The song is that of a man telling a woman (from Málaga, Spain) how beautiful she is, and how he would love to be her man, but that he understands her rejecting him for being too poor.
The issue is controversial because ... [Hidalguense composer] don Nicandro Castillo wrote that several tunes from la Huasteca which in decades past were known as huapangos, composed by Elpidio Ramírez, Roque Ramírez and Pedro Galindo, were actually anonymous songs, as was the case of Cielito Lindo and La Malagueña, which like La Guasanga or El Sacamandú, were in the public domain, written "long before the construction of the Cathedral of Huejutla".[6]
Recordings
Many have recorded and played this song, in particular Tríos huastecos, Mariachis and Bolero Trios. But the most famous version was made by Miguel Aceves Mejía with his mariachi. With Huapangos or Son Huastecos, the falsetto technique is used to great effect, as in David Záizar's version. Quite a few versions of the song feature vocal gymnastics by whoever sings them, particularly the stretching of vowels such as the "e" sound in the gentilic 'Malagueña' for as long as the singer can hold the note. Other known mariachi versions of the song were recorded by:
In the opening title sequence of the movie Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Antonio Banderas is seen "playing" on guitar a version of Malagueña Salerosa, recorded by Chingon, members of group Del Castillo of Austin, Texas and director/producer/editor Robert Rodriguez, with orchestral backing.
Alla Bayanova was recorded in Romania in 70 years on long-playing record. She sang this song in Romanian.
^Nicandro Castillo (1914–1990): "El Hidalguense", "Las Tres Huastecas", "El Cantador", "La Calandria", "Sueño", "El Alegre", "El Huasteco Enamorado", "Fiesta Huasteca", "El Gavilán Tamaulipeco", and "Mi huejutla"
^Trejo, Ángel. "El huapango resucitó y vive una de sus mejores etapas: Enrique Rivas Paniagua" (in Spanish). Mexico City: Conaculta. Archived from the original on 2004-06-12. Retrieved 2009-09-28. El tema es controvertido porque en dichas páginas [compositor hidalguense] don Nicandro [Castillo] escribió que varios sones huastecos que en las décadas pasadas fueron conocidos como huapangos compuestos por Elpidio Ramírez, Roque Ramírez y Pedro Galindo fueron en realidad sones anónimos — como fue el caso de Cielito Lindo y La Malagueña, que al igual que La Guasanga o El Sacamandú, eran del dominio público — escritos mucho antes « que se construyera la Catedral de Huejutla ».
