Portraits of Lila Downs Singing La Llorona at Oaxaca Concert: Night Photography

La Llorona is a song of woman’s pain, abandonment, and suffering.  It is also sometimes identified with La Malinche, the Nahua woman who was sold into slavery as a child, learned the languages of her captors, and served as Cortés’ interpreter.  Some say she betrayed Mexico to the Spanish conquistadors. In this context, the tale compares the Spanish invasion of Mexico and the demise of indigenous culture after the conquest with La Llorona’s loss.