Smuggling Corridos of the
1900s to 1930s
The Corrido
The corrido originated in Mexico as a declaration of folk culture originating from the Spanish romance ballad brought to the Americas by Spanish settlers as early as the conquest of the natives by Cortes in the fifteen hundreds. The Spanish romance was formed in sixteen-syllable lines in the form of long passages like that of epic poems, which eventually shortened to eight-syllable lines. The romances tended to have similar themes of incest, adultery, shepards, and land. The birth of the corrido tradtion is in the 1850s in which songs were composed focusing on poor social conditions as the central theme, which remained persistant throughout the life of the corrido.
From the central theme of poor social conditions comes the smuggling corridos of the pre-Prohibition and Prohibition era. These corridos focus on the persecution of the smuggler of textiles and alcohol, usually tequila, at the hands of United States law enforcement, usually in the form of the Texas Rangers. Smuggling corridos follow the formulaic model of the corrido of Greater Mexico as presented by McDowell in which the typical corrido has five main thematic characteristics:
1) Introductory reference to performance
2) Setting: place, date, and name of principals
3) Core: verbal exchange or expression with narrative detail
4) Farewell of principal
5) Despedida-closing reference to performance
El Corrido de Mariano Resendez