Flores y Tamales

Album: The Thread That Keeps Us (2018)
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Songfacts®:

  • This song is sung entirely in Spanish and the title translates into English as "Flowers and Tamales." (The latter is a traditional Mexican dish).
  • "Flores y Tamales" features Jairo Zavala, Calexico's touring bouzouki player on lead vocals. Joey Burns told UK newspaper The Sun: "I had an instrumental cumbia (courtship dance) song recorded and Jairo suggested he tried singing his lyrics over the track. When he sang, it felt like it was instantly a classic."
  • Burns explained Zavala's lyrical content: "He writes a story about someone who has passed away and not being able to reconcile letting go. The ghost tries talking with their loved one and imagines all the things they could have done together."

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