The Spanish Word for Polka Is "Polca"

Album: Los Lobos, How Will the Wolf Survive?, 1984

Best Track: "Will the Wolf Survive"

Lasting Memory: How Will the Wolf Survive? was one of the first tapes I owned, so I listened to it a lot while mowing the lawn, riding the bus to sporting events, doing homework, and all the other stuff that marks an American suburban teen's drama-free everyday life.

I figure I've listened to this album at least 500 times through the years, and it has never failed to entertain and, sometimes, comfort. I've also thoroughly enjoyed all the times songs from Wolf such as the cover of "I Got Loaded" and the original "Don't Worry Baby" have been included on movie soundtracks.

The entertaining and comforting aspects of the music on Wolf can be traced to the same source--the accordion.

Almost as maligned as the bagpipes (another instrument I love the sound of, by the way), a well-played accordion just has a way of getting inside one's ear and producing exactly the effect the musician intends. Try not to at least want to dance when listening to "Corrida #1." Try not to get just a little wistful while listening to "The Breakdown."

By making such extensive use of the accordion, and by including "Serenata Nortena" on Wolf, Los Lobos placed themselves firmly in the Mexican musical genre of Norteno.

Norteno is the oompah music you hear blasting out of, well, everywhere in heavily Latino neighborhoods. Heavily influenced by the German and Eastern folk songs of the mid- and late-1800s white settlers of Texas, Norteno is essentially polka music with Spanish lyrics instead of Czech or Austrian lyrics. And like polka, Norteno can grate as easily as it enthuses. But as performed by Los Lobos on Wolf, Norteno rules.

Much of the reason Los Lobos' take on their own traditional sound works is because the band mixes in just enough rockabilly and Chicago blues to take the sharpest edges of the "pah" off the "oom." The band also dives headfirst into country folk when telling the tale of the indomitability of the immigrante in "Will the Wolf Survive":

Through the chill of winter
Running across the frozen lake
Hunters are out on his trail
All odds are against him
With a family to provide for
The one thing he must keep alive

Will the wolf survive?

Drifting by the roadside
Climbs each storm and aging face
Wants to make some morning's fate
Losing to the range war
He's got two strong legs to guide him
Two strong arms keep him alive

Will the wolf survive?

Standing in the pouring rain
All alone in a world that's changed
Running scared, now forced to hide
In a land where he once stood with pride
But he'll find his way by the morning light

Sounds across the nation
Coming from your hearts and minds
Battered drums and old guitars
Singing songs of passion
It's the truth that they all look for
The one thing they must keep alive

Will the wolf survive?
Will the wolf survive?

Ostensibly about first-generation Mexicans in Southern California, specifically those in East Los Angeles, this is a song that captures the challenge of all newcomers everywhere. Plus, it sounds good.

Up Next: Los Lobos, By the Light of the Moon, 1987