For some time now, an interesting debate has arisen around the lyrics of the gaita margariteña “La Concha”, one of the best-known pieces in the traditional repertoire of Isla de Margarita, in the State of Nueva Esparta, Venezuela.

The chorus of this gaita says:

“They say there was, there was nothing,
I'm going to Yoco at dawn;
at dawn I'm going to Yoco
because the guayabo is driving me crazy.”

However, some versions have emerged on the internet and other media in which the word Yoco is replaced by Yopo.

The controversy revolves around that one word: Yoco or Yopo?

This article seeks to clarify the doubt from three perspectives: geographical, musicological, and documentary.

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1. Geographical Context: The Guaiquerí Territory

According to researcher Verni Salazar, around 1498, the main nucleus of the Guaiquerí (or Waikerí) ethnicity was originally located in the region of Cumaná, extending through the Paria Peninsula, the northern mountain range of Trinidad, and the Isla de Margarita, considered its main historical territory.

Furthermore, in the study “Los Guaiqueríes del Caserío Francisco Fajardo” (Petra Melania Aguilera and Nancy Gómez), it is noted that:

“By the time the Spaniards arrived in Venezuela, the Guaiqueríes inhabited scattered along the entire coast of the Sucre state, in the peninsulas of Paria and Araya up to the bay of Mochima; their main nucleus was in Cumaná, and they also inhabited Isla de Margarita.”

These sources allow us to locate the traditional geographical scope of the Guaiqueríes, which included eastern Venezuela and its nearby islands.

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2. Musicological Context: The Record of Rafael Suárez and the Quinteto Contrapunto

The margariteña gaita “La Concha” was incorporated into the repertoire of the Quinteto Contrapunto in its Volume 1, published in December 1963.

Months later, in the first quarter of 1964, journalist Alí Brett Martínez published in the magazine Momento the article “A Miracle Named Contrapunto,” where he included excerpts from the lyrics performed by the quintet. It explicitly cites the word “Yoco,” along with a footnote that says:

“It was collected by the director of the quintet, Rafael Suárez, and he assures that it is one of the gaitas —also referred to as décima— most well-known on Isla de Margarita.”

Maestro Rafael Suárez, director and arranger of the Quinteto Contrapunto, was born in El Poblado (Caserío Fajardo), in the State of Nueva Esparta, one of the historical areas inhabited by the Guaiqueríes.

This town was known for its seafaring tradition and its constant contact with the Sucre coast, especially with the peninsula of Araya and the coastal communities of the Gulf of Cariaco.

Among these communities sits precisely Yoco, in the current parish of Punta de Piedra, Valdez municipality of Sucre state, less than 25 km from Isla de Margarita.

This makes Maestro Rafael Suárez a firsthand witness regarding the traditions and folklore of his land.

In May 1964, the Quinteto Contrapunto released their second record, and later the Polydor label launched a double album that gathered the first two volumes.

In the insert of this album —which included the complete lyrics— it reappears:

“I'm going to Yoco at dawn;
at dawn I'm going to Yoco…”

This constitutes a second direct source from the group itself, which confirms the mention of Yoco in the lyrics.

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3. Other Documentary and Oral References

The margariteña composer and collector Modesta Bor registered another popular gaita whose chorus sings:

“Lend me the whistle of your drum
to lend it to my lady,
at dawn I'm going to Yoco
because the plague is driving me crazy.”

This version, also coming from the eastern heritage and linked to the Guaiquerí cultural sphere, reinforces the historical existence of the toponym Yoco.

Similarly, performers like Dueto Criollísimo —contemporaries of the Quinteto Contrapunto— and later artists like Ilan Chester maintain the form “Yoco” in their versions of La Concha.

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4. The Origin of the Confusion: “Yopo”

The variant “Yopo” appears to have been introduced with the publication, in 1999, of the arrangements by Rafael Suárez published by the Vicente Emilio Sojo Foundation (CONAC).

Since that edition, scores and choral versions began to circulate that substitute “Yoco” for “Yopo.” Before that year, only one foreign recording is known with that form, which suggests that it was a typographical or transcription error.

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5. What is Yopo (and why it doesn't fit)

The Yopo (also known as cohoba, niop, yupa, or yopa) is the common name for the South American plant Anadenanthera peregrina, whose seeds contain psychoactive alkaloids.

When inhaled, they produce hallucinogenic effects and are used in ceremonial rituals by ethnic groups from the Orinoco basin, the northern Amazon, and the Venezuelan plains —such as the Piaroa, Yanomami, and Tamanaco— but not by the Guaiqueríes.

Therefore, both culturally and geographically, it is unlikely that the margariteña gaita La Concha refers to the hallucinogen Yopo.

On the other hand, the existence of the Yoco population, within the historical Guaiquerí territory, confirms that this is the correct form in the original lyrics.

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Conclusion

The documentary, musicological, and ethnographic evidence converge in one direction:

The correct word in the gaita margariteña La Concha is “Yoco,” not “Yopo.”

The confusion, probably arising from an editorial error in the transcription of the scores published in 1999, has led to later interpretations alien to the cultural context of eastern Venezuela.

Thus, “Yoco” is not just a name in a song: it is a living vestige of the Guaiquerí territory and the musical memory of Margarita.

As in any research, there will be those who have divergent opinions, which are entirely valid and respectable when based on documentary facts.