El Cazangero -
R. Blades The Good the Bad the Ugly -
Willie Colón 1975
El Cazanguero (Rubén Blades)
(English translation below)
(Intro)
Lead: "Na na ná...... uuuuuuu...."(bis)
Lead: "Es el lamento del cazanguero
en
Coiba de madrugá." (bis)
Lead: "Na na na....uuuuuuuu "(bis)
Lead: "Es el lamento del cazanguero
en Coiba de madrugá." (bis)
Lead: "Apúrate Chino Juan,
que a la fila llaman ya,
dice el guardia que esta [unintelligible]:
'no te quedes tan atrás'.
Haga sol o llueva fuerte,
a la siembra hay que cuidar,
que no venga la cazanga
a tu esfuerzo a malograr,
a tu esfuerzo a malograr,
a tu esfuerzo a malograr."
Lead: "Na na na....uuuuuuuu "(bis)
Lead: "Es el lamento del cazanguero
en Coiba de madrugá." (bis)
(puente)
(montuno)
Lead: "Ay apura Chino Juan
que
a la fila llaman ya."
Coro: "Ajá, ajá" (repeated through
montuno)
Lead: "Sale la cazanga en Coiba
temprano de madrugá."
Lead: "Cuantos hombres te han
llorado campamento central."
Lead: "¿Cuántas latas de cascajo
hay
de aquí hasta Cativá?"
Madrugá: contraction for "madrugada" (wee hours of the
morning)
Cazanga/cazanguero: a "human scarecrow":
On the island of Coiba, the prisoners were made to work. Some sowed
seeds in the nearby fields, so they had to line up before heading out.
The problem was that the birds, "la cazanga," would swoop in to eat
the seeds, and spoil their work. So the Cazangero had to be aorund to
scare the birds away.
¡Apura!: contraction for : "¡apúrate!
(Hurry up!)
Coiba: one, if not, the largest island off the coast of Panamá.
Known
mostly for his penal colony complex.
Malograr: to spoil ( in this case spoil the immates farming
efforts).
Cascajo: gravel used for road construction.
Cativá: town in the panamanian country side.
"Cabo, llave": phrase used by panamanian prison immates to request
permission to leave a cell.
Everything else revolves around this central theme of forced labor and
the futility of it. So here it is line by line:
>Lead: "Na na ná...... uuuuuuu...."(bis)
>Chorus: "Es el lamento del cazanguero
en
Coiba de madrugá." (bis)
That's the lament of the "cazangero" in Coiba at dawn
>Lead: "Apúrate Chino Juan,
>
que a la fila llaman ya,
>
dice el guardia que esta vez no,
>
'no te quedes tan atrás'.
Hurry, Chino Juan, they're already calling to get in line.
The guard says, this time, don't fall so far behind.
>
Haga sol o llueva fuerte,
>
a la siembra hay que cuidar,
>
que no venga la cazanga
>
nuestro esfuerzo a malograr,
>
nuestro esfuerzo a malograr,
>
nuestro esfuerzo a malograr."
Rain or shine, the seeds must be protected,
So the "cazanga" (flock of birds) won't come
To ruin our work.
>Repeat Chorus
>(montuno)
>Lead: "Ay apura Chino Juan
>
que a la fila llaman ya."
>Coro: "Ajá, ajá" (repeated through
montuno)
>Lead: "Sale la cazanga en Coiba
>
temprano de madrugá."
The birds come out in Coiba, early at dawn
>Lead: "Cuantos hombres te han
>
llorado campamento central."
How many men have cried for you, central camp? (I believe this is a
reference to the location where men are first brought into the prison.
They cry until they get used to it, or hardened by it. Also, not sure
if it's "te han llorado" or "se ven llorando")
>Lead: "¿Cuántas latas de cascajo
>
hay de aquí hasta Cativá?"
How many cans of gravel are there from here to Cativa? (This refers to
another tedious task where the men had to carry gravel from one place
to the
other. Counting them is a way of marking the time.)
>Lead: "Llegó un gringo pa' la doce,
>
lo trajeron por fumar. "
A gringo arrived at No. 12; They brought him for smoking. (A gringo
was picked up for smoking marijuana, and taken to cell, or cell block
12.)
>Lead: "La tristeza de todo preso
>
es no tener la libertad."
The sadness of all prisoners is not having freedom.
>(mambo)
>Lead: ¡A Nivia!
>
¡Ese campamento central!
>(montuno)
>Lead: "La familia está formada
>
la campana sono ya."
The family has gathered, the bell has sounded. (Not sure about this,
but I believe it refers to visiting days when the prisoners' families
could come.)
>Lead: "Apura, apura, apura, apura, (didn't
count the "apuras")
>
apura, apura Chino Juan."
>Lead: "Ay, llave cabo, cabo llave"
>Lead: "La tristeza de todo preso
>
es no tener la libertad."
>Lead: "Tengo una cortinita
>
bien bonita y la vendo barata."
I have a little curtain and I'm selling it cheap. (The curtain refers
to some craft the prisoners are allowed to make. I don't recall,
though, where they have the opportunity to sell them.)
>Lead: "La cazanga esta formada
>
en Coiba de madrugá."
>Lead: "Un consejo allá en el monte"
>
apréndete a resbalar."
A word of advice for those on the hillside: learn to drag your feet.
(This also could be "learn to let it slide." It's a tip for newcomers
to not work too fast, but learn how to go slow without getting
punished. It's prison survival for the tropics.)
