Tamacun

Album: Rodrigo y Gabriela (2006)
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Songfacts®:

  • In the liner notes to their self-titled debut album, Rodrigo y Gabriela explain the title of this instrumental: "In the south Pacific of Mexico there is a town called Ixtapa, it's in Zihuatanejo. This place had diverse and vast numbers of wildlife species. In the early '80s, construction companies, along with the government of the state of Guerrejo, contributed to destroy their natural habitat. Here, like in many other parts of the country, the constant slaughter of animals continues. Nowadays, there are just under 90 crocodiles left in the region, but one man, Erroberto Piza, aka Tamacun, takes care of them as if they were his children and they love him like he was their croc father. The little reserve where they live sometimes collapses when heavy rain hits and they escape scaring the s--t out of a few tourists just for the laugh... (well, it's not that bad). But before long Tamacun is there to take them back home. The Mexican government doesn't fund his work, and he makes little or no money. We promised him to tell people of his dedication and love for nature." >>
    Suggestion credit:
    Bertrand - Paris, France
  • "Tamacun" is the most popular song by Rodrigo y Gabriela, the duo of Rodrigo Sanchez and Gabriela Quintero. They play Flamenco-style acoustic guitars, but before joining forces they played together in a metal band called Tierra Acida (Acid Earth). They found that with just the two of them and their guitars, they shed a lot of actual and figurative weight and were able to make innovative, expressive music while traveling the world. They went to Dublin and started busking. What was planned as a three-month stay turned into 18, and then they went to Denmark, followed by Barcelona. They released their first album, re-Foc, in 2002, which was followed by Rodrigo y Gabriela in 2006, the one with "Tamacun." Their exposure to Irish music is evident on the song and album.
  • It wasn't included on any of the soundtrack albums, but "Tamacun" plays early the 2008 pilot episode of Breaking Bad in a scene where Walter White first sees Jesse.

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