Today in Mexico, they are celebrating Dia de los Muertos. Actually, they were celebrating it yesterday too. In researching this post, I learned that the Day of the Dead is actually two days, and has been since the Spaniards merged the holiday with their own All Saints and All Souls days (November 1 and 2). In the same "if you can't beat them, join them" style that turned the pagan Winter Soltice celebration into Christmas, the Christian conquistadors took the the Latin American festival honoring the deceased from its original date in early August and merged it with their own holiday.
Because it happens right after Halloween and features a lot of skeleton art work, many people think of Day of the Dead as a morbid occasion. But as anyone who attended the excellent Dia de los Muertos festival at Cheekwood last Saturday knows, its actually like a more festive take on Memorial Day. I'd post some Mexican music in honor of the holiday, but the fact is I don't have any. The closest representatives I have to Latin America in my world music collection are from Cuba and Brazil. So I'll give you this instead...
The Church - "Day Of The Dead" (mp3) from Sometime Anywhwere
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