Night Before Christmas – Tex-Mex Style
Put forth on December 24, 2006 by XicanoPwr
Posted in Xmas
Night Before Christmas – Tex-Mex Style
‘Twas the night before [tag]Christmas[/tag] and all through la casa Not a creature
was stirring, Caramba! Que pasa?
Los ninos were all tucked away in their camas, Some in vestidos and
some in pajamas. While Mama worked late in her little cocina, El viejo was
down at the corner cantina.
The stockings were hanging con mucho cuidado, In hopes that St.
Nicholas would feel obligado To bring all the children, both buenos y
malos, A Nice batch of dulces and other regalos. Outside in the yard
there arouse such a grito, That I jumped to my feet like a frightened
cabrito.
I went to the window and looked out afuera, And who in the world, do
you think que era? [tag]Saint Nick[/tag] in a sleigh and a big red sombrero Came
dashing along like a crazy bombero! And pulling his sleigh instead of
venados, Were eight little burros approaching volados.
I watched as they came, and this little hombre was shouting and
whistling and calling by nombre.
Ay, Pancho! Ay, Pepe! Ay, Cuca! Ay, Beto!
Ay, Chato! Ay, Chopo! Maruca and Nieto!
Then standing erect with his hand on his pecho He flew to the top of
our very own techo. With his round little belly like a bowl of jalea, He
struggled to squeeze down our old chimenea.
Then huffing and puffing, at last in our sala, With soot smeared all
over his red suit de gala. He filled the stockings with lovely regalos,
For none of the children had been very malos.
Then chuckling aloud and seeming contento, He turned like a flash and
was gone like the viento.
And I heard him exclaim and this is VERDAD,
Merry Christmas to all, And to All �[tag]Feliz Navidad[/tag]!
This Tex-Mex version of “Night Before Christmas” is a long-time favorite of mine. It is credited to Jim and Nita Lee (Dec. 1972).
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This is the blog of Edmundo "XicanoPwr" Rocha, a social worker, an activist, freelance writer and founder and editor of The Sanctuary. My interests include: immigration reform, critical race theory and it's interaction with equality/inequality and freedom/oppression as they relate to the experiences of people of color in the Americas.
Para Justicia y Libertad is a Latino-centered political blog focusing on the humanistic perspective of politics, history, and society as they relate to the Latina/o community throughout Texas and the United States.
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I have a better version, by Lalo Guerrero,L&M Records. His son has a great web site
(Sorry, HTML bloggered)
I think this version was later sanitized:
Twas the night before Christmas
And all through the casa,
Mama, she was beating,
Preparing the masa.
To make the tamales,
Gorditas maladas (?),
And all the ingredients for the enchilada.
Papa in the front room,
With all the muchachas,
Was dancing the mambo,
And doing the chacha.
My brothers and sisters
Were out in the hall,
Listening to Elvis,
Singing rrrackenrrrolll.
When all of a sudden,
There came such a racket,
I jumped out of bed and put on my jacket.
I looked out the window,
And in front of the house,
Was my old uncle Pedro as drunk as a louse.
He ran in the casa
And grabbed a guitarra,
He let out a yell,
(ahhhahhahhhahhhahha)
And sang Guadalajara.
(Guadalajara! Guadalajara!)
I was starting to wonder,
As I lay alone,
How old Santa Claus
Would visit my home.
With all of this noise,
They would scare him away,
When all of a sudden,
I hear someone say:
Hah! Pablo! Chuchito! Arriba! Gordito! Jose!
Get up there you bums or you don’t get no hay!
And then to my wandering eyes did appear
Eight cute little donkeys instead of reindeer.
They pulled a carreta that was full of toys
For all of us good little girls and boys.
The fat little driver waved his sombrero
And said “Merry Christmas! Feliz Ano Nuevo!”
(That means Happy New Year).
And then I head him sing,
“I am Santa’s cousin,
From south of the border.
My name’s Pancho Claus,
And I bring you your order.”
I heard him exclaim
As he drove past the porches,
“Merry Christmas to all,
And to all buenas noches!”
He ran in the casa
And grabbed a guitarra,
He let out a yell,
(ahhhahhahhhahhhahha)
And sang Guadalajara.
i love singing this verse loud.
I believe what you call the “Tex-Mex” version was written by Marie de la Torre. Marie was a staffer on the El Paso Herald-Post. The version dates to the 1950s.
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