El Año Viejo, by Tony Camargo.
Well, this is it. Day 365. I will not be recording a song tomorrow.
I have lots of things to say about this project, and the journey I’ve been on this year exploring these songs, my memories of them, the data about them, and maybe remixing or rerecording some for sure, but for now, I am excited to be done.
This song is one of two time-honored traditional New Year’s Eve songs I learned from my wife’s family. (The other song is Cinco Pa’ Las Doce.) This one is not Venezuelan — the original songwriter and singer is Colombian; Tony Camargo, who recorded the most popular version (and the one I’m familiar with) is from Mexico — but it seems to be popular everywhere.
The words to the song — and there are not that many, come down to this:
I won’t forget the old year, because it brought me very good things: a goat, a black donkey, a white mare, and a good mother-in-law.