The fourth and last advance of Juanjo Bona’s debut album, ‘Recardelino’, available on March 7, has one of the richest stories of the entire album.
Aragonese folklore soaks almost the entire album and ‘Virgen de Magallón’ is one of the most obvious tests. The theme recovers a legend of the town of Juanjo, which comes from the thirteenth century and on which they have even made podcasts.
The legend speaks of two fiercely faced families around March of the year 1283: the Frago and the Albir. Apparently, Juan Albir, a Labrador de Magallón, killed Sancho del Frago during one of these family disputes. To escape the rematch, he hid from the Frago family in the church, which was useful twice, but the third was loaded.
When the murder occurred in the house of the Lord, the Virgin disappeared and appeared 80 kilometers away, in Leciñena, in the region of Los Monegros. The Virgin took her back to Magallón, but reappeared in Leciñena. And she would have pronounced: “Until the last member of the Frago’s family does not disappear, I will never step on Magallón.” So today, the Virgin of Magallón continues in Leciñena.
The best thing is that Juanjo addresses this theme with joy and a certain humor, elaborating a dialogue between Virgen and the people:
-“He was a bad man, come, return to Magallón, Virgencica” (…)
-«I do not come back, I carry the scare in my soul. If I do not get into your troubles, don’t be shot dead in my house ».
Bona has written this song with Irenegarry and Juan Figols, better known as Fresquito. Marcel Bagès and David Soler, who know very much of folklore, have produced it like the rest of the album. The melody is cheerful as a popular party, with organic instrumentation of the guitars and bandurrias (by Sergio Aso), and some electronic details that dot Juanjo’s voice, here very close to the registration of Víctor Algora. In addition, a small report has been made in which people in their people remember the legend of the Virgin of Magallón.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avu2kbj9dwc
See this post on Instagram
