Hair, hands and diapers

Let’s head over to the old world for today’s Advent music. Specifically, Spain, for “Los peces en el río.”

There’s not a whole lot of substance in this one—just the fairly banal activity of Mary washing and combing her hair,washing her hands and laundering diapers. And the fish. 

To tell you the truth, I’m a skosh vague about the connection between the Nativity and Mary washing her hair by the river; rivers don't appear to figure large in Nativity stories. But I’m willing to go with it. Woman's gotta do the needful, after all. And why shouldn’t fishes be excited about the birth of the Savior? The Good News isn't just for mammals, is it?

There’s no peg on when this was written or by whom, but it became popular in the second half of the 20^th Century. Here we’ve got the Mexican trio Pandora singing it.