“La llave” means “the key.” All Around This World adapted this from a Spanish folk song called “Estrellita” which is about a girl finding the best occupation for herself, disliking all of them except the job of teacher. (“Estrellita is looking for a job, Ma-tey-ree-lay-ree-lay-ree-lay…
What kind of job will we give her…? We’ll let her work as a cook…She doesn’t like that job…We’ll let her work as a teacher…That job she likes!” Another commonly sung version is the story of a castle and a key to the castle, which the singer has unfortunately lost at the bottom of the sea. Fortunately, a little girl, perhaps “Estrellita,” is enlisted to look for it.

Country: (many)
Language: Spanish
Genre on CD: Corrido (jarocho style)
Instrument on CD: Jarana

LYRICS OF ALL AROUND THIS WORLD VERSION

¿Donde esta la llave? Mate-rile-rile-rile
¿Donde esta la llave? Mate-rile-rile-ro

Where is the key? Mate-rile-rile-rile
Where is the key? Mate-rile-rile ro. (pon!)
Gabriel Guzman, who sings La Llave on our CD, and Radio Jarocho perform live at The Greene Space