Lyrics - Spanish
(Folk song from El Salvador)
Tortuga concha ven a cantar,
No tengo manos, no tengo pies.
Tortuga concha ven a leer,
No tengo manos, no tengo pies.
Tortuga concha ven a bailar,
No tengo manos, no tengo pies.
Tortuga concha ven a escribir,
No tengo manos, no tengo pies.
Tortuga concha ven a limpiar,
No tengo manos, no tengo pies.
Tortuga concha ven a comer,
Sí tengo manos, sí tengo pies.
English Translation – Turtle Shell*
Turtle shell come sing,
I don’t have hands, I don’t have feet.
Turtle shell come read,
I don’t have hands, I don’t have feet.
Turtle shell come dance,
I don’t have hands, I don’t have feet.
Turtle shell come write,
I don’t have hands, I don’t have feet.
Turtle shell come and clean,
I don’t have hands, I don’t have feet.
Turtle shell come eat,
Yes I have hands, yes I have feet.
*concha means “shell” or a sweet bread or is a nickname for Concepción, a girl’s name
See also
- Country: El Salvador
- Subject: turtles
- Form: AB / call and response
- Harmony: I, IV, V
- Meter: 3
- Rhythm: anacrusis
- Scale: hexatonic
- Tones: s,l,t,drm
- Tortuga concha recipe
YouTube
- PDF of the song with chords
- MIDI file of the melody
- MP3 file of the melody
After some research, I think the melody might not be Salvadoran after all. I couldn’t find anywhere that cited this song as from El Salvador except for Mamalisa, who thanks a contributor, but it only has the text. I did find, however, that this song was featured on the 1981 album “Yo me expreso” by the Chilean children’s music group Mazapán. The liner notes for the cassette says that this is “traditional text” and that music is by Carmen Lavanchy, a member of Mazapán. The only sources online I can find of this song are here and Mamalisa, sadly. If anyone can point me in the direction of tracking down more of this song’s history, I would be grateful!