Bailala

COUNTRY: Puerto Rico
LANGUAGE Spanish

GENRE: Plena

This is an infectious Puerto Rican plena, which is a form of Spanish-influenced Puerto Rican folk music that has been known as “the periodico cantado,” or “sung newspaper;” the lyrics of plena songs are often comments on happenings in the community, the country and the world at large. This Drummer’s guide to Pilon and Plena describes plena as a Spanish influenced genre whose roots “are in the slaves, sugar cane laborers, farmers and others who migrated to the urban areas of Puerto Rico.”

Lyrics of All Around This World version:

Bailala, bailala
I love to dance the plena, bailala.