References
American Passage: A Literary Survey. Masculine Heroes. 1, no. 1:5.
In this article, it breaks down what a Corrido is, what they were used for, their origins, and who they were for. Many a time, they were used by the Mexican people as a way of documentation or telling a story. They were used to tell stories of the peoples' heroes such as Gregorio Cortez, Pancho Villa, and Cesar Chavez. However, many did not end with a happy ending. Many times, the stories ended with the triumphant hero returning home imprisoned. Corridos was a way for the people to always remember the past.
Coates, Karen. Corridos. 2005 [cited November/5 2005]. Available from http://score.rims.k12.ca.us/score_lessons/corridos .
This article holds the meaning of a Corrido and its roots. It tells what they were used for and how they were used. It mentions that the only time that Corridos defied authority, is when authority was claimed to be corrupted. This was truthful storytelling. It was documentation. This site also has links to a couple examples of the types of Corridos.
Dickey, Dan W. Utopia: Corridos. in The Texas State Historical Association [database online]. Austin, Texas, 2001 [cited 3/November 2005]. Available from http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/CC/lhc1.html .
This article holds comparison to other types of song as it is held in Texas. It refers to Corridos possibly descending from "romance". Corridos are also said to hold certain formal ballad conventions. The past of Corridos are also compared to the past of ballads with the breakdown of each. It also holds comparisons and tells of the most likely places where Corridos are held.
Parades, Americo. 1958. Gregorio Cortez, A Study. In "With His Pistol in his Hand" , edited by Americo Parades. Austin: University of Texas Press.
Americo Parades lays out his dissertation very well. He has section headers which makes it very easy to navigate through the book. He provides the original corrido as well as other versions giving the reader many perspectives. It was also helpful that both the legend and the factual story was provided. Overall this book was a joy to read and the material was intriguing. It is easy to see why this corrido is the epitome of the original corridos, the man and the legend provide a much needed ballad hero for people along the border. But the fact that Gregorio Cortez was more than just a legend makes the story, the song, and the history that much more important.
Stevens, Sufjan, et al. Asesino Lyrics. 2005 [cited November/6 2005]. Available from http://www.lyricsmania.com/lyrics/asesino_lyrics_2772 .
These lyrics not only tell stories, they also use style and beats to be popular among the audiences. This link provides an easy access to the lyrics by Asesino; it gives a clear list that allows the user to navigate the site easily and efficiently. These lyrics are popular along the border between Mexico and the United States , but if they were more widely distributed, I believe that they would be more popular. It is important to note that these lyrics are in Spanish, but some corridos translated into English lose their rhyming couplets, but even in English the content is still intact.
Wald, Elijah. Elijah Wald - Narcocorrido. in Elijah Wald [database online]. Austin, 2005 [cited 12/12/05 2005]. Available from http://www.elijahwald.com/corrido.html .
This website contains lyrics, articles, and a timeline describing the “banning narco corridos” campaign. Elijah Wald provides an excellent overall site links to all of his pages can be found throughout his homepage, and other pages. He outlines his book with paragraphs including pictures and external links. He provides lyrics for the songs on his CD as well as other lyrics which make this website key in the process of learning about corridos and narco corridos. The most interesting page I found was the Corrido Watch page which gave links to lyrics of contemporary songs detailing September 11 th , the murders of the women in Juarez, and Osama Bin Laden.