Susana Baca
Negrito bonito lyrics with English translation
- Language
- Spanish
- Level
- Intermediate
- Released
- 1991
- Length
- 5:21
El negrito bonito
The pretty little black boy
Se va pa' San Juan
Is heading to San Juan
Buscando trabajo
Looking for work
Buscando más pan
Looking for more bread
No sabe en serio
He really doesn't know
Qué va a hacer
What he's going to do
Pero esto sí sabe
But this he does know
No va a volver
He won't be going back
A picar la caña
To chop the cane
En la llamarada
In the blaze
Luchando con nada
Fighting with nothing
Sin saber por qué
Without knowing why
A picar la caña
To pick the cane
En la llamarada
In the blaze
Luchando con nada
Fighting with nothing
Sin saber por qué
Without knowing why
Acaba en relincho
Ends in a whinny
Buscando a Jacinto
Searching for Jacinto
Encuentra al compay
Finds the buddy
Tira'o en la calle
Lying in the street
Hablando de cosas
Talking about things
Que no se pue'en ver
That can't be seen
Diciendo, entre babas:
Saying, through drool:
"No voy a volver"
"I'm not coming back"
A picar la caña
To cane the sugar
En la llamarada
In the blaze
Luchando con nada
Fighting with nothing
Sin saber por qué
Not knowing why
A picar la caña
To cane the sugar
En la llamarada
In the blaze
Luchando con nada
Fighting with nothing
Sin saber por qué
Without knowing why
El negrito bonito
The pretty little black boy
No encuentra trabajo
Can't find a job
Está atolondrado
He's feeling overwhelmed
Se siente muy bajo
He's feeling really low
Un tipo muy listo
A really clever guy
Le dice al bonito
Tells the pretty one
Que allá, en Nueva York
That out there, in New York
Todo es mejor
Everything is better
No se pica caña
No one cuts cane
No hay llamarada
There’s no blaze
No se lucha con nada
There's no struggle at all
Sin saber por qué
Without knowing why
El negrito bonito
The pretty little black guy
No encuentra abrigo
Can’t find shelter
Se siente acosado
Feels like he’s hunted
Se muere de frío
Is dying of the cold
Allá en Nueva York
Up there in New York
Donde todo es mejor
Where everything is better
Se sienta gimiendo
She's seated, moaning
Pero estoy viviendo, aunque
But I'm living, even though
No se pica caña
There's no sugarcane to cut
No hay llamarada
There are no flames
No se lucha por nada
There's no fight for anything
Sin saber por qué
Without knowing why
No se pica caña
There's no sugarcane to cut
No hay llamarada
There are no flames
No se lucha por nada
There's no fight for anything
Sin saber por qué
Without knowing why
Acaba en relincho
Ends in a neigh
El negrito bonito
The pretty little black one
Buscando al compay
Looking for his buddy
Tira'o en la calle
Lying in the street
Hablando de cosas
Talking about things
Que no se puede ver
That can't be seen
Diciendo, entre babas:
Saying, through drool:
"No voy a volver"
"I won't come back"
A picar la caña
To harvest the sugarcane
En la llamarada
In the blaze
Luchando con nada
Fighting with nothing
Sin saber por qué
Not knowing why
A picar la caña
To break the cane
En la llamarada
In the blaze
Luchando con nada
Fighting with nothing
Sin saber por qué
Not knowing why
A picar la caña
To break the cane
En la llamarada
In the blaze
Luchando con nada
Fighting with nothing
Sin saber por qué
Not knowing why
A picar la caña
To pick the cane
En la llamarada
In the blaze
Luchando con nada
Struggling with nothing
Sin saber por qué
Not knowing why
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Key vocabulary
- donde
- whereB1
- sienta
- sitB2
- allá
- thereA1
- siente
- He/she/you (formal) feels; he/she/you (formal) senses
- listo
- readyB1
- pica
- stingB2
- lucha
- fightB2
- acosado
- harassed
- muere
- diesC1
- gimiendo
- moaning
About this song
Susana Baca is Peruvian vocalist associated with Afro-Peruvian musical traditions. She is known for her interpretation of Afro-Peruvian repertoire, including the widely heard recording of “Maria Lando” featured on David Byrne’s The Soul of Black Peru.