“Muerte En Hawaii” (Death in Hawaii) by Calle 13, English translation and discussion

“Death in Hawaii”
Album: Entren Los Que Quieran (Enter Those Who Want To), 2010
Genre: Love song, ukelele, exaggerated accomplishments, ode to self. The lyrics are a cute love song (albeit arrogant and overly self-aggrandizing), but I guess Calle 13 didn’t want to be cute, so they juxtaposed the song with a violent and bizarre music video. The album won “Album of the Year” in the 2011 Latin Grammys and was nominated for “Best Latin, Pop, Rock or Urban Album” in the 2012 Grammys.
Country: Puerto Rico

Lyrics Translation:

Yo he peleado con cocodrilos.
Me he balanceado sobre un hilo cargando más de 500 kilos.
Le he da’o [dado] la vuelta al mundo en menos de un segundo.
He cruza’o [cruzado] 100 laberintos y nunca me confundo.

I have fought with crocodiles.
I have balanced over a string carrying more than 500 kilograms [= 1102.3 pounds = 0.55 tons].
I have gone around the world in less than a second.
I have crossed 100 labyrinths and I never get confused.

Respiro dentro y fuera del agua como las focas.
Soy a prueba de fuego. Agarro balas con la boca.
Mi creatividad vuela como los aviones.
Puedo construir un cerebro sin leer las instrucciones.

I can breathe in and out of water like the seals [*alt. over and underwater].
I am fireproof. I can catch bullets with my teeth [*lit. mouth].
My creativity soars like airplanes.
I can build a brain without instructions. [*lit. construct a brain without reading the instructions]

Hablo todos los idiomas de todos los abecedarios.
Tengo más vocabulario que cualquier diccionario.
Tengo vista de águila, olfato de perro.
Puedo caminar descalzo sobre clavos de hierro.

I speak every language of every alphabet.
I have more vocabulary than any dictionary.
I have the sight of an eagle, the sense of smell of a dog.
I can walk barefoot over iron nails.

Soy inmune a la muerte.
No necesito bendiciones porque siempre tengo buena suerte.
Ven conmigo a dar un paseo por el parque
Porque tengo más cuentos que contarte que García Márquez.

I am immune to death.
I do not need blessings because I always have good luck.
Come with me to take a walk around the park
Because I have more stories to tell you than García Márquez. [*Nobel Prize-winning author of One Hundred Years of Solitude]

Por ti, todo lo que hago lo hago por ti,
Es que tú me sacas lo mejor de mí.
Soy todo lo que soy
Porque tú eres todo lo que quiero.
(x3)

For you, everything I do, I do for you,
Because you bring out the best in me.
I am everything that I am
Because you are everything that I want.
(x3)

Puedo brincar la cuerda con sólo una pierna.
Veo en la oscuridad sin usar una linterna.
Cocino lo que quieras, yo soy todo un chef.
Tengo sexo 24/7 todo el mes.

I can jump rope with only one leg.
I can see in the dark without a flashlight.
I can cook whatever you want, I am a chef.
I have sex 24/7 all month.

Puedo soplar las nubes grises pa’ [para] que tengas un buen día.
También sé como comunicarme por telepatía.
Por ti, cruzo las fronteras sin visa
Y le saco una buena sonrisa a la Mona Lisa.

I can blow away the gray clouds so you will have a good day.
I also know how to communicate with telepathy.
For you, I will cross the borders without a visa
And bring out a true smile from the Mona Lisa.

Por ti, respiro antes de morirme.
Por ti voy a la Iglesia y escucho toda la misa sin dormirme.
Sigo siendo el Rey, aunque no tenga reino. [*reference to old Mexican song “El Rey”]
Mi sudor huele a perfume y nunca me despeino.

For you, I breathe before dying.
For you I go to church and listen to the whole sermon without sleeping.
I continue being King, though I do not have a kingdom.
My sweat smells like perfume and my hair is never out of place.

Sé pelear todas las artes marciales.
También sé como comunicarme con los animales.
Mientras más pasa el tiempo me veo más joven
Y esta canción la compuse sin escuchar como Beethoven.

I know how to fight in all the martial arts.
I also know how to communicate with the animals.
The more time passes, the younger I look [*reference to Benjamin Button and Dorian Gray]
And I composed this song without hearing like Beethoven [*famous composer who lost his hearing].

Por ti, todo lo que hago lo hago por ti,
Es que tú me sacas lo mejor de mí.
Soy todo lo que soy
Porque tú eres todo lo que quiero.
(x3)

For you, everything I do I do for you,
Because you bring out the best in me.
I am everything that I am
Because you are everything that I want.
(x3)

[Gunshot!]

[Text:]
1 Año
23,000 delfines muertos.
Algun día se tenían que vengar.

1 Year
23,000 dolphins killed.
One day they were bound to get revenge.

Translation Notes:

This song is fascinating because you can interpret different ways if you just listen to the song, versus if you watch the music video.

The lyrics are a love song that speak softly to ones lover, while exaggerating one’s own accomplishments and strength in a ridiculously over-the-top way. The singer sounds immature with their exaggerations, but also in love and looking to impress their partner. It sounds like harmless arrogance. They aren’t really putting anyone else down or being negative, just making themselves sound like a super hero with super strength.

The music video portrays a couple running along the beach front, holding hands, seemingly having fun on a tropical vacation in Hawaii as the ukelele instrumentals play in the background. They are wearing Hawaiian flower necklaces (leis). The video begins blurred and zoomed in on specific features (like their feet, the waves, and their clasped hands), then the image clears and zooms out. We see the couples’ faces and they look terrified. They are running for their lives, being chased with bullets hitting the sand, and explosions. We don’t immediately see who is chasing them, but they look horrified and vulnerable while the upbeat love song plays in the forefront, with the man’s voice singing joyfully about how strong he is, while silently in the video we see him bleeding, losing limbs, trying to escape death and clearly failing.

We see at the video end that the couple is being hunted down by a murderous dolphin (or an assassin in a dolphin costume, depending on how literal you want to interpret it). The assassin shots them down. We see their bloodied corpses on the ground and the final video message:

1 Año
23,000 delfines muertos
Algun día se tenían que vengar

1 Year
23,000 dead dolphins
One day they were bound to seek vengeance

It sounds ridiculous for the violence we just witnessed. We are left with the feeling that there is more to the song and music video than just a parody making fun of the typical videos that go along with cute love songs, or just an environmental message making fun of serious music videos.

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My old website had some interesting comments discussing the song. One anonymous person wrote:

I took it as a song about heartbreak because of the gunshot and how ridiculous he felt to be in love and how ridiculous love is
it also doubles as a critique on what is playing on the radio…

Another wrote:

Love this song.

I think it goes brilliantly with the video. The song on its own does sound like a cute, albeit quite fanciful love song, but, with the video, it takes on a whole new meaning – a much darker meaning.

The absurdity of the lyrics clashes with the violence in the video, highlighting the reality of what he and his girlfriend have to go through for the sake of the man’s outrageous claims. He’s dragging her along as he brags about what he’s capable of. Because the song and the video clash so much, it’s almost as though the song is only playing in his head; he has an inner calm because he imagines himself as this wonderful man who can do all of these amazing things, and he convinces himself that it’s for his girlfriend, when, really, he can’t hear his girlfriend’s screams: she’s part of the background, the reality that is in such contrast to the song (which I think represents what’s going on in his mind).

I think he thinks he’s doing it all for his girlfriend, but really, the artists are trying to show that it’s a ridiculous idea that only puts him and his loved ones in danger.

Because I interpret it in this way (not saying this is the only way to interpret it, by any means), the end makes so much sense to me: the dolphin costume, again, shows the absurdity of his claims – you can imagine him singing “I got into fights with dolphins,” which is very similar to the very first line. Also…

I’m not sure whether I think the dolphin suit exists purely in his head; if it does, that shows the absurdity of his reality – that it’s all a game to him? All done just for another outlandish claim? If the dolphin suit exists in the real world, that shows the audience the absurdity – and yet striking, visceral violence – of actual gang culture. Either way, I think all of this suggests that it’s quite a clever social commentary on gangs (which also shows itself in the fact that the first line is about getting into fights with “crocodiles”, and the last action is them both being killed by a (sort of) dolphin: you could argue it shows a cyclical nature to these events, or that one of these fights is going to kill you eventually, which, again, strikes me as a comment on gang culture).

It’s almost funny but it’s definitely not funny: a guy in a dolphin suit killing a man and his girlfriend. One of those absurd and tragic things that, if it happened in real life, you might let out a sigh and shake your head in utter disbelief and heartache.

I take it as a brilliant commentary on macho gang culture, its absurdity and its dangers. And it sounds brilliant too.

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Por ti, todo lo que hago lo hago por ti
For you, everything I do, I do for you

[todo] {lo que hago} [lo hago] [por ti]
[everything] {that I do} [I do it] [for you]

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Cocino lo que quieras, yo soy todo un chef
I can cook whatever you want, I am a chef.
I cook whatever you want, I am a real chef. [*sort of lit.]

todo un ___ = entirely a ___; fully a ___; completely a ___

It is used similar to how in English one might say, “I am a f*cking chef,” except without the swearing.

chef is a borrowed English word.

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Y le saco una buena sonrisa a la Mona Lisa.
And [I] bring out a true smile from the Mona Lisa.

Note that in Spanish, there are two names for Leonardo da Vinci’s painting: “La Mona Lisa” and “La Giaconda.”

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Mi sudor huele a perfume y nunca me despeino.
My sweat smells like perfume and my hair is never out of place.

despeinarse [verb] = to mess one’s hair up
from des- (un-) + peinar (comb); base word peine (comb)

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