La Bamba
- Not to be confused with La Bomba.
"La Bamba" is a Mexican folk song that was popularized by a performance from American singer Ritchie Valens and eventually covered by Los Lobos and Los Pregoneros del Puerto.
History[edit]
DIC cartoons[edit]
The Super Mario Bros. Super Show![edit]
A cover of the song by The Studio Group[citation needed] plays in the episode "The Mark of Zero." It plays when Zero appears to rescue Mario and company from King Koopa (under the alias El Koopitan), defeating Mouser in a swordfight in the process.
The song is unusually long when compared to other song covers from the show, clocking in at almost two minutes long.
The lyrics are the same as the Valens version of the song, except the singer says "necesito" instead of "necesita" and says "Bamba" one additional time during the chorus.
The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3[edit]
In The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 episode "7 Continents for 7 Koopas," when allotting South America to Hop Koopa, King Koopa tells him to "La Bamba" the continent. Additionally, in the Latin American Spanish dub of the episode, he also recites a line from the song, saying, "¡Y arriba, y arriba, y arriba!" as Hop descends towards South America.
Nintendo My Play a Tune Book[edit]
An arrangement of "La Bamba" is included in the Nintendo My Play a Tune Book, where it is accompanied by an illustration of the game Super Mario Bros. 2 and is the sixth song featured in the book. This arrangement is much shorter than the Valens version of the song, consisting of only five lines. The lyrics sheet also writes "La Bamba" in lowercase and omits all diacritics in the lyrics. It is one of the two original songs featured in the book, the other being "Apples and Bananas."
Donkey Konga series[edit]
| La Bamba | |
|---|---|
| Artist | Ritchie Valens |
| Game(s) | Donkey Konga  / Donkey Konga 2  
|
| Length | 2:22 |
| BPM | 157 |
| Difficulties | ★★★ (Konga 1) / ★ (Konga 2 Solo) / ★ (Konga 2 Duet) |
| ★★★★★★ (Konga 1) / ★★★★ (Konga 2 Solo) / ★★ (Konga 2 Duet) | |
| ★★★★★★★ (Konga 1) / ★★★★★ (Konga 2 Solo) / ★★★★★★ (Konga 2 Duet) | |
| Cost | 666 (Konga 1) / 808 (Konga 2) |
A full cover of the Valens version of the song appears as a playable song in the Japanese version of Donkey Konga. It later appears as a playable song in western versions of Donkey Konga 2.
Lyrics[edit]
Nintendo My Play a Tune Book[edit]
| Spanish lyrics | English translation |
|---|---|
Bamba bamba, bamba bamba, bamba bamba |
Donkey Konga / Donkey Kong 2[edit]
| Spanish lyrics | English translation |
|---|---|
Para bailar La Bamba |
To dance La Bamba |
Gallery[edit]
The arrangement featured in the Nintendo My Play a Tune Book
Names in other languages[edit]
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | ラ・バンバ Ra Banba |
La Bamba | |
| Spanish | La Bamba | Literally "The Bamba" |
