No. 003 - Aniceto Molina's "Cumbia Sampuesana" changed my life
Ezra Sun Wallace takes an accordion-filled trip down memory lane
🏆 A top-read essay
This Song Changed My Life is an independent music publication featuring essays from people all around the world about the songs that mean the most to them. Created by Grace Lilly, supported by readers.
• 5 min read •
Sometimes I feel like the only thing I’ve ever cared about is music. The power it has to take my mind into new places has remained a constant throughout my life.
When music is on, I’m not here. I’m inside of the song. With a pair of headphones and my imagination to provide a visual aid, my existence is given a purpose.
I’m always on a quest for new songs. There’s no greater satisfaction than going about one’s business when suddenly, the clutter of the mind stops. A new song is discovered in passing. Such was the case on one hot summer day in Oakland, California.
I was maybe a few weeks into my first job at the only two-story Mexican restaurant wide-eyed enough to hire a kid like me. That is, a non-Mexican with severe ADHD.
It was often joked about by my coworkers that I would become easily distracted at work. As I recall, one minute I would be carrying a steaming hot bowl of Sopa de Lima, the next, in a mental music video with Stevie Wonder, Santana, Willie Colón, the list goes on.
As the great American third space (as in a space other than work or home where folks hang out, eat and talk), restaurants exist in these fascinating musical crosshairs. There are competing interests at play.
How does one choosing music for their trendy cali-mex eatery balance the diverse musical tastes of golf dads, wine moms, artist types, skaters, divorcees at the bar, first dates and crying babies? The answer lies in a genre I like to call “restaurant music”. Funk, light jazz, hip hop that doesn’t make white people feel uncomfortable.
These are the sounds that have shaped the lives of so many teenage servers across this nation. In a country seemingly obsessed with occupation, one’s debut into the workforce is foundational to who we are. And it can set the tone for the rest of our lives.
“Tsst, Tsst Tsst, Tsst, Tsst Tsst. Tsst ‘Y DICE!’”. That’s where my story begins. As I write this I can feel my nerve endings getting excited about the incoming melody.
It’s worth mentioning that up until this point I had no idea what Cumbia was. I still remember stopping dead in my tracks to get closer to the speaker as the beat dropped while a liberal white family patiently waited a little bit longer for their tacos.
The Cumbia was glorious. It felt like the genre I had been waiting for.
“Cumbia Sampuesana” was the song. That mouthwatering accordion sound wailing over one of the crispiest drum sections in music history. That irresistible bassline, traveling up and down, up and down.
The song was perfect. My mind wandered, thinking of all the new ways I could move my body to the rhythm. I felt connected to something greater in that moment. I remember running to the bathroom to do some research.
I learned about the journey this music had to take to get to my ears, through the mountains of Colombia, through Mexico, and now here.
I felt honored, I felt inspired, but most of all I felt seen by the music. Like a part of me had finally been represented in musical form. I felt complete. My Cumbia sized hole had been filled.
I had of course NOT completed a single relevant work task during the 20-minute detour I took to study the history of Cumbia. I’ll never forget that feeling though. I probably listened to that song 10 times per day that summer.
It felt like that summer was just getting obsessed with and overplaying one Cumbia song after another. To this day I still find myself traveling through life, along my own journey, when I suddenly get distracted by a tune.
And for a moment I get to embrace my new reality, fueled by the power of music. ◆
About Ezra Sun
Ezra Sun Wallace is a 20-year-old creative trying to figure out his place in this world while living in the greatest city in the world, NYC! He writes poems, think pieces, as well as works of fiction. You can find Ezra riding the subway late into the night, enjoying a good book and engaging in “deep thought.”
Instagram @ezmasta
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