|
MI RUMBA ECHANDO CANDELA
(My Rumba’s Smokin’)
Guaracha-Guaguancó
Performed by Celeste Mendoza, written by Roberto Nuñez Povea
Here I come with my rumba
and my rumba’s smokin’.
If you don’t know how to dance it,
take care you don’t get burned.
Oh, what a shame
that you don’t know how to dance
my great rumba.
Listen closely to the drums,
but if you don’t know how to dance it,
take care you don’t get burned.
Ay, na, na, my smokin’ rumba
© 1978 Cubasong Music. BMI for the U.S
(P) 1975 EGREM
ESO NO ES NA’
(That Ain’t Nothin’)
Son
Performed by María Teresa Vera, written by Graciano Gómez Vargas
I don’t want to cause trouble or anybody harm.
Come close.
Don’t run from me, you might hurt yourself.
That ain’t nothin’, brother...
A very tall tower
Has crumbled from its base
I’m afraid the ones who run too hard
in the end are bound to tire out.
That ain’t nothin’, jack...
© 1980 by Peer International Corp., BMI for the U.S.
(p) 1958 EGREM
MANZANILLO
Son Montuno
Performed by Orquesta Original de Manzanillo, written by Ramón Cabrera
I’m going to Manzanillo Bay
to fish for the moon in the sea.
Moonlit nights of Manzanillo,
silvery shimmer of the sea,
white spray of the waves
crashing against the shore.
You hear the cries of a seagull,
and the whisper of a strong breeze
beating the sails of an old boat
with a moan and a plea.
I sing to the loves
of Manzanillo’s sailors
as they silently die inside
with each departing ship they see.
To Manzanillo Bay
I’m going to Manzanillo Bay tomorrow
to sing this beautiful refrain.
I’ll be in the plaza
all night long.
To Manzanillo Bay
Beny Moré, Beny Moré, Beny Moré,
I’ll always remember you.
I want to dance, I want to sing,
when La Original plays in the park.
To Manzanillo Bay
In Manzanillo they dance the son.
They shake those hips ruthlessly;
With what measured steps the mulatto women dance.
They could even dance on one tiny brick.
Beny Moré sang to them,
and now I do, too
To Manzanillo Bay!
(Fish!)
© 1953 by Peer International Corp., BMI for the U.S.
(p) unavailable
YAYABO
Conga
Performed by Orquesta Riverside, written by Antonio Sanchez
Hey, Yayabo’s back in the streets!
Yayabo’s out there again!
Let’s get down, baby!
You said Yayabo
would never come out again.
Yayabo’s in the streets
with his latest thing
and his rhythm can’t be beat.
Ah, ah, ah, Yayabo’s out there now.
And how!
He started out in Las Villas.
He’s in Oriente now.
© 1961 by Peer International Corp., BMI for the U.S.
(p) unavailable
LA GUARAPACHANGA
Guarapachanga
Performed by Chapottín & Sus Estrellas, written by Juan Rivera Prevot
The guarapachanga, you can dance it
The guarapachanga, you can enjoy it.
I went by the sugar mill one day,
to Mama Ines’* place,
and with the mill press
I squeezed out cane juice for my coffee.
Cuba produces tobacco.
Cuba produces coffee.
Cuba produces sugar cane,
because Cuba’s fertile.
If you want to smoke tobacco,
if you want to drink coffee,
crank the old cane press
just like Mama Ines.
Now I’ve smoked tobacco,
now I’ve drunk coffee.
Like Cuba, I can’t remember
old Mama Ines.
© 1978 Cubasong Music, BMI for the U.S.
(p) 1965 EGREM
*Mama Ines: Afro-Cuban folk character
LLEGUÉ LLEGUÉ / GUARAREY DE PASTORITA
I GOT HERE I GOT HERE/SONETHING’S GOING ON WITH PASTORITA
Songo / Changüí
Performed by Los Van Van, written by Juan Formell / written by Roberto Baute Sagarra
I’m here,
Come dance with me
Let’s go!
Congratulate me
Congratulate her.
Gimme your hand! Congratulate me
That mulatto girl! Congratulate her.
She’s with me! Congratulate me
______________________
Something’s going on with Pastorita
I don’t know why
I’ve done nothing something’s going on!
She’s my true friend something’s going on!
I keep her in my heart something’s going on!
Something’s going on with Pastorita
When she looks at me something’s going on!
It’s a terrible burden something’s going on!
I don’t know why she’s watching me something’s going on!
I don’t want it in my house something’s going on!
It’s jealousy something’s going on!
What she’s got going on something’s going on!
That’s it
Somethings going on!
© 1978 Cubasong Music, BMI for the U.S. / © 1978 Cubasong Music, BMI for the U.S.
(p) 1974 EGREM / (p) 1974 EGREM
NO ME LLORES
(Don’t Cry to Me)
Son Montuno
Performed by Conjunto Rumbavana, written by Arsenio Rodríguez
Don’t cry to me,
don’t cry to me no more.
Mama, don’t shed your little tears to me
’cause I start to feel a little something
that breaks my heart.
Baby, you make one of your little faces,
and it confuses and upsets me.
I don’t want you to cry to me,
to tell me, “Daddy of my soul,
you’re my everything.”
You know that story’s getting old.
I’m getting grey hairs from hearing it.
It’s all lies.
You’re always coming up with little stories
about shedding little tears.
You’ve got me all confused.
Don’t think, honey, that I’m falling for that story.
You can’t fool me,
or make me lose my senses.
Don’t cry to me,
don’t cry to me no more.
(Miguelito, the mockingbird from Camaguey!)
Your story doesn’t fool me.
Don’t tell it anymore.
You know what I want,
but you won’t give it up.
(And here’s the sonero* rooster!
Peck it, Andresito!)
Only insensitivity.
That’s all I’ve gotten from you.
Not even one caress.
Which is all I ever wanted.
You were what I most loved.
I say it and it’s true.
But for all I’ve said, love,
you still ran off with my heart.
© 1978 FAF Publishing Inc., BMI for the U.S.
(p) 1970 EGREM
*sonero: traditional son singer
FIFI, TETE Y POPO
Changüí
Performed by Orquesta Revé, written by Juan Formell Cortina
Fifí stopped dancing the twist.
Teté stopped dancing ye-ye.
Popó stopped dancing a go-go.
Teté, Popó, Fifí,
all three are dancing the changüí.
Three girls with their minds blown,
they didn’t know what to dance.
“What’s this?” they said.
The changüí’s here!
© 1978 Termidor/GEMA
(p) 1968 EGREM
FIESTA BRAVA
(The Bullfight)
Bachata
Performed by Celeste Mendoza, written by Rícardo Díaz Fresneda
Bullfights, bullfights.
Everyone knows how they start,
but not how they’ll end.
I swore in the crowd,
attention fixed on the bullring.
The bull didn’t come out,
and the restlessness began. Olé!
Suddenly the huge bull came out
with horns a-blazing.
It pushed everyone aside.
And a cry was heard: Olé!
A very famous bullfighter
showered himself in glory
and when he got back home
he thought about the bull. Olé!
And if a bull should attack me,
suddenly and unexpectedly,
I’ll face him head on
and fight him in my own way. Olé!
© 1978 Cubasong Music, BMI for the U.S.
(p) 1965 EGREM
SAOCO*
Guaracha-Rumba
Performed by Caridad Hierrezuelo & Conjunto Caney, written by Rosendo Ruíz Quevedo
Hit it, hit it, hit it...
Saoco plays the conga.
Azarorí** plays the omelé .***
If Saoco plays the conga,
so can I, and I do it well.
Saoco on the conga.
Azarorí on the omelé .
Yeah, Saoco plays the conga,
and I go dancing all the way to Belén.****
© 1978 Cubasong Music, BMI for the U.S
(p) 1975 EGREM
*saoco: Afro-Cuban slang for “superb”, here referring to conga player
**azarorí: Yoruba expression used in Cuba to mean “good”, here meaning the omelé player.
***omelé: one of the trio of sacred, two-headed batá drums of Orisha ceremonies.
****Belén: Havana barrio, formerly a slaves’ quarter
BAILE USTED MI SON
(Dance My Son)
Son Montuno
Performed by Caridad Hierrezuelo & Conjunto Caney, written by Ramón Huerta Nápoles
Dance my son
so sweet, check out my son.
The son has the sweetness
of my tropical Cuba,
of its beautiful women,
and its countryside without equal.
In the early morning
I sip my sweet-smelling coffee,
lost in the beauty
and loveliness of the savanna.
I work hard
for my country and my home.
And then I rejoice
dancing my beautiful son.
© 1978 Cubasong Music, BMI for the U.S.
(p) 1968 EGREM
RUMBA COMO QUIERA
(Rumba, Any Old Way)
Rumba
Performed by Los Zafiros, written by Rolando Vergara Rodríguez
I don’t care what people say.
I was born to dance.
And when I feel the drum beat,
I break out dancing.
I come from rumba people.
I dance rumba any old way
I dance rumba my own way.
You see, the rumba’s jumpin’.
So sweet my rumba,
rumba man, for dancin’.
In my tropical shirt
in the middle of the road.
Dance the rumba, mulatto girl,
yes, dance it even outdoors,
because this rumba’s for dancing,
my mulatto girl, any old way.
© 1978 Cubasong Music, BMI for the U.S.
(p) 1964 EGREM
MIS COMPADRES PUNTEAN SON
(My Friends Play the Son)
Son
Performed by Orquesta Pancho El Bravo, written by Pedro Aranzola Mesa
My son sounds so sweet!
Now you see, my friends
how sweet my son sounds.
I sing bolero and guaracha,
and also guaguancó.
And I feel even better
when I improvise on a son montuno.
My friends, Clodomiro, Atanasio and Don Ramón
light up the country stove,
while I pick on my tres * guitar
a sweet son montuno.
I have my palm-thatch hut
at one side of the batey**.
I have a team of oxen
that I care for devotedly.
And under the shade of my custard-apple tree,
I play my son montuno.
To dance the son,
Simply move your feet.
That’s right!
© 1978 Cubasong Music, BMI for the U.S.
(p) 1978 EGREM
*tres: quintessential instrument in Cuban music; guitar with 3 pairs of strings
**batey: open square in front of the sugar mill
CAMINITO DE ZAZA
(Little Road of Zaza)
Son Montuno / Plena
Performed by El Jilguero de Cienfuegos, written by Ramón Pavón Argote
Little road to Zaza,
little road of Del Medio
let me make it back home,
while there’s still hope.
I lost my wallet
with six centavos inside it
and I think
if I don’t find it,
I’ll probably die.
I don’t know how
my girlfriend found out.
She got such a scare
seeing me in poverty,
she burst an artery
and right away she died.
While washing clothes one day,
Mama lost her breath.
And it was me in her belly
I was improvising.
She was secretly complaining
and the nervous midwife
told my mama
that she’d have a son
and he would be a poet.
That she’d have a son
and he would be a po- . . . then I was born! Oh, man!
© 1978 Cubasong Music, BMI for the U.S.
(p) 1960 EGREM
ERES LA CANDELA
(You’re Hot)
Cha-Cha-Cha
Performed by Caridad Cuervo & Conjunto Caney, written by Benito Llanes Calero
They tell me I’m hot
because I dance so great.
I can’t make my hips behave
if I’m dancing a sweet and soulful cha-cha.
My blood starts boiling
and goes right to my soul.
That’s why everybody tells me,
“That girl’s hot.”
Hey, girl,
you’re really hot.
My blood starts boiling
and goes right to my soul, you’ll see.
© 1978 Cubasong Music, BMI for the U.S.
(p) 1978 EGREM
PAPA OGUN*
Guaguancó
Performed by Celeste Mendoza & Los Papines, written by Ignacio Piñeiro
Celeste!
Yes, Papines?
Here I am.
Sad, I get sad,
when I don’t hear
the rumba.
Guys,
forget your worries,
I feel like . . .
Like what, Celeste?
Like having fun!
Don’t let the mood drag
because the rumba
is coming on strong.
Seize the moment
or you’ll regret it later.
I went to a saints’ celebration,
and a powerful saint
saved a girl from death,
protecting her with his cloak.
And amazed
I had to sing to the saint like this:
Papá Ogún, what is this, Papá Ogún?
Papá Ogún, what is this, Papá Ogún?
You free me of all evil.
You cover me with your cloak.
But who is it that’s calling me?
Ogún Arere**, Ogún Arere.
María Belén***.
*Ogún: god of iron in the Orisha belief, a traditional Yoruba religion brought to Cuba and Brazil, also known as santería.
**Ogún Arere: Ogún the blacksmith.
***Maria Belén: common name in Afro-Cuban folklore often associated with rumberas (women rumba performers) and santeras (priestess in Orisha religion).
© 1978 Cubasong Music, BMI for the U.S.
(p) 1966 EGREM
|
