterns are lighted
Our friends are invited
in chorus united
Pinata!
There’s no need to remind us
With blindfolds they bind us
They turn and they wind us
Pinata!
La Pinata! La Pinata!
Holds the candies for neighbors and cousins
We will whack it, we will crack it
and the goodies will fall out in dozens.
All the children will scramble for candy
All the children will scramble and shout
All the children will grab for a cookie
And all the good things that spill out.
This is how we learned it in the 7th grade. (early 70’s) :)
April 6th, 2016 at 5:04 am
Yes, I remember the one that “gwen” wrote. I learned in elementary school, about the 6th grade in Los Angeles; 1961 or 1962.
Brilliant lanterns are lighted
Our friends are invited
in chorus united
Pinata!
There’s no need to remind us
With blindfolds they bind us
They turn and they wind us
Pinata!
La Pinata! La Pinata!
Holds the candies for neighbors and cousins
We will whack it, we will crack it
and the goodies will fall out in dozens.
All the children will scramble for candy
All the children will scramble and shout
All the children will grab for a cookie
And all the good things that spill out.
April 9th, 2016 at 9:25 am
Thank you Gwen! I learned this in the 2nd grade in the late 70s so my memory of the lyrics was hazy, but after searching for the longest time, I found the exact lyrics here! Our class performed the Mexican hat dance before singing this song. I think we added an “¡Olé!” at the end.
August 22nd, 2020 at 7:17 pm
We were taught a song called La Pinata…. there were two verses. I only remember one.
Let’s all go down to Mexico for a holiday celebration
We’ll have fun in the winter sun with a game they play in that nation.
La pinata, la pinata with a treat for each amigo, but to take it we must break it
First around and round we go.
Now we can’t find it, because we are behind it
At fiesta time everyone’s trying to find La piñata.
After the second verse the last phrase of the chorus, instead of saying find La pinata it says break la pinata.
I would dearly love to remember that second verse.
September 11th, 2020 at 4:28 pm
I went to grammar school in San Francisco in the 1950s.
My memories are identical to Tom’s for the first two lines plus the lines:
“We will whack it. We will crack it”
September 17th, 2020 at 1:09 pm
I learned the Piñata song in third grade in 1969. I’ve been singing my sketchy memory of the lyrics for over fifty years! How fun to find the complete lyrics here. One thing, though. In my memory, the refrain went “a que buena” which means “oh, how nice.”
December 11th, 2020 at 4:53 pm
After reading about traditional Mexican Christmas celebrations today, the lyrics to the piñata song popped into my head, and I remembered every word as Gwen wrote. We learned that song in a South Dakota 3rd grade classroom in 1963. I didn’t know the tradition behind it, but apparently it was learned by elementary kids across the nation for years…what a great shared happy memory.
December 10th, 2021 at 4:17 am
I found this page during my search for more information on the song Gwen gives. I remember it well, having learned it in grade school in rural Alberta, Canada in the early 1970s. It was just named “The Pinata” in my songbook. Our songbooks were a scribbler which we pasted in cut out mimeographed sheets of the songs!
Here is a YouTube video of this song: Piñata – Christmas song from Mexico
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OlEtMJbpaw
June 23rd, 2023 at 1:07 am
I remember 4th grade, the 1974-1975 school year, our classes and those in 5th and 6th grades did a school program for our moms which involved this and other Spanish songs. This was at Keene Mill School in Springfield, Virginia, right before my family and I moved to Seattle. So cool, I’m not the only one who remembers all these songs! When I see old things from yesteryear, or find out others remember things from decades ago… that’s what makes life interesting!
November 14th, 2023 at 6:33 pm
Hello Folks.
Thank you, thank you. Not only did I find the lyrics here to my old childhood song about the Pinada, but It brought back such great memories of grade school. I too attended school in the Los Angeles area during the 60’s through the 70’s. I just about had the entire song memorized, we practiced it enough.
“Brilliant lanterns are lighted, our friends are invited…”
Thank you Gwen and the other baby boomers for giving this retired teacher one big smile. Blessings….Alex