*This is very like the first Tiny Dissertation post in its curiosity for the answer, its short lifespan, minimal scope of interest, and un-academic treatment of the subject.
My 'Space God' character (right) in Little Big Planet dancing to Cornman by Kinky
Hypothesis: There should be compound words in Spanish songs, because they are very productive in Romance languages, so they should show up in songs.
Data: Lyrics found online for 10 songs in Spanish, each by a different artist, that I listen to a lot but have never thought about in regards to compounds.
1. La Tortura (2005) – Shakira – 0
2. Completamente (2006) – Chetes – 0
(though some argue that -mente adverbs are compounds)
3. Atrevete te te (2006) – Calle 13 – 0, almost 1
“Escápate, quítate el esmalte”
quitaesmalte means ‘remove-polish’ (polish remover)
4. Malo (2004) – Bebe – 0
5. Nada es para siempre (2005)- Luis Fonsi – 0
6. La Camisa Negra (2005) – Juanes – 0
7. Plástico (2004) – JD Natasha – 0
8. Me Gustas Tú (2001) – Manu Chao – 0
9. Soy Infeliz – Lola Beltrán – 0
10. Adios Muchachos (1934) – Carlos Gardel – 0
Results: Nope. In a survey of 10 songs, none of them have compound words. Weird.
Conclusion: Compound words are not peppered into Spanish pop music the way I thought they would be. Kinky have a song called Cornman, but that’s an English compound and the song never mentions that word. Maybe try a different 10 songs? Oh well.
The End.
**Where links are attached to the song title, it leads to its terrible-to-mediocre music video on youtube. The most amusingly stupid is Atrevete te te but you gotta watch until the end.
April 26, 2012