By: Cameron Tyo
February, 19, 2023
Suddenly I’ve been thinking back to my Spanish learning experience in high school. In order to get academic honors, three years of a foreign language were required at our school. Since our school was so small, French and Spanish were the only options to choose from. I took Spanish and grew my love for the language by learning about the Spanish culture, grammar rules, speech rules, vocabulary, etc. I ended up doing Spanish for a fourth year, eventually leading me to pursue a major in college. We read books for reading comprehension and played games for oral competencies, like the typical high school curriculum. However, one type of media I remember when learning the language was the music we listened to. Many of these were from Chicago-based musician Senor Woolly, real name James Woolridge but we will call him Senor Wooly throughout the rest of this article. Senor Wooly writes catchy, often wacky, and exciting songs to aid students in learning the language. Spanish teachers and students have developed an extensive fan base for his music, and for a good reason. Senor Wooly makes studying Spanish enjoyable and productive with his lighthearted personality. For academic-based music, there were typically always a few bops and videos that felt almost like what a lucid dream would feel like. The top 10 Senor Wooly songs that every Spanish student should listen to, in my opinion, and in no particular order, are the following:
1. Ya Esta Muerto (He’s already Dead):
This song details how a doctor who seems to be the primary surgeon tries to revive a man who is already to be presumed dead by others, even in their attempts to rescue him. His primary way of trying to resuscitate him is to put the man’s heart into a backpack and connect it to the man’s body with tubes. Everyone in the room is perplexed, and the head nurse argues how this will never work in a very operatic fashion. Three of what seem to be in-training doctors and nurses reveal that an educational book about health says not to put someone’s heart in a backpack. Wonder why? The song has an upbeat tempo and bouncy rhythm, making it fun to bop along with. The driving pulse of the song gives it a sense of energy and momentum that is infectious and also builds tension to the climax of the song, which shows the man eventually coming to life for a brief solo until he ultimately dies seconds later. This wacky song teaches repetitions of structure like the “ir+a+infitive” rule like “dejar de” or ya which is in the tile of the video. If you like medical drama and operatic themes, give this wacky song a listen.
2. El Banco (The Bank):
This song shows the tactics used by a detective played by Senor Wooly himself to try to get suspects to confess their crime of robbing a bank. These two happen to be in a relationship, and therefore the detective uses manipulative and scary tactics to make them confess. His primary tactic is telling each other that the other sold them out typically of where they were at certain times of the day. Eventually, he gets both of them discouraged to the point where they confess that the other partner in the relationship robbed the bank; unbeknownst to them, he has turned a hidden recorder on. When Frederico says that his girlfriend Margarita robbed the bank, she crumbles and reveals that both of them robbed it. The song is tense at times and suspenseful as the detective goes from room to room interrogating the two suspects about what their partner said to him, which eventually leads to the climax where the video goes dual split and has the two singing in consecutive times like a pop drama. This song teaches people how to say certain times of the day correctly and the phrase “vendiste,” which means sold me out. It also teaches preterite and ar verbs.There is also some other banking terminology thrown out now and then.This is one of, if not my favorite Senor Wooly songs.
3. Billy la Bufanda (Billy the Scarf):
Bill la Bufanda was the second song released by Senor Wooly and includes one of the most popular of his characters, Billy la Bufanda, who would eventually get a series of three whole other music videos. This video discussed how Billy goes to places and does things despite not having the body parts to do the thing discussed. For example, it explains how Billy goes to the pharmacy to buy pills for a toothache despite not having any teeth. This pattern happens throughout the whole video until the end when the character goes to confess his love to the boots. This video teaches students how to say certain places in Spanish, like “pharmacy,” “stadium,” and “restaurant.” It also teaches people actions in Spanish like “to take,” “to see,” and “to eat.” It finally details singular nouns like “pills,” “sports,” and “spaghetti.” It focuses on the grammar of “fue” and the rules of para+infinitive. Overall the song is a good introduction to the singular “yo” verb of action verbs and basic vocab. The song has a very calm tone to it, having a very Puerto Rican feel to it.
4. La Dentista (The Dentist):
La Dentista is probably considered the scariest of the videos and, funnily enough, the only one with a content warning. This music video spawned a graphic novel I read in one of my Spanish classes in high school. The song talks about how a girl doesn’t want to go to the dentist as she is scared and insistent on the fact that she doesn’t have a cavity, etc., but the mom sees another way. After arriving at the dentist, the girl keeps persisting that she doesn’t have cavities. Finally, this time the dentist herself disagrees and takes her into the operating room, where it is revealed that the dentist doesn’t have teeth. The woman is terrified, but the dentist doesn’t care and creepily reveals how it is time to operate as the girl screams in absolute terror. Suppose you want a visual representation of what I’m talking about. In that case, you’re going to have to find it yourself because it doesn’t sound as creepy as it is. In the original version of the song, the part where the dentist is going to rate on the girl, the dentist climbs on the walls and twists his head like a spider, like the version now, but with a red and ominous background. In the end, it is revealed to be a dream. The song teaches people about dental terminology. It also focuses on imperfect, preterite vs. imperfect tense in storytelling, ir+a+inf rules, different conjugations of “tener,” and reflexive verbs.
5. Guapo (Handsome):
Guapo tells the story of a self-conceited man named Victor who thinks he’s everything because of his facial features, such as his smile, eyes, hair, weight, height, etc. He berates men he thinks are ugly and explains why he feels that. He talks about how he always has women by his side. He also explains how he doesn’t need a personality to be liked. The song ended up making way for a trilogy, including the hateable protagonist Victor. Guapo is one of the most straightforward songs in the Senor Wooly universe but does a good deal of introducing the yo form of ser, etc. It also helps people learn lots of vocabulary about appearance, etc. The song has repetitive lyrics and can be pretty catchy for some.
6. Puedo ir al Bano (Can I go to the Bathroom):
Puedo ir al Bano is the first song I heard from Senor Wooly. “Puedo ir al baño” is a funny and relatable video by Señor Wooly that depicts a classroom scenario in which a student desperately needs to go to the bathroom. The video is designed to help Spanish learners practice basic phrases and vocabulary related to asking permission to leave the classroom, such as “¿Puedo ir al baño?” (Can I go to the bathroom?). In the video, the main character desperately tries to get permission from the teacher, who doesn’t seem to pay attention to the student. The student tries to be on his best behavior to get the teacher’s attention. In one ironic moment in the video, a talkative and obnoxious kid gets permission to go to the restroom. A rave ends up happening where the kids are telling the teacher how he needs to go bad, but ultimately in a comedic way, the teacher just says no. As I said again, this teaches familiar kids phrases they might have to use in everyday life, etc and in the present tense as well.
7. El Pan (The Bread):
The song Pan is simply about a boy who is told to eat a gross soup for dinner by his mom, who happens to be eating bread. Ignored by this, he and a couple of friends walk into a Mexican restaurant and demand bread. However, they are given chips and salsa instead of bread as the restaurant doesn’t serve it. They get fed up and start demanding bread louder by yelling that they are hungry until they eventually leave. The song has a very hip hop and synths, making this a unique-sounding Senoir Wooly Video. “Traje” is the word that is taught in the video in a repetitious way which means give me after they complain about being hungry, they till someone to vie them bread. Many Senior Wool videos are basic and have come with repetitious lines, as you’ve seen, so terminology sticks into people’s minds. In the case of this video, food terminology is thrown out a lot. Commands and expressions are learned to.
8. Que Asco (How Gross):
This song details how this man likes gross and weird food mixtures. That others think are absurd. This same person also explains how he doesn’t like bad breath. He meets women who also like gross food and tango while making food together. This song intends to teach vocabulary for food and the correct verb conjugations for gustar (gusta/gustas/gustan). This song is one of the simpler ones because it is written in the present tense. This was one of the last Senor Wooly videos I watched, as it was just for fun instead of being a part of my class’s Spanish course curriculum.
9. Es una Ganga (It’s a Bargain):
Like La Denisa, this song is probably the second most unsettling video for students and teachers alike and is weird. The video also has lots of flashing lights so, warning people with epilepsy. The story shows the interaction between a cashier at a clothes store with two alien-looking ladies who are describing the price of a red colored shirt as a bargain. After a fever dream dance sequence, everything goes back to normal, and the narrator is confused. This song is designed to assist learners in learning how to shop in Spanis and utilize with verb costar (cuesta/cuestan) and sentences that begin with “qué.” The pop-up movie also teaches vocabulary for clothing products and when to use “esa(s)” vs. “eso(s) .”Due to this, even though Spanish teachers have complained that this song is “too simple” or “too terrifying,” the information is actually quite helpful and applicable in everyday life. Clothing terminology is also mentioned throughout this video as well as the difference between “open” and “closed.” Stem-changing verbs are first introduced and are taught in this video.
10. Encerrada en la Escuela: (Trapped in the School):
This is the final video I think is good and very beneficial for people to listen to and also happens to be the hardest one to understand out of the video due to its complex lyrics, both vocab, and structure-wise. It does not have a focused thematic or grammatical concept but instead has a mix of all tenses. Rules such as possessive, subjunctive, present perfect tense, progressive, and many other rules are combined to test out the things you learned from previous videos. The story talks about what the main character Lara saw when she ended up getting locked in the school with her phone out of power. She explains how the teachers live in the school and how they teach their babies to become educators, amongst other crazy things that may or may not be happening. There is a tense atmosphere in the video, and it is a pop song.
With that, now you know what type of crazy music videos I’ve watched and listened to improve my vocabulary and grammar and some information and history of the Senor Wooly universe. If you want, maybe, I’d advise you to listen to the soundtrack of these videos, which are all accessible on youtube. If you want to watch the videos that go along with the music, you will have to pay a subscription to Senor Wooly’s site. Maybe you can relate to these choices and have watched these in your Spanish class.