Seven Songs By Dimensión Costeña (Nicaragua)

Edited by Azizi Powell

Latest Update: January 2, 2022

This pancocojams post showcases seven Dimension Costena songs as well as information about this Nicaraguan group, comments, and my (incomplete) transcriptions of a few of these songs are also included in this post.

The Dimension Costena recording of "Tututulu Pasa" is also featured in this pancocojams post http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/06/bluefield-nicaraguas-tulululu-songs.html. That post also features two other Tutululu songs and lyrics of a Tututulu song along with comments about that song.

Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/06/seven-videos-of-maypole-festival-in.html for the first post in this series. That post provides general information about Bluefield, Nicaragua as well as some information about its May Pole celebrations.

The content of this post is provided for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Dimensión Costeña for their musical legacy. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. In addition, thanks to those featured in these videos and thanks to the publishers of these YouTube videos.

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INFORMATION ABOUT DIMENSION COSTENA (COAST DIMENSION)
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimension_Coste%C3%B1a
"Dimensión Costeña is a Nicaraguan group that came together in the Caribbean coast of the country in Bluefields....

Dimension Costena consists of eight members, all of whom are from the coast area.
The main band member is called Luis Cassells, who dubs himself as the "Director Artistico" or the Artistic Director. Anthony Mathews and Anthony De Costena on vocals."

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From https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20060909004313AAc2SzX
"Palo de Mayo is not only a song, but refers to a kind of traditional songs and dances from Nicaraguan Caribbean coast. The song you're familiar with (Tululu-pasa) most probably is played by a group called Dimension Costeña and his lead singer, Anthony Matthews, and as far as I understand they sing it in a combination of Spanish, English and Misquito, a local languaje. Other groups that play this kind of songs are Macoya and Mocuanes, both from Nicaragua."
-snip-
The name Dimensión Costeña "Coast Dimension" refers to fact that all of the group members are from the (Atlantic) coast area of Nicaragua.

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FEATURED YOUTUBE EXAMPLES
These examples are presented in chronological order based on their posting date on YouTube, with the oldest examples given first.

Example #1: Dimensión Costeña - Money Money



gilsomen, Uploaded on Nov 10, 2008
-snip-
partial transcription:
money money money
everybody has money
money money money
I have money fever
-snip-
Here's a comment about this song:
baptist70, 2010
"yo baile esa rola en 1986 en la piñata managua viva mi patriaaaaa
-snip-
Google Translate's translation into English was "off": "I dance the dime in 1986 in viva pinata managua my patriaaaaa".

I think a more correct English translation is "I danced [to] this [a slang term meaning record or song] in 1986 at a Managua festival. Long life my country!"
-snip-
I'm interested in that comment because it helps date this song since unfortunately I've not found much information in English about this group such as the decade that they started performing.

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Rxample #2: Dimension Costena - The Bluefield Express HD



Felipe Gutierrez, Uploaded on Jul 29, 2009

Aqui les dejo este gran tema de una de las agrupaciones mas famosas de Nicaragua Dimension Costena no habia visto este video en buena calidad asi que decidi subirlo dejen sus comentarios..
-snip-
English translation from Google Translates
"Here I leave this great subject of one of the most famous groups Costena Dimension Nicaragua had not seen this video in good quality so I decided to upload it leave your comments."
-snip-
Bluefield, Nicaragua, on the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua, is the heart of that nation's May Pole celebration. Information about Bluefield, Nicaragua can be found  at 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluefields

Here's my incomplete transcription of that song (with the words I'm not sure of written in italics):
Come take a ride on the Bluefield Express
Sit down inside on the Bluefield Express
She comin down the creek you will see
The Bluefield Express
Her black smoke comin out of the chimney
The Bluefield express
The Bluefield express
The Bluefield express

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Example #3:  MANAGUA, NICARAGUA DIMENSION COSTENA BLUEFIELDS.mp



Flor Mtus, Nov. 29, 2013

-snip-
Here are a few comments about the words to a song in this video:

1. 77musica, 2021
""Come down brother Willy come down
Come see what the man have done
A he take up the knife
Stabbed up the wife
Now see how the blood down run...
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Aaaaaa. Aaaaaaaaa..."

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2. Gema Smith, 2021
"Como se llama esta canción. No la encuentro en ningún lado"
-snip-
"How is this song called? I can't find it anywhere."

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Reply
3. Marlon MacBelho, 2021
"Se llama "Come Down Brother Willie"."
-snip-
It's name is "Come Down Brother Willie".
-snip-
This video replaces one with the same title that is no longer available. That video was published on YouTube by Dante Legacy on Sep 26, 2009. These comments are from the discussion thread of the video that is no longer available:

1/ Comment from Leticia Ramirez, 2011
"el grupo se llama dimencion costeña y la cancion tulululu"
-snip-
English translation: The group is named Dimencion costena and the song is “Tulululu”.

end of quote. If this song is called "Tulululu" it's quite different from the other Tulululu songs that I've heard.

**
2. Comment from 77musica, 2011 (in response to q request for the words to this song:
"Come down brother Willie come down come see what the man have done he take out the knife stabbed up the wife and see how the blood down run...

Viva Nicaragua!!! Musica para recordar."
-snip-
The gruesome words to this song may recount an incident that happened at a May Pole festival, the same way that words to Calypso songs and Mento songs recount actual experiences.

**
Comment from 77musica, 2013
"come down" significa VENI AQUI en creole de Nica”
-snip-
My translation:
“Come down means the same thing as “Veni Aqui” in Nicaraguan Creole.

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Example #4: Mayaya Lasinki Dimensión Costeña Concierto en Vivo



chavalopuntocom, Uploaded on Feb 24, 2010
-snip-
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/06/seven-videos-of-maypole-festival-in.html for lyrics to an old version of this song. According to an article quoted in that post, the song was called "Mayaya Lost Her [or "The"] Key" (Creole: "Mayaya lass im key"). That article also includes comments about how that singing game was played, including this excerpt (given with my translation of its English translation):
"Mayaya" ("Maia") is the name of a fertility goddess. However, the song recounts an incident that had actually happened at a festivity. A woman lost her key [to her home] and couldn't open her door.

Originally, this song was played in a circle with one person in the middle. The people forming the circle passed a hidden key hand to hand, and the person in the middle had to guess who had the key. If she (or he) guessed correctly, the person in the middle rejoins the group and the person who had the key was the new middle person."
-snip-
It seems to me that the words to contemporary versions of this song have distinctly sexual allusions. Given that Mayaya (Maia) was the goddess of fertility, I wonder if the words to that singing game originally had those sexually allusions.

Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/06/what-does-mayaya-lasinki-mean.html for a pancocojams post about the song "Mayaya Lasinki".

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Example #5: Dimension Costeña- Rikitiki/ Madah Say Do Redo



TicoNicaX4, Uploaded on Jul 21, 2011

Palo de Mayo [May Pole]
-snip-
Palo de Mayo = May Pole

Madah Say Do Redo = Mother said do [it and] do it again.

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Example #6: Dimension Costena MELANCOLIA



nicoyaenusa , Uploaded on Nov 7, 2011

Dimension Costena interpretando Melancolia Una Cansion Que hizo sonar a muchos Nicaraguense en aquella epoca de los 80"
-snip-
English translation:
Dimension Costena playing Melancolia ; A Nicaraguan song that was popular in the 1980s.

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Example #7: DIMENSION COSTENA grupo gamma TULULULU PASA



efranz55, Published on Aug 10, 2012
-snip-
Here's a comment from that example, from flor cardenas, 2013
"este es el palo d mayo original"
-snip-
I think that a correct American English translation for that comment is "This is a traditional (Nicaraguan) May Pole song.
-snip-
Here's my incomplete translation of that song, leaving the words "tulululu" and "pasa" in "Spanish" [with the recognition that "tulululu" may not be a Spanish word]if untra l

tulululu pasa [repeat after every line]
that gal and boy they pasa
all of them they pasa
gal and boy they pasa
they hold the gal they pasa
that gal and boy they pasa
pass pass passa
gal and boy they pasa
all of we, we pasa
gal and boy they pasa...
-snip-
Here's a comment that the publisher of another sound file of Dimension Costena recoding of "Tutululu Pasa" wrote in response to a question about the music's genre:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WPYtIaC3zU
Rafael Guevara, 2014
"Es un ritmo caribeño de Nicaragua... pero no es ni soca, ni punta."
-snip-
English translation: It’s the Caribbean rhythm of Nicaragua. But it’s not soca or punta.

"Soca" is a genre of music that originated in Trinidad/Tobago. "Punta" is a genre of music that originated among the Afro-Caribbean Garifuna people of Nicaragua, Central America

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BONUS EXAMPLE
Example #8: MIX POPURRI CALIENTE-DIMENSION COSTEÑA (Video Oficial HD 2018) By: Elcuco Nica



Elcuco Nica,April 16, 2018
-snip-
This video replaces one that was embedded in this post but is no longer available. 

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Visitor comments are welcome.

Bluefield, Nicaragua's Tulululu Songs & Dances

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post continues pancocojams's focus on the May Pole celebrations in Bluefield, Nicaragua.

This post presents the lyrics to what I believe is an old version of "Tututula" (also known as "Tututulu Pasa"). Three YouTube examples of "Tulululu" songs & dances are also showcased in this post.

Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/06/seven-videos-of-maypole-festival-in.html for the first post in this series. That post provides general information about Bluefield, Nicaragua as well as some information about its May Pole celebrations.

Also, click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/06/seven-songs-by-dimension-costena.html for a post on the Nicaraguan group Dimension Costena.

The content of this post is provided for folkloric, cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who keep alive the traditional celebration of May Pole Festival In Bluefield, Nicaragua. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. In addition, thanks to those featured in these videos and thanks to the publishers of these YouTube videos.

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EDITOR'S COMMENT
From my reading it seems clear that "Tulululu" is the title of certain traditional Bluefield, Nicaragua songs. Those songs are also given as "Tulululu Pasa" and "Tululu" (with or without the Spanish word "pasa"). Unfortunately, no date is given for this song or any other song given in that article. However, given the subject of that article, it seems likely to me that this example of "Tulululu" is considerably older (and thus "more traditional" ?) than those songs that are featured in the YouTube examples that are found below. Then again, maybe those versions of "Tulululu" that are sung in those videos are also traditional.

I'd love to "hear" from those who are familiar with "Tulululu" songs and dances. I admit that I just learned about "Tulululu" today when I went YouTube surfing for traditional Afro-Nicaraguan music & dance.

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UPDATE: June 29, 2014: INFORMATION ABOUT NICARAGUA'S PALO DE MAYO CELEBRATIONS
[I added this passage because I realized that this post didn't include any time frames for when Nicaragua's Palo De Mayo celebration began.]

From http://www.nicatour.net/en/nicaragua/palo-de-mayo.cfm#
"Vibrant Caribbean rhythms and colorful processions, marks the start of the Palo de Mayo festival, a tribute to Mayaya African goddess of fertility. This celebration dates from the early nineteenth century, is an adaptation of the British tradition who celebrated first day of May with a feast.

Considered the highest expression of culture and tradition of the Caribbean of Nicaragua, the first of May starts with a presentation around a tree which is decorated with colored ribbons and around which dances are performed as welcome to the rainy season , production and new life.

Initially took place on Corn Island, then in Pearl Lagoon and now is celebrated in Bluefields attracting spectators from all the surrounding area and from all over the country who not only witness but are passed with the energy and joy this activity....

Throughout the month of May and especially on weekends, a variety of cultural events at night, highlighting the dances like punta, zumba, the guanara and Gulye, sensual dance movements are showen, so common on Afriocaribean dances...

Definitely this festival, that has disappeared in other countries where was celebrated, in Nicaragua has passed from generations to generations and lived with great intensity year after year."
-snip-
Read more comments about the statement that Mayaya is an African goddess of fertility in this pancocojams post: http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/06/similarities-between-african-american.html

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ARTICLE EXCERPT: "MAY POLE HISTORY - RESCUING OUR CULTURE"
Del Palo De Mayo History; Mr. Johnny Hodgson Deerings, Historian Costeño
From http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://bluefieldspulse.com/maypolehistoryrescuingourculture.htm&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dtulululu%2Bletra%26start%3D10%26sa%3DN%26biw%3D853%26bih%3D575 [English translation of an article written in Spanish]

Note: The English version of this article translated the title of the song "Tulululu" to "Your Lu Lu Lu" ("tu" being a Spanish form of the English word "your".) Obviously, that's not a correct translation. However, that mistake makes me to wonder if the word "tulululu" might have been a folk etymology form of a word or words (or words and sounds) that started with the Spanish word "tu".

I'm quoting this excerpt three ways- its Spanish* passage, the English translation that was given to that passage, and my attempt to reformat that English translation into what I consider to be more Standard American English.
*I'm referring to this as a Spanish passage, but some of the words in the song are in English and Creole.

Spanish:
"TU LU LU LU »
Esta canción se bailaba en la despedida; el baile-desfile se desarrolla a lo largo de las calles entre el norte y el sur de Bluefields. A medida que llegan a los distintos barrios de la ciudad, se van quedando las bailarinas que viven en dichas secciones o barrios.

Este baile requiere la participación de todos los que están en el festival. Las personas van pasando debajo de un arco hecho por los brazos de los participantes. Cuando una pareja pasa, se coloca adelante para continuar el arco que avanza al ritmo de la música.

CANTO
Tu lu lu lu
Pass anda
Gial an buay de
Pass anda
Pass pass pass anda
Gial an buay de pass anda
Beholden gial
Pass anda
Old Bank gial
Pass anda
Cotton Tri gial
Pass anda
Pass pass pass anda
(Repite)"

-snip-
The article's English translation
"This song was danced at the bachelor; dance-parade takes place along the streets between the north and south of Bluefields. As we come to the neighborhoods of the city, the dancers are left living in these sections or neighborhoods.

This dance requires the participation of everyone in the festival. People are passing under an arch made by the arms of the participants. When a couple passes, standing forward to continue the arc moves to the beat.

CANTO
Your lu lu lu
Pass walks
Gial an buay of
Pass walks
Pass pass pass goes
Buay pass an Gial of walks
Gial Beholden
Pass walks
Gial Old Bank
Pass walks
Cotton Tri gial
Pass walks
Pass pass pass goes
(Repeat")

-snip-
Standard American English translation:
This song was danced at the young people’s dance-parade that takes place along the streets between the north and south of Bluefields. As the parade arrives at different neighborhoods of the city, the people who live in those neighborhoods leave the parade.

This dance requires the participation of everyone in the festival. People pass under an arch made by the arms of the participants. When one couple passes under the arch, the next couple in line moves forward and people continue to move under the arch, dancing to the beat.

LYRICS
Tulululu
Pass, walks
Every girl and boy
Pass, walk
Pass pass pass go
Boy pass [passes under] and girl walks
Beholden girl
Pass walks
Old Bank girl
Pass walks
Cotton Tri girl
Pass walks
Pass pass pass walks
(Repeat)

Explanation:
I think that "pass" [Spanish "pasa"] here means "go under" [the arch made by hands held high]. This movement is the same as that done in the singing game "London Bridge Is Falling Down".

I think that "Every girl and boy" fits what I think is the meaning of that line better than the words "girl and boy of" [a particular neighborhood?]

I wonder if "go"/"goes"" would have been a better translation for the words "walk"/"walks".

"Beholden", "Old Bank", and "Cotton Tri" [Cotton Town] are names of neighborhoods in Bluefield, Nicaragua. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluefields#Districts

Please add your corrections and ideas about the correct transcription of this particular "Tulululu" song.
-snip-
Here's another excerpt from that article which is given in the English translation that was made for that page. Note: I italicized a word that is similar to "Tulutulu" toward the end of this article to highlight it. I also added a word in brackets toward the end of this article that I think was meant for that passage.

"A tree of a special kind known as Palo de Mayo was cut and decorated in May with fruit and ribbons of red, yellow, blue, and green, the tree was placed in the square of the two communities or neighborhood Bluefields where it remained throughout the festival until the last day of the month.

Originally in the way that the British teachers taught the maypole to Caribbean, danced around the tree only women, over time some of them dressed in men's clothes occasionally dancing couples, then also allowed the entry of men into the circle but not just any man. Men who sometimes got into the circle to dance, were musicians.

In the early years dancers were selected from the two areas that existed in Bluefields, which were: Cotton Tree and Old Bank. Not only the adults participating in the celebration, but also children and youth. Children danced as interpreted different games around the tree. Your participation time was during the day in the afternoon. Adults danced at night...

Eventually part of the Maypole for children or adolescents was also changing and became a game in May preparing children in puberty and adolescence, where they planted a tree well decorated and full of varied fruits, sang and danced in the end, instead of dancing the "Lulu Tulu" bouncing the tree for everyone tried to grab the fruit as is done in the piñatas.

Sometimes after tree felling and consumption of sweets, children and young people continued to play other songs including always included "London Bridge is falling down" (London Bridge is Falling Down) Dance and Play [whose] Dance and Play were similar to Lulu Tulu"...
-snip-
That passage ends with what seems to me to be a description of a tug of war contest.

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FEATURED YOUTUBE EXAMPLES
These examples are presented in chronological order based on their posting date on YouTube, with the oldest examples given first.

Example #1: Tulululu 2012



Neyda Dixon, Published on Jun 21, 2012

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Rxample #2: DIMENSION COSTENA grupo gamma TULULULU PASA



efranz55, Published on Aug 10, 2012
-snip-
Here's a comment from that example, from flor cardenas, 2013
"este es el palo d mayo original"
-snip-
I think that a correct American English translation for that comment is "This is a traditional (Nicaraguan) May Pole song. I wonder if that comment means that this contemporary recording of "Tututulu Pasa" has the same words or basically the same words as the song is remembered being sung a long time ago, and also that song is sung in the same style that it was sung a long time ago.
-snip-
Here's my incomplete transcription of that Dimension Costena recoding of "Tutululu Pasa":

tulululu pasa [repeat after every line]
that gal and boy they pasa
all of them they pasa
gal and boy they pasa
they hold the gal they pasa
that gal and boy they pasa
pass pass passa
gal and boy they pasa
all of we, we pasa
gal and boy they pasa...
-snip-
Here's a comment that the publisher of another sound file of Dimension Costena recoding of "Tutululu Pasa" wrote in response to a question about the music's genre:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WPYtIaC3zU
Rafael Guevara, 2014
"Es un ritmo caribeño de Nicaragua... pero no es ni soca, ni punta."
-snip-
English translation: It’s the Caribbean rhythm of Nicaragua. But it’s not soca or punta.

"Soca" is a genre of music that originated in Trinidad/Tobago. "Punta" is a genre of music that originated among the Afro-Caribbean Garifuna people of Nicaragua, Central America.
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Example #3: Mayo Ya 2014 - Caribbean Taste - Tulululu



Curt Myers, Published on May 31, 2014
MAYO YA 2014
Caribbean Taste - Tulululu
Ft. Miss May 2014 Finalist
Video: || » CMC « ||™ Solutions.
Wednesday, May 28th, 2014.

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