Tuesday, December 7, 2010

WHERE IS SAN PEDRO? THE ONE FROM THE SONG "LA ISLA BONITA" by MADONNA


"La Isla Bonita" means "Beautiful Island" in Spanish.  Much has been made of the song's reference to "San Pedro" and the island to which the song title refers.  It is rumored that this island is Ambergris Caye, in the country of Belize (Central America), and would specifically be San Pedro, which is not an island but instead, a town on Ambergris Caye. 



In the song, Madonna sings that San Pedro is where she longs to be.  Madonna has never clarified this rumor, only to say that it was a tribute to Latin American and its people, to an island and to herself.
"La Isla Bonita" was Madonna's first #1 in France where the song spent three weeks at the top spot in July 1987 and selling around 400,000 copies. It was also one of the biggest hits of the 80's in the Republic of South Africa, where it spent 8 weeks at #1 in 1987.




La Isla Bonita by Madonna

Como puede ese olvidar
[or Como puede ser verdad]

Last night I dreamt of San Pedro
Just like I'd never gone, I knew the song
A young girl with eyes like the desert
It all seems like yesterday, not far away

Tropical the island breeze
All of nature wild and free
This is where I long to be
La isla bonita
And when the samba played
The sun would set so high
Ring through my ears and sting my eyes
Your Spanish lullaby

I fell in love with San Pedro
Warm wind carried on the sea, he called to me
Te dijo te amo
I prayed that the days would last
They went so fast

Tropical the island breeze
All of nature wild and free
This is where I long to be
La isla bonita
And when the samba played
The sun would set so high
Ring through my ears and sting my eyes
Your Spanish lullaby

I want to be where the sun warms the sky
When it's time for siesta you can watch them go by
Beautiful faces, no cares in this world
Where a girl loves a boy, and a boy loves a girl

Last night I dreamt of San Pedro
It all seems like yesterday, not far away

2 comments:

  1. Muchas gracias for writing about my favorite song! :) I've read somewhere that this rumor stemmed from the holiday Madonna and her then-fiance Sean Penn took in Ambergris. It was their first vacation together so it was special to her. The following year, she included the song in her True Blue album. It was a huge hit here in the Philippines too.

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  2. You are very welcome...I actually read that they were in San Pedro, California and that may be where she got San Pedro from. She is still not talking. Very popular song though.

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