Madrugal

I was listening to Café Tacuba the other day when a seemingly innocent and inconspicuous bolero-style song in their 2nd album, Re, which caught my ears. Not because of the intricate and smooth guitar, or the sweet voices that are complemented by it, but by the last line of the song. Overall it's a jab at pollution in Mexico city, using irony. Here's the song in the original and also my translation:



La ciudad de los palacios

The city of palaces

Va dejando paso a el alba

Gives way to dawn

Se va perdiendo la calma

Calm recedes

Para cuando el sol asoma

By the time the sun peeps

Todo el esplendor decrece

All the splendour diminishes

la gente en las calles toma

people in the streets drink

Catedral desaparece entre smog

(the) cathedral dissapears among smog

Y caca de paloma.

and pidgeon shit.

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What an awesome way to end the song, eh?

Now, 'Madrugal' probably means 'Morning Song' or something. What happens is that it's not really a word, and after searching around for the definition, the closest thing I found was the Italian term, madrigal. According to the Free Online Dictionary, madrigal means the following:

1. a. A song for two or three unaccompanied voices, developed in Italy in the late 13th and early 14th centuries.

b. A short poem, often about love, suitable for being set to music.

2. b. A part song.

A portmanteau (word made out of two different words), perhaps? I quite like the idea, a short morning poem sung by polyphonic voices, set to music. Although, it strikes to me as some kind of prose really similar to what a haiku would be. EDIT: (Thank you, pla, you are right, it's more senryu actually!). After all, it's a 'show, not tell' kind of thing, it paints a vivid image in the mind of the reader/listener and with just a few words it can do a lot. Of course this is 4 lines a stanza, but I think the parallels are interesting!