Truckload


The Cotton Harvest

The corrido "Las Pizcas de Algodón" satirizes the hardships of the South Texas cotton pickers. In the first lines of the corrido, the corridista explicitly draws attention to presenting the corrido to the audience:

Este corrido, señores,
lo he cantado en plantación,
donde sufren las pelonas
en las pizcas de algodón.

The first two lines of the stanza will function as the llamada inicial. Here the corridista introduces the plantation where the "pelonas" or flappers suffer. The word pelona in its literal sense means the bald woman. Already, the corrido begins its appeal to humor. In the following stanzas, the protagonist is exhilarated to begin work on the cotton plantations because there he would see the flappers. He then says with excitement :

Ay, que caray!
Yo ya me voy
para Victoria
d' onde yo soy.

This will become a common refrain (estribillo) throughout the corrido that will allow the audience to identify with the protagonist's feelings during harvest time. The worker then gets his provisions and heads for his destination in his car that he claims is in great condition. Again, the humor of the corrido appears in the description of the car. The car is stated to be in excellent condition with the exception of a few main parts such as the tires, connecting rods and a good windshield. At this point, the refrain is repeated; however, this time the name of the city is changed. Once more, the audience is able to relate to the hardships of the migrant laborer. To continue, the protagonist tells of the suggestions made by others to make his car run better. Suggestions such as taking the hood off and taking out the radiator add to the humor of the worker's traveling accomodations.

In the next stanza, the labor contractors are portrayed as tempting employers who create a deceitful web for the seasonal workers. The workers are warned by the protagonist not to trust the labor contractors because they will exploit them once under contract:

A toditos les encargo
antes que se dejen creer:
que se cuiden de esos gallos
porque los van a vender.


Through this mensaje, the humoristic tone of the corrido changes to a serious tone when the idea of unfair labor practices is mentioned. Shortly thereafter, the corrido continues in a humoristic tone. The protagonist rates the women on the plantations by their kisses and ends the first part of the corrido by singing another refrain.

The second part of the corrido begins with the protagonist getting in trouble with a flapper. He takes her to the plantation without giving her gloves and because of this she throws a lime at him. This is significant because the worker and the flapper pretend the cotton harvest is like a grand dance in which they are expected to attend. In the following stanza, the travel motif is introduced through the verse dyad:

Corre,corre maquinita,
no te vayas a quedar;

The central theme of this corrido lies in the idea of travel. Many of the migrant workers felt a certain anticipation before moving from plantation to plantation. For this reason, the worker does not want his car to breakdown. He anticipates arriving at the next plantation and meeting more women. The corrido then continues with his car speaking to him. It is a very hot day and the car begs for rest. Through this speech event, one can also see this as a line a person working in the fields would say. The personification of the car brings humor to the corrido, but it also allows people to compare the car's actions with that of a field workers. The car is struggling to get to the next plantation just as the worker is working hard in the fields to do the same.

After all of the food and women's make-up is gone, the worker leaves because the thrill of working in the fields is also gone. This traveling from place to place may appear to be all fun and games, but when it comes down to it; it is agonizing work. The worker leaves a final warning to the flappers:
Yo les digo a mis pelonas,
ya no vayan a sufrir;
ya me di una toreada,
que no me podía venir.

Again, we hear this urgent message from the protagonist. Don't be fooled by the excitement of travel because once you stop, the thrill is gone. Another warning is posed to the protagonist's friends in the final stanzas of the corrido.

Y a mis amigos también
les hago esta observación:
no se vayan a engañar
porque es muy duro el tirón.

This recurring message helps people understand the harsh reality of working in the fields. At the closing of the corrido, the corridista bids farewell by saying he had lots of satisfaction in singing the corrido of the cotton harvest. Throughout this corrido, the satiristic tone gives laughs to the audience while dealing with a very serious issue: migrant labor. In the final stanza, the refrain is used to help the audience identify with the corrido. The listening audience is able to say, "Hey, I understand where he's coming from. That's me!"


Cathy Vasquez
UT History student


Las Pizcas de Algodón Pt.1

Las Pizcas de Algodón Pt.2

Bibliography

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