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La Bikina

Mexican song

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJun 4, 2026
Entity authorityQ5962242 ↗
Source-derived summary

"La Bikina" is a Mexican song written by violinist and composer Rubén Fuentes in 1964. It is widely performed in the mariachi and ranchera genres. The inspiration behind the song and the identity of the woman it refers to remain disputed.

Origin

"La Bikina" is a song written by Mexican classical violinist and composer Rubén Fuentes in 1964.

The origin of inspiration for "La Bikina" is disputed, and several accounts have been proposed. Fuentes did not confirm the song's origin. One explanation for the song's title claims that Fuentes, while walking on a beach with his son, overheard him remark that women wearing bikinis should be called "bikinas," which inspired him to write the song. Another account suggests that the title was influenced by an unnamed song from a U.S. television program. Other traditions trace the song's origins to the Cristero War in Mexico, an armed conflict between the Mexican government and Catholic rebels opposing the enforcement of anticlerical laws. In this version, the woman in the song was from Jalisco during the conflict and was named Carmen.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “La Bikina” as mexican song. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA productive route into publication, performance and collection histories when the underlying object or edition remains clearly identified. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1964—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1964. The account is most persuasive where Bikina, Mexican and song can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as mexican song. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 4, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5962242. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1964.

Critical limits

Rights, attribution and provenance may remain disputed even when a general reference summary presents a stable account. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “La Bikina”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow La Bikina primary sources, La Bikina archive and Bikina research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “La Bikina”?
  2. Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
  3. Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “La Bikina” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.