Perfidia

"Perfidia" (Spanish for "perfidy", meaning faithlessness, treachery or betrayal) is a 1939 Spanish-language song written by Mexican composer and arranger Alberto Domínguez (1906–1975). The song is sung from the perspective of a man whose lover has left him. The song has also been recorded in English (with lyrics by Milton Leeds) and as an instrumental. Recordings The song became a hit for Xavier Cugat on the Victor label in 1940. In late 1960, a rock instrumental version of "Perfidia" was released by the Ventures, which rose to number 15 on the Billboard chart. The record was a Top 10 hit on a number of popular music radio stations, including KYA in San Francisco, KLIF Dallas, KOL Seattle, KDWB Minneapolis, WHK Cleveland, KIMN Denver, and KISN Portland. The record topped out at number 11 on the charts of WLS Chicago, and WIBG Philadelphia. Other recordings "Perfidia" has been recorded by many artists, including: Laurel Aitken Dave Apollon Dave Brubeck Juan Arvizu Andrea Bocelli Brave Combo Ray Conniff Café Tacuba Chico Che Nat King Cole Crveni Koralji Xavier Cugat Issac Delgado Phyllis Dillon Arielle Dombasle Freddy Fender Ibrahim Ferrer The Four Aces A version by Carlos Garcia, a one-armed Mexican street performer originally from Michoacán, who makes music by blowing on the side of an ivy leaf, and recorded on a sidewalk, was featured on a CD, Sinfonia Urbana. It was overdubbed with strings by the Kronos Quartet for their 2002 album Nuevo. Benny Goodman Ben E. King Dorothy Lamour James Last Julie London Trini Lopez Los Panchos Los Rabanes Los Straitjackets Los Tres Caballeros and Javier Solís (in Spanish) Luis Miguel Glenn Miller Olivia Molina Hugo Montenegro VIS Limunada (in Serbo-Croatian) Sara Montiel Nana Mouskouri Najwa Nimri Lupita Palomera Charlie Parker María Dolores Pradera (in Spanish) Perez Prado An English arrangement of "Perfidia" was also the founding song of the Princeton Nassoons, Princeton University's oldest a cappella group. Elvira Quintana Cliff Richard Elvira Ríos Linda Ronstadt (in Spanish and English) Andy Russell Alfredo Sadel The Shadows (with and not with Cliff Richard) Anne Shelton Carola Standertskjöld Mel Tormé René Touzet King Tubby The Ventures Olavi Virta Lawrence Welk In popular culture Desi Arnaz sings the Spanish version in the 1941 film Father Takes a Wife which starred Gloria Swanson. 'Perfidia' is the title to a chapter of Nora Johnson's 1986 novel Tender Offer.