Silvio Rodríguez
El Mayor lyrics with English translation
- Language
- Spanish
- Level
- Intermediate
- Released
- 1975
- Length
- 3:34
El hombre se hizo siempre
Man has always been made
De todo material
Of all kinds of material
De vías señoriales
Of noble avenues
O barrio marginal
Or marginalized streets
Toda época fué pieza
Every era was a piece
De un rompecabezas
Of a puzzle
Para subir la cuesta
To climb the slope
Del gran reino animal
Of the great animal kingdom
Con una mano negra
With one black hand
Y otra blanca mortal
And another mortal white
Mortales ingredientes
Mortal ingredients
Armaron al Mayor
They set up the Major
Luz de terratenientes
Light of landowners
Y de revolución
And of revolution
Destreza de la esgrima
Skill of fencing
Sucesos como un preso
Events like a prisoner
Amalia abandonada
Abandoned Amalia
Por la bala, la vergüenza, el amor
For the bullet, the shame, the love
O un fusilamiento
Or a firing squad
Un viejo cuento
An old tale
Modelaron su adiós
They shaped their goodbye
Va cabalgando
Riding along
El Mayor con su herida
El Mayor with his wound
Y mientras más mortal el tajo
And the more deadly the cut
Es más de vida
The more it's alive
Va cabalgando
Riding along
Sobre una palma escrita
On a written palm
Y a la distancia de cien años
And from a distance of a hundred years
Resucita
It comes back to life
Trota sobre la espuma
Trotting on the foam
Seguido por un mar
Followed by a sea
De negros en machete
Of blacks with machetes
Y sin encadenar
And unchained
Ordena a su corneta
Commands his horn
El toque de a degüello
The call to slaughter
Y a un siglo de distancia
And a century away
Entona nuestra canción
Sings our song
Y con recia garganta
And with a strong throat
Canta, espanta
Sings, scares away
Lejos la maldición
Far from the curse
Va cabalgando
Riding forth,
El Mayor con su herida
The Major with his wound.
Y mientras más mortal el tajo
And the more deadly the cut,
Es más de vida
The more alive it becomes.
Va cabalgando
Riding forth,
Sobre una palma escrita
On a written palm.
Y a la distancia de cien años
And at the distance of a hundred years,
Resucita
It resurrects.
Lyrics powered by www.musixmatch.com
Key vocabulary
- pieza
- pieceB2
- rompecabezas
- puzzleB2
- tajo
- cutC1
- amor
- loveB1
- como
- as; like; howB1
- negra
- blackB2
- revolución
- revolutionB2
- encadenar
- chainB1
- época
- eraB1
- esgrima
- fencingB1
About this song
Silvio Rodríguez is a Cuban singer-songwriter associated with nueva trova and nueva canción. He is known for politically charged, lyric-driven protest songs set against tender folk balladry, and for helping define the style that emerged in the late 1960s and early 1970s.