Pedro Navaja [English translation]

Around the corner of the old neighborhood I saw him pass

with that attitude that good-looking guys have when they walk,

Both his hands always in the pockets of his jacket

So they don't know which one has the dagger.

He wears a wide-brimmed hat tilted to the side

and running shoes so if there's a problem he can take off

Dark glasses so nobody knows what he's looking at

and a gold tooth that gleams when he laughs

At about three blocks from that corner a woman

walks the whole length of the street for the fifth time,

She goes into a hallway and takes a drink to forget

that it's a slow day and there are no clients to work

A car passes by very slowly through the avenue

It is unmarked but everybody knows it's the police, umm.

Pedro Navaja, his hands always inside his jacket,

looks and smiles and the gold tooth gleams again.

As he walks he glances from corner to corner,

not a soul is seen, the entire avenue is deserted,

when suddenly that woman comes out of the hallway,

and Pedro Navaja tightens a fist inside the jacket

He looks to one side, looks to the other and doesn't see anyone

and quickly but quietly crosses the street,

In the meantime, on the other side of the sidewalk is that woman,

muttering because she didn't make money so she can eat

As she's walking, she pulls a revolver out of her old coat,

she was putting it in her purse to get it out of the way,

A Smith and Wesson 38 special

that she carried with her to keep her free from all evil

And Pedro Navaja, dagger in hand went towards her,

his gold tooth lighting up the whole avenue, made it easy!

While laughing , he plunges the knife without compassion

then suddenly, the sound of a shot like a cannon

And Pedro Navaja fell on the sidewalk while looking at that woman,

who with revolver in hand and mortally wounded told him:

"And I thought 'Today is not my day, I'm out of luck',

But Pedro Navaja, you're worse off, you're not in anything"

And believe me, people, even though there was noise nobody came out,

no one was curious, there were no questions, nobody cried,

Only a drunk tripped over the two bodies,

picked up the revolver, the dagger, money and he left,

And staggering he went, singing off-key

The chorus I've brought you and the message in my song:

"Life gives you surprises, surprises life gives you, oh God!"

(Life gives you surprises, surprises life gives you, oh God!)

Pedro Navaja, thug on the corner, who kills by the sword dies by the sword.

(Life gives you surprises, surprises life gives you, oh God!)

Evil fisherman, bad hook you threw,

instead of a sardine, you caught a shark.

"I like to live in Americaaaa..."

Life gives you surprises, surprises life gives you, oh God!

There are eight million stories in the city of New York.

Life gives you surprises, surprises life gives you, oh God.

As my grandmother would say, he who laughs last laughs best...

"I like to live in Americaaa..."

Life gives you surprises, surprises life gives you, oh God!

When fate bids it, not even the bravest can change it.

If you were born a hammer, the nails will fall from the sky.

Life gives you surprises, surprises life gives you, oh God!

In a neighborhood of handsome men, be careful on the

sidewalk, careful friend1

He who doesn't run, flies.

Life gives you surprises, surprises life gives you, oh God!...

Like in a Kafka novel,2 the drunk doubled down the alley.

Life gives you...

"In the city of New York two persons were found dead this morning.

The dead bodies were Pedro Barrios and Josefina Wilson,

address unkown..."

1. camara' is an abbreviation for camarado: friend, buddy, pal2. Frank Kafka was a German-language novelist who wrote short stories and novels

• Artist:Rubén Blades
• Album:Siembra