“Cri-Cri” is Francisco Gabilondo Soler, the singer from Veracruz who found stardom on Mexican radio in the ‘30s with adorable songs for children. (Disney songs had a similar spirit back then, too.) He sang about loneliness (“Don’t cry anymore, dummy, you have no reason/Your friends are not those of the world”) and the unfairness of life (“Her ducklings continue growing and they don’t have shoes/And her husband is a shameless and sluggish duck/Who does not bring anything for food/And Mama Webster, what will she do? When they ask her, she will answer, ‘Eat mosquitos, quara qua quack.”). Kids know what’s real when they hear it so here we are—the best way to write a song that never dies is to make sure that little children love it. The Cri-Cri Festival will include face-painting, mimes and live musical performances.
Sun., Oct. 3, noon, 2010
