No one of Mexican or Central American origin, or really anyone who has passed through a Chicano neighborhood with their windows down, could possibly forget the infectious melody and nostalgic lyrics of Los Ángeles Azules’ smash hit, “Cómo te voy a olvidar” (Spanish speakers: please note the corny pun). It’s one of those songs that has embedded itself in the DNA through decades of bodas and quinceañeras, and with the sound of those first emblematic notes, the heart begins to beat to the loping, hypnotic rhythm of la cumbia sonidera.
Even a long-haired rockero rebel has been to enough weddings to find himself unconsciously mouthing the lyrics when those horns inevitably start to blare from the sound system at a his local cantina. In the case of Alex Gallardo, star of the snotty, punk rock-fueled Mexican feature, Somos Mari Pepa, it was a chance mixup while playing The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, that led the long-haired rockero rebel to unconsciously bang out the first few notes of “Cómo te voy a olvidar” on a digital ocarina. From there, with a little hard work and a lot of patience, Gallardo transcribed the entirety of the song’s wistful melody for the Nintendo 3DS console, recorded it and posted it on his personal Facebook page. Behold…
https://youtu.be/rvUArIwOHg8
And, so you don’t have to drive your roommates crazy by replaying this video 26 times, here’s the code:
L-R-Y-A-[A+(down)]+X+Y+R+L
L-R-Y-A-[A+(down)]+X+Y+R+L
R-R-R-[L+(up)]-R-[L+(down)]
Y-Y-Y-[Y+(down)]-Y-[L+(up)]
[(down and left)+X-X-X-X]-[Y+(down)]-R-[L+(up)]
[(down and left)+X-X-X-X]-[Y+(down)]-R-[L+(up)]
You follow? That’s okay, me neither. But for those Zelda fanatics who never quite got the handle on their trumpet lessons, this is the closest you will likely ever come to playing “Cómo te voy a olvidar”, and gosh darnit, it’s close enough! So next time la familia gets together for some wholesome family fun, turn off the ipod, hook up your Nintendo 3DS and show your tías that this whole time you were actually an accomplished musician. Cue scandalous dance moves, tequila shots and generalized jolgorio. Or maybe just some confused looks and impassioned cries of, “¡Pero, prende el ipod!”