by Xinhua writers Miao Peiyuan and Tan Huiting
MEXICO CITY, July 6 (Xinhua) -- For those watching football in Mexico for the first time, the refrain may sound unexpected. The match is still raging on the field, tackles flying and nerves tightening, but from the stands comes a familiar chorus: "Ay, ay, ay, ay, canta y no llores" -- sing, and don't cry.
The melody is "Cielito Lindo," one of Mexico's best-loved folk songs and, over time, one of its most recognizable football anthems. It belongs not only to stadiums, but also to festivals, weddings, family gatherings, airports and public squares -- almost anywhere people need to feel something together. Mexicans do not so much learn the song as grow into it, hearing it first from parents and grandparents before carrying it naturally in their own voices.
Its title is difficult to render neatly in English. Literally, "Cielito Lindo" suggests a "beautiful little sky," but the phrase also conveys warmth and tenderness, something closer to "dear one" or "beloved." Yet it is the chorus -- sing, and don't cry -- that has turned the song into a shared code for generations of fans.
That line says much about the Mexican way of living football. Sing when the team wins. Sing when it loses. Sing when hope is swelling, and sing even louder when the night seems to be slipping away. Football brings anxiety, heartbreak, joy and tears, but in Mexico those emotions often find their way into a chorus.
In Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey, the opponents change and the matches tell different stories. But wherever Mexican fans gather, "Cielito Lindo" can rise from one corner of the stands and, within moments, become everyone's song.
At the 2018 World Cup in Russia, after Mexico stunned defending champion Germany in its opening match, supporters broke into "Cielito Lindo." Images of that celebration traveled around the world, linking the melody in the minds of many foreign fans with Mexican football.
Now, with Mexico once again hosting the World Cup, the country is singing it to the world all over again.
For Daniel, a Mexican-American fan who traveled from Los Angeles to Mexico City for the tournament, the song carries a meaning that is both personal and inherited. He grew up in Los Angeles, where Mexican music was part of the sound of home.
"I always knew this song belonged to Mexico," he said. "But when everyone sang it together, I felt for the first time that I belonged inside it too. It was like coming home to a bigger family."
Martin, a fan from Argentina, could also follow the chorus. He said the melody is familiar in many countries, though Argentine stadiums more often echo with "Ole, ole, ole, ole."
"But when you come to Mexico and hear an entire stadium singing this," he said, "you understand that this song belongs here."
People often say football unites the world. In Mexico's World Cup venues, that idea can sometimes be heard in a song: some know every word, some only hum the tune, and some understand none of the lyrics but clap along anyway. Then the chorus rises and, for a brief moment, the crowd seems to draw a little closer. ■
