Yucatecan bombas: customs and traditions with a wink

Yucatecan bombas: popular and centuries-old. Verses of Yucatán’s culture that accompany the jaranas, mixing humour with a festive game of rhymes.

Yucatán has many customs and traditions, and the Yucatecan bombas are one of them.

A bomba is a short rhyming verse (usually a quatrain) shouted out during the jarana, Yucatán’s traditional dance. We keep the verses below in the original Spanish — they are the cultural artifact itself, and the rhyme and wordplay do not survive translation. Each dancer calls out a bomba and their partner answers, half flirtation, half joke.

Bombas are verses typical of popular festivals, recited between passages of jarana music, on all sorts of subjects.

There are rude Yucatecan bombas and teaching bombas. All of them carry a pinch of humour or mischief; in this post you’ll find a bit of everything.

One example is the drunkards’ bombas, which tend to recite hilarious stories.

The origin of the Yucatecan bombas goes back centuries. Their roots lie in Spain.

Later, during colonial times, they spread to the Gulf of Mexico. “Bomba” refers to the top hats the Spanish wore.

As they were the first to make this kind of rhyme, the word stuck.

Much has been written about these verses. According to several studies, Yucatecan bombas are a variation of what is known as the Spanish copla, whose features are also festive and popular.

In fact, they were an effective communication tool, used before the printing press existed.

Centuries ago, copleros and troubadours collected these verses to pass them from generation to generation.

On reaching the New World, after the Conquest, they took on new structures.

Some records place the start of these cultural expressions in Yucatán around 1841.

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Kub-pol: the Yucatecan bomba in Maya culture and traditions

As mentioned, the Yucatecan bombas in Maya, like much of the traditions and customs of Yucatán, have a history of blending with Spanish culture.

Their most concrete expression is recorded in the Kub-pol celebration. During this feast, offerings and prayers are made to the gods.

Within those festivities, certain figures cracked jokes while people danced.

The offering usually included a wild boar’s head. Then came prayers and the preparation of food.

Later, a group of women would begin dancing the jarana. At some point in the dance, someone would interrupt to shout “¡Bomba!”

Read: 14 Yucatecan words and phrases to talk like a local.

That was how the dancer — dressed as a vaquera — was courted, with a rhyme recreating an anecdote or a story that had happened in the town.

6 features of the Yucatecan bombas

1. In Maya and Spanish

The meeting of the two cultures also shows in the bombas, which often include words from both languages.

2. Why “bomba”?

The word began as a nod to the celebration itself. Later it came to refer to the rhymes or coplas, and it is also the word that announces the rhyme.

3. A great motivator for the vaquerías

It is thought that bombas were also used to motivate workers during the vaquerías (cattle-branding festivals).

4. Peak in the 19th century

Many studies place the height of the bombas in the 19th century, at feasts and celebrations — though they may have been performed some years earlier.

5. Stars of the Jaranas

Bombas are heard in the jaranas; they complement the dance and are part of this regional folk tradition.

6. Copla or quatrain

If it is not part of the jarana, it is not considered a bomba.

How are the bombas recited?

Picture yourself at a jarana. The music stops. You hear the word ¡Bomba! and a dancer courts his partner out loud with the stanza of a funny rhyme.

The dancer answers as if to a compliment. These interruptions keep happening as the dance goes on, until it ends.

Improvised and playful, the Yucatecan bombas have great romantic content, full of courtship and humour. Some examples:

-Quisiera ser zapatito de tu diminuto pie, para ver de vez en cuando lo que el zapatito ve.

-Hay sus clases de bombas: la rusa y la americana, pero es más fuerte la de mi suegra a las cinco de la mañana.

-Ayer al salir de misa te vi muy sonriente, pero entre sonrisa había un frijol en tu diente.

-Mestiza bella y galana de Yucatán, linda flor, tu hermosura meridana hace que cada mañana siga soñando con tu amor.

-Yo quisiera ser mosquito para entrar en tu pabellón y decirte despacito: amorcito corazón.

-A la puerta del cenote mataron a un tecolote, a tu pichi cuñado lo dejaron sin bigote.

-Me encantaría ser el calzado de tu bonito pie, para ver siempre lo que él ve.

-Qué linda estás cuando te miro de lado pero más bella estarás con el vestido escotado.

-En la esquina de tu casa hoy martes te volví a ver, seré tonto linda hermosa si no te invito a comer.

-Al pasar ayer por tu casa me tiraste un limón, no me tires otro que me hiciste un chichón.

-Si visitas Yucatán y tomas agua de pozo de aquí te enamorarás y aquí vivirás dichoso.

-En esa boquita en flor que te ha regalado Dios, no hay ningún labio inferior, son superiores los dos.

-Quisiera ser el mecate de tu leña mi tesoro, para tenerte amarrada y decirte que te adoro.

Read: The what, how and where of cochinita pibil in Yucatán.

Types of Yucatecan bombas

Bombas for tourists

Aimed at foreign and local visitors, they are common at points of interest or on tours.

Bombas in family halls

Stars of dance halls, used to liven up guests and diners, usually to tropical music; romantic ones fit here too.

Pamphlet bombas

A vehicle of political expression, entertaining and offering a splash of reality:

• Con sus sonrisas Colgate y sus frases de carnada, se negaron al debate y nos dieron una batucada.
• Volvieron los viejos vicios, si es que alguna vez se han ido, compra y venta al servicio de una mafia hecha partido.

Teaching bombas

Their content is very educational, with historical or health-prevention themes.

How are the bombas spread?

Though the bombas still survive, they are not as widespread as in other times.

In the 20th century, radio gave them a major reach, and later television and some comedians gave them the push they needed to become more popular.

From that era, some broadcasts survive online and on channels like YouTube.

Want to remember a few?

More than 30 Yucatecan bombas to remember:

-Un yucateco cayó de lo alto de una iglesia, ningún hueso se rompió porque cayó de cabeza.

-Dices que soy cabezón y es muy grande tu franqueza, si así tengo la cabeza cómo tendré el corazón.

-Él: Quisiera volverme el suelo que pisa tu taconeo y así mirar lo que creo no se mira ni en el cielo. / Ella: Estás loco o por ahí vas, para qué quieres ser suelo, lo que quieres ver, tontuelo.

-Él: ¿Quieres linda mesticita, que yo te diga una cosa? / Ella: Sí, dime mi amor, ¿que me parezco a una rosa?… / Él: No, mestiza, pretendo decirte que estás hermosa; quiero pedirte otra… “cosa”. / Ella: La “cosita” que tú piensas yo no te la puedo dar; porque antes que la tuvieras conmigo te has de casar.

-A un viejo sordo invité a subir a una avioneta. Y él me dijo: -¿una coqueta? A mis años, ¿para qué?

-Él: Quiero casarme contigo, ¿pero con qué te mantengo? Solo que comas zacate como la mula que tengo. / Ella: No me la puedo comer, porque me duele la muela; si no te lo comes tú, que se lo coma tu abuela.

-Ayer pasé por tu casa y me ladraron los perros, quise agarrar una piedra y se me embarraron… los dedos.

-¡Bomba, bombacho!, el que se ría de mí, está loco, mariguano, o de plano está borracho.

-Del cielo cayó un pañuelo bordado de mil colores y en cada color decía: mestiza de mis amores.

-Del cielo cayó un pañuelo bordado con seda negra, aunque tu padre no quiera, tu madre será mi suegra.

-Quisiera volverme suelo que pisa tu taconeo y así mirar lo que creo no se mira ni en el cielo.

You are sure to remember one of the bombas above.

They are a must at the jaranas and are part of the culture, traditions and customs of Yucatán.

Fun and original, the bombas always include a story that will make you smile when you hear it. Care to share one you know?

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