Photo by AndrewEick
I absolutely love summer…for a lot of reasons, but mainly because my daughter is a summer baby which means we get to celebrate her cumpleaños outdoors in the melting heat (as opposed to indoors hiding from the snow.) In fact, both Vanessa and Camila were born pretty much in the middle of the summer, so both Ana and I will be celebrating their birthdays pretty soon.
This got me thinking about a little tradition we have at our house regarding the songs we sing when it’s someone’s birthday. It all started even way before Vanessa was born almost three years ago. As I’ve mentioned in the past, my husband is from Puerto Rico and I’m from Perú, which means we sing completely different songs when celebrating birthdays.
My version goes something like this (to the beat of Happy Birthday):
Cumpleaños feliz,
te deseamos a ti,
cumpleaños (fulanito),
qué los cumplas feliz!
My husband’s version has nothing to do with the original Happy Birthday song. It goes something like this:
Feliz, feliz en tu día
amiguito, que Dios te bendiga
que reine la paz en tu vida
y que cumplas muchos más
We always sing the traditional Happy Birthday and then since our friends are pretty much from all over South America, we kind of go around the table asking each one to sing their version. It takes a while, but it’s fun to hear everyone else’s interpretation.
And, even if there are no Mexicans in the house, we ALWAYS sing “Las Mañanitas“. One, because I like it and two because I spent part of my childhood in México and I just got used to it. In case you don’t know the lyrics to that one, here goes the first part:
Photo by JAG Photography
Estas son las mañanitas que cantaba el rey David
Hoy por ser día de tu santo, te las cantamos a ti.
Despierta mi bien despierta
Mira que ya ameneció
Ya los pajaritos cantan
La luna ya se metió.
If you want to know what other countries – not limited to South America – sing around the birthday cake, check this out. I thought it was pretty cool.
There’s a lot to talk about when it comes to cumpleaños…there’s the whole other topic of the different names we have for the birthday “cake” in Spanish (pastel, torta, bizcocho, queque – for starters), as well as the different ways we actually celebrate one. So why don’t you please share your traditions with us so we can all learn something new 
What a wonderful post and adorable pictures! Makes me want to bake something soon!
I loved the link to the list of various countries and how they sing the Happy Birthday song – guess our Boca Beth version is the Mexican version! (Comes from living in Guadalajara for a summer after living in Chile.)
Hope your families have fun celebrating the niñas birthdays.
.-= Boca Beth´s last blog ..What’s Up Wednesday from Bilingual Mom, Speaker, Recording Artist and Entrepreneur Boca Beth =-.
What a great post, I haven’t commented in a while but I always read your wonderful blog. I am from Venezuela and we sing this beautiful really long song before singing Happy Birthday. It goes like this, I said already it is really long.
“Ay que noche tan preciosa, es la noche de tu dia, todos llenos de alegria, en esta fecha natal. Tus más íntimos amigos esta noche te acompañan, te saludan y desean un mundo de felicidad. Yo por mi parte deseo, lleno de luz este dia, todos llenos de alegria, en esta fecha natal. Y que la luna plateada, brille su luz para ti, y ruego a Dios porque pases un cumpleaños feliz.
Cumpleaños feliz, te deseamos a ti, cumpleaños (Vanessa y Camila). cumpleaños feliz!!!!!!
Thanks for posting this. My husband was raised in Venezuela and his family sings this during birthdays. Now that most of his family is distant, I am hoping to teach it to our children and surprise him with it.
My family – from Puerto Rico – sing two songs. We sing a similar version to yours first:
Cumpleaños feliz, cumpleaños feliz, cumpleaños (fulanito), cumpleaños feliz!
And then we sing the same version your husband sings, right after.
And cake is bizcocho for us.
.-= Melanie (Modern Mami)´s last blog ..Let’s Hear What you Have to Say! =-.
Hoppy Birday to Ju! is what my Cuban relatives sing. I don’t ever remember Las Mananitas (can’t do the tilde), but earlier this month when I was in Miami they sang it for my step-sister, newly arrived from Cuba. So, while it was my Mexican friends who taught me Las Mananitas, my Cubanos knew it all along and never shared. I do like that song a lot too.
I like Marianna’s song…oh, and we called the cake “el cake” but I am liking the word “pastel” for cake. Pastel is such a pretty, pretty word.
My feliz cumpleanos is coming up very, very soon too. Hoppy Birday to me and your girls.
.-= Carrie_in_TN´s last blog ..Splaining =-.
I just found your blog! I’m from Ecuador, so I guess that makes us “neighbors” LOL
In Ecuador we sing:
Cumpleaños feliz, te deseamos a ti, cumpleaños (fulanito), cumpleaños feliz!
On regards, of Las Mañanitas, that will go like this:
Estas son las mañanitas, que cantaba el Rey David
A las muchachas bonitas, se las cantamos así
Despierta, mi bien, despierta, mira que ya amaneció
Ya los pajaritos cantan, la luna ya se metió.
.-= Pilar @ ScoringDeals´s last blog ..Tim Hortons: FREE Blueberry Donut on July 21 =-.
Thanks to all for sharing your bday tunes and making me sing-along!
@Marianna–we´ve missed you! I LOVE the Venezuelan song but never been able to learn it. Thanks for the lyrics.
@Carrie–feliz próximo cumpleaños!! You´re a Leo like our feisty girls!
.-= Ana Lilian´s last blog ..Video of the Week–Poko =-.
What is the spanish song about ‘we want cake’?
Is it the one that goes:
Ya queremos pastel
Ya queremos pastel
Aunque sea un pedazito
pero queremos pastel.
.-= Ana Lilian´s last blog ..ReadMe: Mimí’s Parranda =-.
My husband’s family in Michoacan, Mexico calls the day either “tu santo” or “tu cumpleanos”. I am told when they were growing up, somebody would sing “las mananitas”, usually Mama, and maybe a group went to church (no cake). While we were visiting last year a neighbor had a party, with cake, and the guests sang “japi birdei tu yu” and then they sang “las mananitas”. I was pleased that “las mananitas” was louder… and the whole neighborhood was invited to the party.
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