Yo me soy la morenica translates to I am the dark girl, a rather deceptive title for a carol about the Virgin Mary. Its text does not identify her by name, but speaks of "sin...that was never found in me, and of the ...rose without thorns." There are also further references to her in the somewhat cryptic text. This song dates to sixteenth century Spain and has been popular since the Renaissance era, though in recent times it has received less currency. Its text was first published in Venice in the 1556 collection Cancionero de Upsala with 53 other, mostly anonymous carols all assembled by a group of musicians in the service of the Duke of Calabria. The melody is lively and rhythmic, its expressive character sounding an animated mixture of chant and folk song. It has a stop-and-start manner in its broken flow and comes in two quick phrases, with the latter one repeating. Near the middle, the first half of the melody repeats several times, after which the pattern from the opening returns. While the music may have a somewhat repetitive quality, its joyous and light manner and its brief duration (about two minutes) keep it from sounding overlong.

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