Los Peces en el Rio/Fish in the River

Christmas Carols Explained, #16

As more Mannheim Steamroller albums came out in my childhood, the group found more and more obscure songs to perform from around the world. One of them was this villancico from Spain, an uppity little piece with a touch of Spanish guitar to it, which became a favorite on the mission in 2004. I even had a Spaniard companion for three months in 2005 and I showed it to him, he got a kick out of the arrangement.

The exact date and origin of its composition are unknown, but it’s been around for a few hundred years. The lyrics describe Mary’s day-to-day activities as all of creation celebrates around her that Christ was born. I won’t paste all of the lyrics here, but I found a site that has the originals as well as a translation so that you can get an idea of what it’s saying.

The sentiment doesn’t translate smoothly to English, just know that it slaps hard in Spanish. Mannheim’s arrangement is purely instrumental. I’ve never heard this one sung. Give it a listen and let me know what you think.