La murga de los currelantes [English translation]

Oh, Lord,

what a fuss they made,

what a ruckus they made

with the coming out

of stonemasonry

and subversion-

football, bullfighting,

the sweepstakes and football bets,

Sevilla Football Club, the payslips,

the TV.

You speak English?

Tourism, Sofico 1, the rent,

the germans,

bombs is Palomares 2,

such ill luck!

And now with this unveiling 3

of breasts and fleeing people,

the camouflaging,

the snakes dressed

in saint's clothing.

And that out teeth

are no longer hard enough

for those hardened old bones,

and breaking sets in

and the people

that seats and looks on 4

how they cheer

from one pot to another

and while the beans are on the fire

let out this song:

María,

take up the reins of the Province.

Marcelo,

the unemployed people want a job.

Manuel,

¿what are you going to do with the local land baron?

We´re gonna hit him with

the chug-a-chug, a pike and shovel, hoopla!

and off to work, paraban paraban paraban pan pa.

This is the street band

of the menial workers

that will explain to the public

as best as they can

how the machinery grinds onwards

in the most beautiful and popular way.

May unemployment end and be there jobs for all,

free schooling, medicines and hospitals,

may we never lack bread and happiness,

may the emigrants return soon,

and may there be culture and prosperity.

Maroto,

till that land: it's not a private forest.

Falote,

you've been sucking on the public teat for long enough.

Ramón,

we need to put an end to so many truants.

We´re gonna hit them with

the chug-a-chug, a pike and shovel, hoopla!

and off to work, paraban paraban paraban pan pa.

This is the street band

of the menial workers

that will explain to the public

as best as they can

how the machinery grinds onwards

in the most beautiful and popular way.

May unemployment end and be there jobs for all,

free schooling, medicines and hospitals,

may we never lack bread and happiness,

may the emigrants return soon,

and may there be culture and prosperity.

1. Huge real estate and tourism conglomerate in which several southern Spanish political figures had shares and whose corruption-riddled managing played a quite pivotal part in the "pelotazo", the real estate crisis of the late 70s in Spain 2. Town on the spanish Mediterranean coastline where two US nuclear bombs went missing from a carrier in 1966. This caused a lot of popular upheaval against the free rein the government gave to US troops and vessels, as well as a famed bath of then Minister Manuel Fraga on the beach to prove the waters were safe 3. The "destape" was a TV and film movement whose heyday was shortly after Franco´s death, featuring lots of gratuitous or semi-gratuitous nudity, as a reaction against the notable puritanism- especially in sexual matters- of the regime 4. "Endiquelar" is "to watch" or to see in caló, the linguistic variant of the gypsies of southern Spain

• Artist:Carlos Cano