“The Democracy” Lyrics
Album: SEIS (Six), 2021
Style: Cumbia about politics in Latin America, lamenting poor conditions and atrocities done in the name of democracy.
Country: Chile, Mexico
Listen: YouTube
Translation:
Tú no tienes la culpa de que la plata a nadie le alcanza.
Tú no tienes la culpa de la violencia y de la matanza.
Así el mundo nos recibió: con muchas balas, poca esperanza.
Quiero que todo sea mejor, que se equilibre esa balanza.
It’s not your fault that money doesn’t stretch out far enough for anyone.
It’s not your fault, the violence and the killings.
This is how the world received us: with many bullets, little hope.
I want everything to be better, for that scale to balance.
Tú no tienes la culpa de que a los pobres los lleven presos.
Tú no tienes la culpa que quemen bosques por el progreso.
Y los de arriba sacan ventaja, y la justicia quе sube y baja,
Nos tienen siеmpre la soga al cuello, la vida al filo de una navaja.
It’s not your fault that the poor are taken prisoner.
It’s not your fault that they burn forests for progress.
And those above take advantage, and the justice that rises and falls,
They keep a noose around our necks always, with life on a razor’s edge.
[Coro (Chorus)]
Que alguien me explique lo que pasó
……(Por la democracia, la democracia)
¿Me confundí o alguien me mintió?
……(La democracia, la democracia)
¿Pa’ dónde fue? ¿Quién se lo robó?
……(La democracia, la democracia)
Vamo’ a tomarno’ unos vinito’
…….(La democracia, la democracia)
Let someone explain to me what happened
……(For democracy, democracy)
Did I get confused or did someone lie to me?
……(For democracy, democracy)
Where did it go? Who stole it?
……(For democracy, democracy)
Let’s go drink a little wine
……(For democracy, democracy)
[Spoken]
Ahí tení, pa’ que tengaiñe’
There you have it, so they can fool you.
Tú no tienes la culpa de que persigan a los migrantes.
Tú no tienes la culpa de la masacre a los estudiantes.
De las promesas y las banderas, los caballeros se llenan la panza.
Aquí te van unas melodías y algunas rimas pa’ la venganza.
It’s not your fault that they prosecute migrants.
It’s not your fault – that student massacre.
Of the promises and the flags, the gentlemen who fill their bellies.
Here take some melodies and some rhymes for vengeance.
[Coro (Chorus)]
Que alguien me explique lo que pasó
……(Por la democracia, la democracia)
¿Me confundí o alguien me mintió?
……(La democracia, la democracia)
¿Pa’ dónde fue? ¿Quién se lo robó?
……(La democracia, la democracia)
Vamo’ a tomarno’ unos vinito’
…….(La democracia, la democracia)
Let someone explain to me what happened
……(For democracy, democracy)
Did I get confused or did someone lie to me?
……(For democracy, democracy)
Where did it go? Who stole it?
……(For democracy, democracy)
Let’s go drink a little wine
……(For democracy, democracy)
[Puente (Bridge)]
Hagan un trencito, hagan un trencito,
De este la’o (lado) y del otro, bailando la cumbia se ven más bonito’.
Hagan un trencito, hagan un trencito,
De este la’o (lado) y del otro, bailando la cumbia se ven má’ bonito’.
Make a little train, make a little train,
From this side to the other, dancing cumbia you all look much prettier.
Make a little train, make a little train,
From this side to the other, dancing cumbia you all look much prettier.
[Coro (Chorus)]
Que alguien me explique lo que pasó
……(Por la democracia, la democracia)
¿Me confundí o alguien me mintió?
……(La democracia, la democracia)
¿Pa’ dónde fue? ¿Quién se lo robó?
……(La democracia, la democracia)
Vamo’ a tomarno’ unos vinito’
…….(La democracia, la democracia)
Let someone explain to me what happened
……(For democracy, democracy)
Did I get confused or did someone lie to me?
……(For democracy, democracy)
Where did it go? Who stole it?
……(For democracy, democracy)
Let’s go drink a little wine
……(For democracy, democracy)
Translation Notes:
This song is about Latin America’s history of violent regime changes and oppression in the recent century up to today, both internal and from US intervention in Latin America in the name of democracy. This song isn’t anti-democracy exactly. The song is expressing frustration over all the bad things in Latin America that get excused as “for democracy”, including things like student massacres. A lot of this goes back to the 20th century when the US was hyper-afraid of communism taking root in Latin America, to the point where they were against literacy programs and any wealth redistribution of any kind.
If you are interested in Spanish language writing with references to Latin American history, I recommend Memoria del Fuego (Memory of Fire) trilogy by Eduardo Galeano [Spanish: Amazon, Good Reads] [English translation: Amazon, Good Reads]. It is a book of fictionalized short poem-stories, some only a paragraph long, that are based on real Latin American history. Eduardo Galeano researches the big events and the people who lived them and their cultures, and writes poem-stories and third person accounts about their experience of these events.
The third book, El Siglo del Viento (Century of the Wind), is about the clash of powers, revolutions and political/cultural changes in Latin America during the 20th century. You can read the books in any order. I started with the third one when Juanes mentioned one of the stories in his song “Destino” (Destiny).
Tú no tienes la culpa de que
la plata a nadie le alcanza.
It’s not your fault that
money doesn’t stretch out far enough for anyone.
You do not have the fault that
silver (coin) doesn’t reach enough for anyone.
Así el mundo nos recibió: con muchas balas, poca esperanza.
This is how the world received us: with many bullets, little hope.
This is how the world was when we were born into it: with many bullets, little hope.
“Recibir” (to receive) here refers to the process of birthing, bringing a baby into the world. It refers to the doctor or midwife literally receiving the baby as it exits the birth canal.
Vamo’ a tomarno’ unos vinito’
Vamos a tomarnos unos vinitos
Let’s go drink a little wine
We are going to drink some little wines
The plural vinitos (little wines) is used to refer to multiple drinks.
Ahí tení, pa’ que tengaiñe’
Ahí tienes, para que te engañen
There you have it, so they can fool you.
Aquí te van unas melodías y algunas rimas pa’ (para) la venganza.
Here take some melodies and some rhymes for vengeance.
Here they are coming to you some melodies and some rhymes for vengeance.
This could have said “aquí van” (here come) and it would have emphasizes what was coming only, but “aquí te van” means they are heading for you specifically.
Hagan un trencito
Make a little train (form a moving line)
Songlations 