TODOS VUELVEN LIVE - Lyrics

Letras en español Return to maestravida.com
  


VOLUME 1

1 - Caminos Verdes

Music and lyrics: Rubén Blades
I’m arriving to  the frontier
Eeeeeeeae
And may God’s will prevail
Eeeeeeeae
I’m arriving to the frontier
Eeeeeeeae
And may God’s will prevail
Eeeeeeeae

 

2 - El Padre Antonio y el Monaguillo Andres

 

Music and lyrics: Rubén Blades
Father Antonio Texeira came from Spain
Searching for new promises in this land.
He got to the jungle without any hope of becoming a bishop
and in spite of the heat and the mosquitoes he talked about Christ.

The priest didn’t  do well at the Vatican
among papers and air conditioned dreams,
so he went to a small town in the middle of nowhere to give his weekly sermon
for those in search for salvation.

Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh...

Andrés Eloy Pérez is 10 years - old
He attends  “Simon Bolívar “ elementary school
He still cannot recite the Holy Creed properly
he loves the river, playing soccer and playing hooky

He’s been given the task of altar boy at the Church
with the hope that this connection will “fix him”
and his family is very proud because they also believe
that once you have one connected to God, by default you connect them as well.

Bells are tolling one, two, three,
of Father Antonio and his altar boy Andrés
Bells are tolling again, oh oh oh,
of Father Antonio and his altar boy Andrés... Andrés.

The Priest condemns violence,
He knows by experience that is not a solution,
He speaks to them of love and justice,
the news of God shining through his sermon

War found the priest one Sunday, in mass
handing out communion with his sleeves rolled up
Half way through the Lord’s Prayer the killer came in
and without confessing his guilt fired at him

Antonio fell holy bread in hand and without knowing why
Andrés died at his side without ever meeting Pelé
and between the screams and the astonishment, agonizing 
was the wooden Christ nailed to the wall.
and no one ever knew who the criminal was
who killed Padre Antonio and his altar boy Andrés

But the bells still ring, one, two, three
for Father Antonio and his altar boy, Andrés

Chorus:
The bells are tolling

Soneos:
and Earth is going to shake
For our America
Oh Virgin Lady
Who will save us now?
Central American
Listen to them calling
For my sister land
People waking up
For Antonio and Andrés
Puente
Hear it again
People are celebrating
On our new way
Central American
Let’s go, their calling us
To celebrate
Our identity
Because people united
Will never be defeated
For a good priest
Arnulfo Romero
Of liberty
For our America

3 - Cuentas Del Alma

Music and Lyrics: Rubén Blades

At night my mother always tried falling asleep in front of the tv,
and she would ask me to please not turn it off
she couldn’t stand her loneliness in that room
even though she never confessed it.

As a kid, I didn’t understand her horror, because one is young and does not know about love;
I grew up watching my mother cling on to a hope that buried her in bitterness
on a night that didn’t end..
My mother has been afraid of the night since the day my father left
I look at her and comprehend that she still believes
that accounts of the soul are never settled up
are never settled up

Chorus:
accounts of the soul

Ruben:
are never settled up
are never settled up
are never settled up
Puente

Today I understand her pain ,and how terrible it is to love an illusion
that is trapped between shadows of the past
and that at night runs freely to her side
like the ghost of a love that never died.
My mother has been afraid of the night since the day my father left
I look at her and comprehend that she still believes
the accounts of  the soul are never settled up

accounts of the soul

are never settled up

 

4 - Amor Y Control

Music and lyrics: Rubén Blades

As I left the hospital after I saw my mother
battling an incurable cancer,
I saw a family go by.

There was a man ahead, followed by a lady, two young women and several other people,
Holding the man’s hand
was a young man walking, crestfallen and looking sorry.
We later found out that he was the center of a family argument 
when we heard the old man yell:
“Even if you’re a thief, an even though you are wrong,
it is my duty to help you.

And no matter how many drugs you use
and how much you may abuse us,
our family and I must care for you.”

Chorus:
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh,
oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh,
oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.

Only those who have children understand
that a parent’s duty doesn’t ever end.
That the love of a father and a mother never growas tired of giving,
that we wish for you all,  what we’ve never had.
That in spite of the problems,
family is family and love is love.

Chorus:
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh,
oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh,
oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.

I saw them leave in tears, facing their own labyrinth,
in good times and bad times, they would walk together.
And I thought a lot of my family,
I loved them so much at that moment
that I felt overwhelmed by the feeling.
That young man and my poor mother:
two different people,
yet two similar tragedies.

Coro:
How much control and how much love must exist in a home
A lot of control and plenty of love to face misfortune.

Soneos:
No matter how many problems you have at home,
No matter how much you think that your love is a lost cause,
be assured that you are loved and that those feelings lasts forever.
Keep love and control always when facing sorrow
combining love and feelings
problems don’t go away when you turn your back on them
and lack of patience doesn’t fix suffering.
 
Uh, Uh
Love and control


5 - Decisiones

Music and lyrics: Rubén Blades

The former miss, hasn’t decided what she’s going to do,
In her Geography class the teacher speaks of Turkey
while our subject only thinks of her misfortune and her dilemma;
Oh what a problem!

At home, her boyfriend rehearses what he’s going to say
he will surely die when the parents find out...
And although he prefers a different solution
he can’t quite make that decision, because its better to wait...
and hope that hiss girlfriend will get her period!

Decisions, each day
someone looses, someone wins. Hail Mary!
Decisions, everything has a cost
come out and make your bets, citizens!

The man who lives in the rented house,
even though he has a wife,
has decided to have an affair
(Like Cassanova himself)
so he has suggested to a married neighbor
in the most vulgar and shameless fashion,
that when her husband leaves for work
she should ask him over and become lovers!
The lady is not dumb and she tells her husband
who decides that she should, of course! ask the jerk over as agreed
So the neighbor arrives reeking of perfume
wearing clean clothes that his wife ironed for him
and a flower that he found on the patio..
In “a Love Story” mood...
,
Inside the neighbor’s house awaits the husband,
undecided on where he should hit first,
holding a foreign made baseball bat
with Roberto Clemente’s signature on the side
And the doorbell rings: ring-ring
(and is not el Gran Combo)
And we are at the bottom of the ninth!

Decisions, each day
someone looses, someone wins. Hail Mary!
Decisions, everything has a cost
come out and make your bets, citizens!

The drunkard is convinced
that alcohol doesn’t affect his senses,
on the contrary, he thinks his reflexes are 
a lot clearer and he is much more in control.
So he steps heavily on the accelerator,
and cranks up the volume on the radio to feel really cool... awesome!
and when the light switches to yellow, the cart tires screech and he thinks he’s  James Bond!
He decides to run over the red light and doesn’t see the truck come out of the dark...
Whistle, crash and the question: “ wha’ haaapn???”
“To eternity...!” 

Decisions, each day
someone looses, someone wins. Hail Mary!
Decisions, everything has a cost
come out and make your bets, citizens!

 

6 - Buscando Guayaba

Music and lyrics: Rubén Blades                                
Translation: Rubén Blades
I went to the mountain in search for a fruit
I took the trail of the eight and the two
and though I found a golden house, the fruit was not to be had,
I have traveled all over the world, and have never being able to find
a fruit thatI like enough to make me stop my wanderings
although I didn’t find a golden hours, I never found that fruit...

Chorus:
In search of a fruit am I, a fruit with flavor, with zest.

Soneos:
a fruit,  with dark skin
a really good fruit

Bururú Barará, where is Miguel going?
Bururú Barará, he went in search of fruit too!

I’m in search of a fruit
I’m in search of a fruit
I’m in search of a fruit
on the eight and two road..
a fruit with a lot of zest.
a fruit with a lot of flavor
A fruit with flavor, with zest.
little fruit from the prairie
here, for me
I want a fruit
come and give me a hand,
come and help me,  “comay”
I see that you
don’t get any and don’t say where there is some
a Tell me, that precious fruit,... where can I find it?
I come walkinkg, I am always walking, Lord
Come and help me witch doctor, tell me where it is ‘cause I can’t find it
Tell me where it is, that I’ve never have found it
a fruit with flavor, with zest.
a fruit with flavor, 
eh, eh, eh, my fruit
where do I find it?
Come with me because it could happen
that I could find that woman and could learn to love her
I’m looking on the mountain and at the market place,
a No,no, no, dont hide and show up, baby,
Bururú Barará, where is Miguel going?
Bururú Barará, 
I loved you, and you use to say you loved me a lot
 
Cartucho!


7 - Plantación adentro

Music and lyrics: Tite Curet Alonso
Soneos: Rubén Blades

It is the year 1745
in Latin America, the natives work in plantations
under the foreman’s ruthless stick

People are shadows
A la la la la la la la

People are shadows
A la la la la la la la

Plantation deep inside, comrade
Is where truth is really known. Is where truth is well learned.
Deep into the foliage and the thick forest, is where every voyage carries affliction
Is where all is known. Is where truth is learned.

Camilo Manrique died of wounds made by the foreman,
and was buried without any tears...Ha! A wooden cross and nothing else.

Coro:
Camilo Manrique died,
Plantation deep inside, camará’

Soneos:
Plantation deep inside, comrade,, people are shadows and nothing else.
Camilo died wounded by the foreman’s stick.
And the doctor on call said: “He died of natural causes”.
Of course, after you’re savagely beat up, it is only normal that you should die.
Go to sleep late, get up early and head to the sugar cane plantation
Earth, jungle, sun and wind,
An indian and a foreman’s stick
Pick up the coffee seeds and head over there
If not, you’ll get hit by the foreman...
And his sad monument is a wooden cross kissed by the wind
Listen, I’m telling the truth.
People are shadows and nothing else.
And from the mountain a scream is heard:
“ Give me a chance Mother Yunai!”
Yellow butterflies
And the memory of Macondo
still vibrates in the mind...
Ehhh, plantation, comrade
Ehhh, hit by the stick where it hurts
And his only sad monument is...
A wooden stick kissed by the wind
Listen, I’m telling the truth.
People are shadows, comrade.

 

8 - Te están buscando

Music and lyrics: Rubén Blades


watch- out in the neighborhood 
watch-out on the sidewalk
watch-out on the street
watch-out everywhere
there looking for you
 
For your nasty habit of taking- off without paying
For your nasty habit of taking- off without paying
I told you dog
it was going to cost you.
Everybody knows your story
The entire neighborhood knows the truth.
That you gambled some money and lost 
and took off without paying.
 
watch- out in the neighborhood
watch-out on the sidewalk
watch-out on the street
watch-out everywhere
there looking for you

Chorus:
For your nasty habit of taking- off without paying
For your nasty habit of taking- off without paying
For your nasty habit of taking- off without paying

Soneos:
You have broken domino rules
that say that the onlooker should be made of wood
bad boy and now
today you’re going  to get punished.
 
They’re looking for you
a car with a long antenna
full of people with dark glasses
security men
 
Some guys are looking for you
the kind their mother didn’t love as kids,
neither did their dads, and now that they’re grown-ups they like to smack people
Pau, pau, parua...
Pau, pau, parua...
The smell of men
There is a stench of men on Getoutifyoucan street,
and it’s your fault, comrade
some guys are looking for you
to tie you up to a chair
to throw a bucket of water on you with a tiny electric schok
For your nasty habit
 
if the government comes in pushing citizens
and asking everybody for their id card
 
For your nasty habit.
Madame Calalú told me 
something bad was going to happen
again by the neighborhood
a car slowly goes by with the security guys...
 

10 - Ligia Elena

Music and lyrics: Rubén Blades

Ligia Elena, the naive society girl,
has eloped with a trumpet player from the neigborhood,
Her father is zealously looking for her
everybody is talking about it
and her mother wonders anguishly
“where could she be?”

Scoldings, trips and nuns were of no use, 
and neither were the love words of the well-to-do young men
that humble trumpet player hit such a good note
that in the midst of eternal love chords
she took off with him.

They have moved to a small room with little furniture,
and they live there happily and full of joy,
while her parents ask sadly “where did we fail?’
Ligia Elena and her trumpet player are madly loving each other.

In the small room, days sweetly go by
while in the luxury society mansions
other girls that know about the story ask themselves at night:
Oh, Lord! When will I meet my trumplet player?”
Other girls that know about the story ask themselves at night:
Oh, Lord! When will I meet my trumpet player?”

Chorus:
Ligia Elena is very happy yet her family is appalled!

Soneos:
Ligia Elena is very happy yet her family is so sad...
She escaped with a trumpet player from the neighborhood
Se llevaron la niña del ojo e' papá
They took the apple of daddy’s eye
“Where did we fail?” asks mom
Ligia Elena is very happy yet her family is appalled!
Love beat money
That trumpet player hit such a good note!
Racism is so out of tune!
Ligia Elena is, Ligia Elena
Ligia Elena is very happy yet her family is appalled!
Racism is so out of tune!
Ligia Elena is full of happiness
Ligia Elena happy...
Ligia Elena happy...

11 - Juan Pachanga 

Music and lyrics: Rubén Blades         
Special appearance: Cheo Feliciano

O le le a la la la le

It’s 5 o’clock in the morning, sunrise,
Juan Pachanga comes out well dressed,
Everybody on the neighborhood is resting,
Juan Pachanga thinks silently
That even though his life is party and booze, night and music
His pose is false like that love that cheated on him.

Sunlight shines bright
And Juan Pachanga, the Stud, is aching,
Dressed up with the latest fashion and smelling of perfume,
wearing funky colored shiny shoes.
Everybody that runs into him say:
“Hey man!”
How happy is Juan Pachanga!” They all swear.
But he keeps in his heart the pain of treason,
That only drinks, tobacco and drums can take drown.

And while people sleep,
Juan Pachanga finds the day in sorrow

Chorus:
Listen, Juan Pachanga, forget about her.

Soneos:
Finds the day in sorrow
The dark skin girl doesn’t want him
The dayis coming
And his dying of love, love, love
Forget her.
Wake up and dump her
She’s never loved you.
Forget her
I saw Juan Pachanga
Early in the morning
A pain in the soul
Forget about lies and foolish stories
You can’t beg for love
He shows up early
Crying at sunrise
And inside he feels
the pain when she appears
The girl doesn’t love you
Wake up and dump her

VOLUME 2

1 - Pablo Pueblo

Music and lyrics: Rubén Blades

Eh le le le le le le le
Le le le le le le le le

A man walks home silently
tired from work
Not in any hurry
his shadow never catches up with him,
waiting for him is the same old neighborhood
with the lamppost in the corner,
the trash in front
and the noisy bar.

Pablo Pueblo
gets to the dark alley
and stares again at the walls 
covered with campaign posters
that promised futures
in political contests
And in his face shows
the disappointment of waiting, is drawn.

Pablo Pueblo
son of screams and streets
of misery and hunger
of alleys and sadness
Pablo Pueblo
hope is his nourishment
his steps are slow
his shadow never reaches him

He gets to the patio
thoughtful and crestfallen,
with the silence of the poor,
with screams under it.
Clothes hang from the balconies
the wind blows them dry,
there is thunder in the sky,
rain is coming.

He goes into the room
and stares
at his wife and kids
and asks himself: “how much longer?”

Takes his torn dreams
and glues them with hope
uses his hunger as a pillow
and sadly goes to sleep.

Pablo Pueblo
son of screams and streets
of misery and hunger
of alleys and sadness

Pablo Pueblo
hope is his nourishment
his steps are slow
his shadow never reaches him 

Chorus:
Pablo Pueblo
Pablo my brother

Soneos:
He worked until retirement
and never had an extra penny.
Voted in every election
and ended- up with nothing
Praying in front of a crucifix
and waiting for a change to happen, oh God!
We ran for you on ‘94
with the Papá Egoró Movement
It could be that I respect you so much because you’re so poor.
He gets back to the same old neighborhood
tired from working at the factory
trying his luck on horses
and buying the lottery
It could be that I understand you so well because you’re so poor
I saw him turning the corner of the old neighborhood
Pablo Pueblo went on thinking
His steps are slow
his shadow never catches up
His sweat stained shirt
dragging hope
 
Pablo Pueblo
Pablo my brother 
Eh le le le le le le le
Le le le le le le le le

 

Wednesday
Jan122011

2 - Maestra Vida  

Music and Lyrics: Rubén Blades

All the facts condemn him
anecdotes and  memories talked about him
with his eyes clawed on the floor
suffering the bad tricks his life played on him

Ramiro walked through the neighborhood streets
the same corner with the same smell,
all the facts condemn him

Yet nobody talked about his loneliness,
about those years in jail
about the things he did and didn’t do,
of his eternal bad luck...
standing in the corner,

Ramiro answered questions that nobody asked him
after all, his only reward was old age,
the same reward his father Carmelo got,
the same reward his son Rafael would get.

It’s a night in May 1970
Ramiro is still on the corner, as always.

I arrived at your school without understanding why
in your rooms I’ve found a thousand roads and crossroads
and I learn a lot and I learn nothing.

I have sunny days, full of light and rain showers,
I have nights full of darkness and moons,
Times of assurance, of denial and doubts,
Between laughter and sadness,
searching for why and when.

Mistress life, of justice and injustice
Of kindness and evil, I still don’t get you,
Mistress life, most likely not forgiving,
I am searching among your hours for the mirror of time
to find your feelings and to finally understand you.

And  I saw thorns and roses
I saw beloved ones die,
I saw beauty and was witness
of evil and war.

I saw what is good on Earth
there I saw hunger and misery between drama and comedy
stay ahead between water and fire
I think about God first
only when on a deathbed
or sometimes when I am sad but never if I’m happy...

Gratefulness doesn’t last
to those who help us
‘cause when our struggle is over
we forget about the pain.
 
I have friends, acquaintances and enemies,
people who have loved me
and faces that refuse to look at me.

I came before death
and in her eyes it all made sense
and from within my fear
I learned to love you.

Now I know that nothing is for sure
and everything is temporary.
Death is the messenger
that comes in at the last hour

Death is the messenger
And time doesn’t stop
for love or money,
Death is the messenger
that comes in at the last hour

Death is the messenger
And time doesn’t stop
for love or money

Bridge:
Mistress life, I leave to go after time,
to see if I can find any answers,
before the time I die,
although I am learning to live with this fatal truth.

Chorus:
Mistress life my friend, gives and takes away, takes away and then gives back
Takes away and then gives back
 
Soneos:
Mistress life, comrade,
Takes away and then gives back
When you least expect it.
You get the surprise, my friend,
And time doesn’t stop
For love or money
death, my friend, death is the messenger
that comes in at the last hour
When Carmelo died
I was in such a deep pain
that I can’t find nothing in the world
to find any consolation...

 

Wednesday
Jan122011

3 - Caminando

Music and lyrics: Rubén Blades

Walking,
You learn about life,
Walking,
You know what “the deal” is
Walking,
the wound heals
Walking,
when left yesterday

In Puerto Rico, Panamá, Colombia or New York
If you don’t live, you cant’ taste
the flavor of love. 

Walking,
I tripped over a thousand times,
Walking,
but I never quit
Walking,
between laughter and pain
Walking,
ahead and with faith.

With time I understood,
that in life there’s room for everything
That nothing erases the memories
Of what one has walked

Walking,
looking at a star.
Walking,
listening to a voice
Walking,
following a footstep
Walking,
that someone else walked
Walking,
searching for life
Walking,
looking for love
Walking,
healing the wound
Walking,
that pain leaves behind 

Bridge
Nenguere...

4 - Adán García

Music and lyrics: Rubén Blades


The last day in Adan Garcia’s life
found him like others of his past
dreaming about winning the “Big One “on the lottery
with his wife and kids sleeping on his side

Adán left his house at noon
after a heated discussion:
his wife wanted to ask her in-laws for money
but Adán kissed his children while he screamed:

“This is over, life
Ilusion is gone, woman
and time is my enemy.
And instead of living in fear,
I’d rather die smiling,
While memories are still alive."

He went to the neighborhood store for the last time
where he got a pack of cigarettes on credit,
They saw him walking aimlessly on Central Avenue

his hands inside his pockets.
A neighbor said: “ since Adán was fired from his job,
I noticed a strange change in his behavior.
He was always so lively, and now he was still,
it was the quietness of desperation.”

Bridge

The police docket said that Adan went to the bank
and yelled at the cashier to hand him
all the money she had in the cash register
and if she didn’t do it fast enough, he would kill her.

“ The man threatened me with a gun” said the lady.
“so I gave him whatever he asked for.” 
“For the kind of salary I make here,
I’m not going to risk the life God gave me”. 

They say that went Adan rushed out of the bank
he ran into a patrol car parked in front,
that he didn’t pay attention to the policeman when he yelled “Stop!”,
and that he was “screaming and laughing like a maniac”. 

The next day, the newspapers showed the picture
of his dead body in his underwear.
Adán’s widow read on the front page:
THIEF USED HIS SON ‘S WATER PISTOL


“This is over, life
Ilusion is gone, woman
and time is my enemy.
And instead of living in fear,
I’d rather die smiling."

While memories are still alive.
Oh, oh, oh...

 

5 - Desapariciones

Music and lyrics: Rubén Blades

“Can someone tell me if they have seen my husband?” the wife asked,
his name is Ernesto X, he’s 40-years old,
he’s a watchman at a car dealer
He was wearing a dark shirt and light colored pants.

He left two nights ago and hasn’t come back.
And I don’t know what else to think...
because this hadn’t happened to me before.

I’ve been looking for my sister for three days, 
her name is Altagracia, like my grandmother.
She left work for school
She was wearing 
jeans and a white shirt.

She’s not with her boyfriend, they guy is at home.
They don’t know about her at the National Security Police, or at the hospital, 

Can someone tell me if they have seen my son?
His name is Agustín and he’s a medical student.
He’s a good kid.
Sometimes he’s hard -headed with his opinions.
He’s been detained, I don’t know by whom.
Stripped shirt and trousers, it happened the day before yesterday.

My mother’s name is Clara Quiñones. 
She is kindhearted, doesn’t hurt anybody.
They took her as a witness
for something that’s just my business.

And I turned myself in this afternoon,
and now they say nobody knows who took her from the police station.

Last night I heard several explosions;
Shotguns and gun shots. 
Speeding cars, screeching tires, screams...
the sound of boots hitting the pavement.
Door knocks, complaints, broken dishes and pleas...
The soap opera was on...
So nobody looked outside.

Chorus:
Where do the missing go?

Soneos:
Look in the bodies of water and bushes
Because we’re not all equal...
Each time our thoughts bring them back to us.
With our emotions pressing inside.

 

6 - Patria

Music and Lyrics: Rubén Blades

Some time ago, a kid asked me
the meaning of the word “patria” 
his question surprised me
and with my soul on the throat I said to him

Barrio flower, little brother,
Patria are so many beautiful things
Like that old tree
that we read about on that poem
Like the love you still keep for
grandma after she passed away

Patria are so many beautiful things
It’s the walls of a barrio
and its dark skinned hope
is what’s in the soul 
of everyone that goes far away

It”s the voices of the martyrs that scream
flag, flag, flag
Don’t memorize lessons
of dictatorships and confinements
Patria cannot be defined
by those who suppress their country
Patria is a feeling
in the eyes of an old man

Like an eternal spring sun,
and a new baby sister’s laughter,
I’ll answer you, little brother:
Patria are so many beautiful things
A la, la la...

 

7 - Muévete

Lyrics: Rubén Blades
Music: Juan Fornell
Soneos: Rubén Blades

From the Caribbean to Soweto in Africa
goes our song as a salute,
to those who defend their right to freedom
and use truth as their shield.

Bullets cannot kill truth
when its defended by reason.
Let’s us all get together to stop evil;
Move with all your heart, here and there.

(Bridge)

Everybody tries to find their own comfort,
and it’s been like this forever.
And the one who leads almost never looks back
to help those left behind.

But today, the need is here
to follow a different path;
And to lend each other a hand
to end racism and evil
is what our future depends upon.

Here and there, there and here,
And to lend each other a hand
to end racism and evil.
Everybody heads up
Move it Panamá

Chorus:
Move it, move it.

Soneos:
Move it Puerto Rico, with assurance.
Everybody heads up against evil
To end racism here and there.
Children want it, so does mom and dad.
People from every sphere of society are screaming for it...
People are asking for it, from every corner...
May all Latin America move it!
To save our time for what there is to come
We are still, still searching for America...
 

8 - Pedro Navaja

Music and lyrics: Rubén Blades

Life gives you...
Life gives you...
Life will give your surprises
Surprises will life give you
Life gives you...
Life gives you...
Life will give your surprises
Surprises will life give you

I saw him turn the corner of the old neighborhood,
walking the walk of the cool and slick dudes,
with his hands inside his jacket pockets as always
so nobody can tell where he carries the blade.

He wears a wide brim hat tipped to the side,
and rubber soles just in case he needs to scram
dark glasses so nobody can see what he’s looking at
and a shiny gold tooth that gleams when he smiles.

On a corner three blocks away there’s a woman
walking up and down the sidewalk for the fifth time,
she goes in an alley and takes a swig of liquor
to help her forget that is a slow work day and there aren’t any clients.

A car goes slowly down the boulevard
it has no marks but everybody knows it”s a police car
Pedro Navaja with his hands always inside his jacket
glances and smiles while his golden tooth shines again.

As he walks he checks out both corners,
there isn’t a soul in the entire boulevard,
when all of a sudden the woman jumps out of the alley
and Pedro Navaja clenches a fist inside his jacket.

He turns his head from side to side,
and quickly crosses the street,
and meanwhile on the other sidewalk
the woman grumbles ‘cause she made no money to buy food.

As she walks, the woman pulls a gun out of her old coat
she is going to put it in her purse, it’s too bulky,
a “38 Smith & Wesson special edition 
that she carries with her to keep her free from evil...

And Pedro Navaja jumped on her knife in hand, 
the golden tooth lighting up the boulevard, easy gig!
He laughed hard as he stabbed her mercilessly
when all of a sudden a loud gunshot was heard
and Pedro Navaja fell on the sidewalk, while the woman
gun in hand and fatally wounded hollered at him:
I thought this wasn’t my day, I have no luck,
but Pedro Navaja you are much worse, you are a nobody”

And believe me, people, even though it was noisy, nobody showed up,
nobody was nosy, nobody asked questions, nobody cried,
Only a drunkard tripped over both bodies,
Picked up the gun, the blade, the money and took off.
And as he stumbled away he sang out of tune
this choir I made up for you that gives the message of my song:
Life will give your surprises
Surprises will life give you, oh God..

Chorus:
Life will give your surprises
Surprises will life give you, oh God...

Soneos:
Pedro Navaja low class killer
if you live by the sword you die by the sword
Daring fisherman, you threw bait
and caught a shark instead of a sardine.
It will hit you on the sidewalk
It will hit you ‘cause life is tough
And what goes up goes down
ask Pedro Navaja
Life gives you and takes away, comrade
Mistress Life and you’ll see

(Bridge)
I like to live in America
New York City has 8 million stories
Like granny use to say, the last one to laugh, has the best laugh.
Life will give your surprises
Surprises will life give you, comrade...
Get that in your head when you want to find the truth


10 - Buscando América

Music and Lyrics: Rubén Blades


I’m searching for you, America
and fear that I won’t find you
your footprint has been lost
in the dark

I’m calling for you America
but you are not answering me
you have been made to vanish
by those who deny truth

Surrounded by shadows
we deny all that’s true
until there is justice
we will never have peace.

Living under dictatorships
I search for you and I can’t find you,
your tortured  body
is nowhere to be found.

(Bridge)

If one’s dream
is everybody’s dream
to break the chains
and begin our journey
Let’s be confident
let’s go ahead, my race,
let’s preserve time
for those to come.

(Bridge)

You’ve been abducted, America
your mouth has been gagged
and  today it’s our turn 
to bring you freedom.

I’m calling you America
our future awaits us
and before it dies on us
we will find you.

(Bridge)

Chorus:
I’m searching for you America
I’m calling you America
Oh, Oh

Soneos:
Fighting for our race and our freedom

And we will find you among the darkness,

You’ve been vanished by those who’re afraid of your truth.

And we will find you
while we search for the truth

Searching for our America
mama and papa’s dream

And it’s our turn today to set you free.

CREDITS

 
 


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