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Hijo de la Luna

"Hijo de la Luna"
Hijo de la luna.jpg
Single by Mecano
from the album Entre el cielo y el suelo
B-side "Mujer contra mujer"
Released 1986
Format CD single, CD maxi
7" single
Genre Piano rock
New wave
Synthpop
Length 4:21
Label Ariola
Writer(s) José Maria Cano
Producer(s) José Maria Cano, Nacho Cano
Ana Torroja
Mecano singles chronology
"Une femme avec une femme" "Hijo de la Luna" "Nature morte"
Music sample
"Hijo de la Luna"
Loona-hijo de la luna s.jpg
Single by Loona
from the album Lunita
B-side Another Christmas Without You
Released November 23, 1998
Format CD single, CD maxi
Genre Classic
Length 4:08
Label Urban Records
Writer(s) José Maria Cano
Producer(s) José Maria Cano, Nacho Cano
Ana Torroja
Loona singles chronology
"Bailando"
(1998)
"'Hijo de la Luna'"
(1998)
"Dónde Vas"
(1999)

"Hijo de la Luna" (English: "Child of the Moon") is a song written by José María Cano performed originally by the Spanish band Mecano with lead singer Ana Torroja. It appeared on their 1986 album, Entre el cielo y el suelo and had great success all over the Spanish speaking world, as did the album. From December 28, 1998 to January 11, 1999, a cover version by Loona topped the German charts, and reached number two in the Swiss singles' chart.

The lyrics depict a Roma woman in love with a man of Calé tribe, who prays to the Moon to marry him because a marriage between tribes was forbidden according to Romani laws. The Moon asks for the woman's first-born as payment.

After the child is born, his parents are dismayed to see that his skin is the whitest white and his eyes are grey, even though they both have dark skin and dark eyes. The lyrics explain that the child is a "lunar Albino." But the man presumes that the baby is not his and furiously stabs his wife to death. He takes the child and runs into the wild, where he abandons it to die of exposure.

Later the baby is said to live happily ever after with the Moon as his mother. When the child cries, the Moon wanes to cradle and comfort him.

The chorus says that the moon wants to be a mother, yet cannot find a lover who will make her his wife, and questions her as to what she would do with a human child. The French translation of the song asks a more precise question (Tell me, silvery moon, You who has no arms, How will you rock the child?), which is answered in the last stanza (And whenever the child cries, She [The Moon] crescents, Turning herself into a light-cradle).

In turn, the Moon doubts the mother's commitment to the little boy, wondering how much she can love her child if she is eager to trade him for a partner.

The song was covered by Dutch recording artist Loona. It has been released in 1998 through Urban as the second single of the debut studio album Lunita. It topped the German single charts in 1999, where it was certified 3x Gold.

The song was written by José María Cano for Mecano. A number of cover versions exist:


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