La Piragua [English translation]

My grandparents told me

that a long time ago

A canoe navigated

in the Cesar1

That would depart from

the old port at El Banco

To the beaches of love

in Chimichagua.

Dodging the gale,

it would tremble,

And impassively challenge the storm

And an army of stars would follow it,

Studding it with light and with legend.

It was the canoe

of Guillermo Cubillos,

It was the canoe,

It was the canoe. (x2)

Twelve rowers with skin

the color of Majagua2

And with them

the fearsome Pedro Albundia.

At night

they would extract from their oars

A melodic roar

of a beautiful cumbia.

Twelve shadows, now old,

no longer row;

The wood no longer creaks

in the water.

All that is left

are memories in the sand

Where the

canoe now lies dozing.

It was the canoe

of Guillermo Cubillos,

It was the canoe,

It was the canoe. (x2)

It was the canoe, it was the canoe(2Xs)

It was the canoe

of Guillermo Cubillos,

It was the canoe,

It was the canoe. (x2)

The canoe, the canoe, the canoe...

1. Cesar river in Colombia2. A tropical tree used to make canoes

• Artist:Carlos Vives
• Album:El Amor De Mi Tierra