Original Version

“O Rodaballo” is a song of Galician folklore, popularly known and performed throughout the XX Century.

There are no details of its composition, so it is considered a popular and anonymous melody of oral tradition, both in the transmission of music and lyrics.

Since the 1970s, the song has appeared in the repertoires of vocal groups such as the Coral de Ruada and the Orfeón A Nosa Terra.

The first artist to record this popular song was the singer María Manuela on her 1975 album "Cantigas ao meu xeito" where she collected popular songs in the style of the time with very orchestral arrangements.
Thirty-eight years later, the musician Xurxo Valera (son of the singer) arranged the song with a less complex harmonization and more adapted to the popular sense of the melody.

The Galician folk and traditional music group Xocaloma (founded in Carballo in 1975 and disbanded in 1994) also performed and recorded the famous song. It was a vocal group that in 1978 recorded their first album "Terra", which was followed by "Soio un soño" in 1979. They participated in various festivals, such as the Interceltic Lorient or the Celtic World of Ortigueira. Some of ttheir best known pieces are versions of Galician folk songs such as O Rodaballo, A saia da Carolina or Lela, as well as their own songs such as Soio foi un soño.

The lyrics of "O Rodaballo" are full of geographical inaccuracies and characters. Needless to say, for obvious reasons in Pobra do Caramiñal it is not very pleasant to listen to the song as we sing it today... Such errors in the lyrics are due to the oral transmission of the melody, which has the effect of children's play "the broken phone" .

The popular version of the musical composition is transcribed in 3/4 time signature and in the key of F Major.
The improbable and sympathetic story of the theft of a fish is told over 4 verses sung and connected through a Chorus.

Wikipedia , No Bico un Cantar e Outros Contos Imposibles extract & translation