Vallenato music and diseases in the Colombian Caribbean

Abstract

In the repertoire of vallenato music, which includes a significant number of songs dedicated to the sorrows of the soul, we find songs where the inspiration of the authors was illnesses that have made their presence felt in the Colombian Caribbean. One such author is the minstrel Emiliano Zuleta Baquero, who titled one of his compositions La Enfermedad(The Illness), in which he recounts his experience after suffering what he called a 'furious novelty,' which manifested with two fainting spells he had one morning when, according to him, he woke up feeling good and healthy. The novelty, which the messenger he sent to Carmen Díaz in search of medicine, provisions, a bottle of rum, and a strong-paced horse referred to as 'pain in the groin.