Ricardo Arjona
Caudillo lyrics with English translation
- Language
- Spanish
- Level
- Intermediate
- Released
- 2011
- Genre
- Rock, Pop
- Length
- 5:06
Empezó haciendo panfletos con consignas populares
He started making pamphlets with popular slogans
Un letrero patria o muerte en la pared y el Ché Guevara
A sign 'fatherland or death' on the wall and Che Guevara
Defendía el capital de Carlos Marx con argumentos colosales
He defended the capital of Karl Marx with colossal arguments
Así lo conocí años atrás, a los 18
That's how I met him years ago, at 18
Enemigo de la radio y la canción con estribillos
An enemy of the radio and the song with choruses
El entorno le ayudaba pa' engondar tantos rencores
The environment helped him to fuel so many grudges
No perdía la ocasión para hacer valer sus argumentos de caudillo
He never missed the chance to assert his leader's arguments
Y el futuro se asomaba con sorpresas
And the future peeked in with surprises
Tras la esquina
Around the corner
Caudillo
Leader
Tatúate en la piel lo que prometas
Tattoo on your skin what you promise
Que el tiempo puede hacerte un mercenario
For time can turn you into a mercenary
Y ser tan solo otro falso profeta
And be just another false prophet
Caudillo
Leader
De la revolución a la avaricia
From revolution to greed
Hay solo un par de pasos en la brecha
There are only a couple of steps in the gap
Cuidado y te resbalas por lo fácil
Careful, you might slip down the easy path
Se graduó de abogado en un abril y en el proceso
Graduated as a lawyer in an April, and in the process
Los ideales empezaron a sufrir reumas y achaques
The ideals began to suffer rheumatism and ailments
Reclutado en un partido liberal fue diputado en el congreso
Recruited in a liberal party, he was a congressman
Su oratoria se hizo experta en la mentira y el debate
His rhetoric became skilled in lies and debate
Yo lo vi haciendo grafitis patria o muerte donde quiera
I saw him making graffiti 'homeland or death' everywhere
Yo era el flaco con guitarra no sé bien si se recuerde
I was the skinny one with the guitar, not sure if he remembers
Se ve raro con corbata, Ferragamo y Louis Vuitton en la cartera
He looks strange in a tie, Ferragamo and Louis Vuitton in his wallet
Qué fácil se acomodan los ideales a caprichos
How easily ideals adjust to whims
Caudillo
Leader
Hoy silbas las canciones de la radio
Today you whistle the songs from the radio
El Ché ya no es la foto en tu castillo
The Che is no longer the picture in your castle
Hoy eres de ti mismo el mercenario
Today you are your own mercenary
Caudillo
Leader
Se te olvidó tatuarte las promesas
You forgot to ink the promises on your skin
¿A dónde fue el muchacho solidario
Where did the caring young man go?
Que dividía el pan que hubo en su mesa?
Who used to share the bread at his table?
Hay manifestacion frente al palacio de gobierno
There's a protest in front of the government palace
El tipo en el balcon presidencial
The guy on the presidential balcony
Se le parece a aquel muchacho
Looks like that young man
Lyrics powered by www.musixmatch.com
Key vocabulary
- fue
- wasB1
- parece
- seemsB1
- tantos
- so manyB1
- hay
- there isA1
- mesa
- tableA1
- muchacho
- boyA1
- pan
- breadA1
- qué
- whatA1
- solo
- onlyA1
- sus
- his/herA1
About this song
Ricardo Arjona is a Guatemalan singer-songwriter and actor in the Latin pop and Latin ballad genres. He is known for the chart-topping hits “Mujeres” and “El Problema,” and for a long-running career with numerous Billboard Latin chart entries and honors, including induction into the Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame.