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“Mariposas” (“Butterflies,” 1972); in
Mariposas (1999)

This song, composed while Rodríguez was at ICAIC, refers to the ancient Mesoamerican belief that butterflies were symbols of the soul of warriors killed in battle.  As he recounts, they also represent memory in this song:

[Las mariposas fue] para la cultura nahuatl que crecía en el Valle de México cuando llegaron los conquistadores (después no creció casi nada). Las mariposas simbolizaban el alma de los guerreros que, habiendo caído en combate, regresaban a la tierra de esa forma colorida y hermosa para embellecer la vida de los hombres. En este caso, el símbolo está tomado en el sentido de la anoranza, del recuerdo (Godoy 1984: 41).^[1]

Fig. 10-“Mariposas,” Lyrics and chord chart

The song is composed of three sections: a verse, bridge, and chorus, all of which end on a half cadence. The first two couplets of the verse recalls a departed lover (“Hoy viene a ser como la cuarta vez que espero/desde que sé que no vendrás más nunca,” “Así eras tú en aquellas tardes divertidas”).

The accompanying harmonies shift from Bb major in the first couplet to Ab major in the second, like flashing memories. The last two couplets of the verse refer to the butterfly, as either a natural phenomenon or literary metaphor for memory in the first verse (“Y tú apareces, por mi ventana/suave pequeña, con alas blancas”), and as a reference to the Nahuatl myth in the second (“Ay, mariposa! Tú eres el alma/de los guerreros que aman y cantan”). These couplets are accompanied by a dominant pedal on F minor, beautifully embellished by diminished chords plucked on the guitar, played in rising inversions as if to imitate the fluttering of a butterfly.^[2] The harmonies, too, seem to imitate butterflies in flight; just in the verse, they have floated from Bb to Ab to F minor (via V) without confirming these keys with a cadence.

Similarly, the bridge does not stay in one key. It starts with two harmonic surprises: it resolves to F major rather than F minor, and it does so by way of Bb. Again, the harmony does not rest there long; F is quickly reinterpreted as a dominant, highlighting the first appearance of the title word “mariposas.”  This dominant resolves in an imperfect authentic cadence (in Bb) at “que ayer solo fueron humo.”  This cadence and its repeat are the only authentic cadences in the entire song, which concretizes the image of the butterflies. This imagery is further enhanced by the impressionistic playing of the guitar, whose quick chord-plucking with rapid changes in dynamics recalls the fluttering of butterflies.

As with the bridge, the chorus (Ex. 10A) does not begin as expected; the F at the end of the bridge does not resolve to Bb but to Ab.  The chorus is a double-plagal progression (two back-to-back progressions of falling fourths) to Bb and one plagal further to F; the chords are repeated in a potentially unending cycle.  Such an inconclusive progression seems appropriate for the text, which refers to the reincarnated warriors, who are displaced from time, or the timelessness of a fond memory (“Tu tiempo es ahora una mariposa/. . . Siglos atrás inundaron un segundo”).  There are no perfect authentic cadences to tie the butterflies down.

Ex. 10A – “Mariposas,” Chorus

Thus, Rodríguez musically depicts butterflies, reincarnation, and memory effectively in this song through the use of onomatopoeic accompaniment; frequent, but not jarring, modulations; and a circular progression. The frequent fluctuations in harmony and dynamics are reminiscent of butterflies that flutter from flower to flower; they do not stay grounded for very long.

• [1] “[Butterflies were] for the Nahuatl culture, which flourished in the Valley of Mexico at the time that the conquistadores came (afterwards almost nothing grew). Butterflies symbolized the soul of warriors, who having fallen in battle, returned to earth in this colorful and beautiful form in order to embellish the life of men. In this case, the symbol has taken the sense of yearning and remembrance.”
• [2] Comments on the guitar accompaniment are based on the recording included in the 1999 CD Mariposas, played by Rey Guerra.

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