“Se Me Fue Mi Amor” by Carmen y Laura

Song Information 

“Se Me Fue Mi Amor” by Carmen y Laura was released in late 1945, recorded by Ideal Records.  This song is a conjunto piece sung by two sisters. This song follows the formulaic style of conjunto music. The instrumentation includes the accordion, a guitar and a bass. It also follows the pattern of emphasizing the second and third beat in a triple meter, and the sisters are singing in thirds. Carmen and Laura never imagined themselves performing professionally, as they grew up singing while doing housework and chores, but after the Great Depression and World War II, they were brought into a newfound music business. Carmen met her husband, Armando Marroquín, who introduced her to the jukebox business nearby Alice Texas where the two lived. Alice was later named “the “official birthplace” of Tejano music. Alice, Texas also is home to the Tejano R.O.O.T.S. Hall of Fame Museum, to pay tribute to Tejano music.

 Due to the lapse of record production post war, Marroquín had to travel to Mexico, 120 miles from Alice, to buy records for jukeboxes. This, along with red tape involved in obtaining Mexican and Mexican American music, Marroquín decided to buy recording equipment and set up camp in Carmens kitchen. Carmen hung draped blankets to enhance the acoustics. During this time, Carmen’s sister Laura had just returned home from college in Mexico, and they started to record music as a duet. “Se Me Fue Mi Amor” was one of their first songs to become a hit. This not only gave Carmen and Laura opportunity to be a successful Tejana duet, but also allowed Marroquín to successfully record and distribute records, specifically for other jukebox operators. This became pivotal for the establishment of Ideal Records. After World War II, there was a high demand in Texas for Orquesta based conjunto music. 

Women Involvement in Music  

Although the lyrical interpretation of this song doesn’t directly correlate to Texas, this was the first influential local label to produce and distribute Tejano music. Ideal records not only became a platform for woman artists, but also Tejano culture in Texas. There was a lack of female perspective in the entertainment industry, in fact, most of the woman who would perform, performed covers of songs made my men, mostly written about woman. Carmen y Laura recording their very first song in the eyes of a woman. The song is about the emotions that woman felt when their husband or men in their life were shipped out to war. Not only does this song reflect the wartime atmosphere, but it reflects from a woman’s point of view. 

Many women kept their musical talents to themselves, singing in small gatherings or simply at home. Carmen y Laura did the same, until Marroquín decided to record music. Although the record company was created by two men, Carmen y Laura were the first to gain popularity for Ideal Records, creating a platform for women, specifically Mexican/ Mexican American women, to enrich the involvement of women in the entertainment industry which had opened a whole new market. Although this song is about a man leaving his wife for war and the devastation of being without a man, this song is truly iconic for the inclusion of women in the entertainment industry.   

“Ideal also played a significant role in shaping Tejano music by incorporating women into the Tejano recording industry and by launching two musical trends then taking place in Texas-the orquesta tejana and conjunto music. Its most significant influence, however, was in ‘helping to establish the dominance of conjunto and orquesta over all other types of music in Texas.’ The dominance of styles was visibly reflected in the recorded songs of the female duets. The overwhelming majority of these duets, for instance, recorded only with conjunto or orquesta accompaniment.”

This is an excerpt from Tejano Roots: The Women. I feel this best describes the significance that Ideal Records had in the formation of the popularity for women performance.

Lyrics (Spanish)

Se me fue mi amor 
y no sé ni adónde 
Se me fue a la guerra 
sin decirme: “Vuelvo”. 
 
Se me fue mi amor 
se me fue mi encanto, 
y no se hasta cuándo 
volveré yo a verlo. 
 
Quisiera su sombra ser 
su suerte correrla yo 
seguir su camino 
y el mismo destino 
que tenga, tenerlo yo. 
 
Quisiera poder volar 
hacia adonde está mi bien 
volar cual las aves 
cruzar esos mares 
llegar a morir con él. 
 
Se me fue mi amor 
pero no por siempre 
porque sé que vuelve 
otra vez a mí. 
 
Yo le pido a Dios 
si no vuelvo a verlo 
que me de la muerte… 
Es mejor morir. 

Works Cited

Acosta, Teresa Palomo. “Cantú, Laura Hernández (1926–2004).” TSHA, 8 July 2014, www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/cantu-laura-hernandez.  

Acosta, Teresa Palomo. “Marroquín, Carmen Hernández (1921–2010).” TSHA, 1 July 2015, www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/marroquin-carmen-hernandez.  

Acosta, Teresa Palamo. “Tejano R.O.O.T.S. Hall of Fame Museum.” TSHA, 14 July 2014, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/tejano-roots-hall-of-fame-museum.

“Art and Entertainment in the 1930s and 1940s  :  Great Depression and World War II, 1929-1945  :  U.S. History Primary Source Timeline  :  Classroom Materials at the Library of Congress  :  Library of Congress.” The Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/united-states-history-primary-source-timeline/great-depression-and-world-war-ii-1929-1945/art-and-entertainment-in-1930s-1940s/.  

Nicholopulos, Jim, and Chris Stratchwitz. “Tejano Roots: The Women (1946-1970).” Folkways Media, 1991.  

SanMiguel, Guadalupe. “Journal of American Ethnic History.” The Rise of Recorded Tejano Music in the Post-World War II Years, 1946-1964, vol. 19, no. 1, 1991, pp. 26–49., doi:University of Illinois Press.