"Cucurrucucú paloma" (Spanish for Coo-coo dove) is a Mexican huapango-style song written by Tomás Méndez in 1954.
It initially appeared in the classic Mexican comedy Escuela de vagabundos[1] screened in 1955, where it was sung by the star of the film, Pedro Infante.
[citation needed] In Pedro Almodovar's film Talk to Her (2002) the piece is rendered by the Brazilian singer Caetano Veloso in an art-song style quite different from the mariachi folk-kitsch of its original cinema presentation.
Since its first release on record in 1956 in a version sung by Harry Belafonte, the song has been recorded by various other popular singers, including Luis Miguel, Rocío Dúrcal, Perry Como, Miguel Aceves Mejía, Nancy Ames, Hibari Misora, Gaby Moreno, Nana Mouskouri, Julio Iglesias, Shirley Kwan, Lila Downs, Joan Baez (on her album Gracias a la Vida), Rosemary Clooney, Natalia Lafourcade, and The Del Rubio Triplets; the refrain was also taken up by Franco Battiato in his own song "Cuccurucucù" (on La voce del padrone).
In 2019, operatic tenor Juan Diego Florez sang the song, accompanying himself on guitar at La Scala in Milan, in a version appearing in a YouTube video that has been viewed 17 million times.