Ruben Blades "El Cazangero"

[ken cohen]

Can anyone let me have a translation of the lyrics to this great song? Thanks.

Ken Cohen

[Agustin Gurza]

Post by ken cohen
Can anyone let me have a translation of the lyrics to this great song? Thanks.

Ken:

You really did hit on one of the great, but underappreciated songs of
the Fania era, from an album by Willie Colon and Hector Lavoe with
Yomo Toro titled "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly." Blades sings only
this one cut, a precursor to his subsequent collaborations with Colon.

When I was working for Billboard Magazine in the late 70s, I had the
pleasure of meeting Blades and talking to him about the song. He wrote
it based on his experiences as a law student in Panama during which he
visited an infamous prison, which I believe was on an island. The
lyrics contain a lot of prison slang, that's why it's hard to
understand.

I'll try to work up a translation for you, as best I can remember his
explanation so long ago.

How did you find the song, by the way?

Agustin

Post by ken cohen
Ken Cohen

[Dennis M. Reed "Califa"]

please post for everyone

Post by Agustin Gurza

Post by ken cohen
Can anyone let me have a translation of the lyrics to this great song? Thanks.

You really did hit on one of the great, but underappreciated songs of
the Fania era, from an album by Willie Colon and Hector Lavoe with
Yomo Toro titled "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly." Blades sings only
this one cut, a precursor to his subsequent collaborations with Colon.
When I was working for Billboard Magazine in the late 70s, I had the
it based on his experiences as a law student in Panama during which he
visited an infamous prison, which I believe was on an island. The
lyrics contain a lot of prison slang, that's why it's hard to
understand.
I'll try to work up a translation for you, as best I can remember his
explanation so long ago.
How did you find the song, by the way?
Agustin

Post by ken cohen
Ken Cohen

[CNDA]

Let's see:

El Cazanguero (Rubén Blades)

(Intro)

Lead: "Na na ná...... uuuuuuu...."(bis)

Lead: "Es el lamento del cazanguero
en Coiba de madrugá." (bis)

Lead: "Na na na....uuuuuuuu "(bis)

Lead: "Es el lamento del cazanguero
en Coiba de madrugá." (bis)

Lead: "Apúrate Chino Juan,
que a la fila llaman ya,
dice el guardia que esta [unintelligible]:
'no te quedes tan atrás'.
Haga sol o llueva fuerte,
a la siembra hay que cuidar,
que no venga la cazanga
a tu esfuerzo a malograr,
a tu esfuerzo a malograr,
a tu esfuerzo a malograr."

Lead: "Na na na....uuuuuuuu "(bis)

Lead: "Es el lamento del cazanguero
en Coiba de madrugá." (bis)

(puente)

(montuno)

Lead: "Ay apura Chino Juan
que a la fila llaman ya."

Coro: "Ajá, ajá" (repeated through montuno)

Lead: "Sale la cazanga en Coiba
temprano de madrugá."

Lead: "Cuantos hombres te han
llorado campamento central."

Lead: "¿Cuántas latas de cascajo
hay de aquí hasta Cativá?"

Lead: "Ay, llave cabo, llave cabo,
llave cabo, cabo llave."

Lead: "Llegó un gringo pa' la doce,
lo trajeron por [unintelligible]. "

Lead: "La tristeza de todo preso
es no tener la libertad."

(mambo)

Lead: ¡A Nivia!

¡Ese campamento central!


(montuno)

Lead: "La familia está formada
la campana sono ya."

Lead: "Apura, apura, apura, apura, (didn't count the "apuras")
apura, apura Chino Juan."

Lead: "Ay, llave cabo, cabo llave"

Lead: "La tristeza de todo preso
es no tener la libertad."

Lead: "Tengo una cortinita
bien bonita y la vendo barata."

Lead: "La cazanga esta formada
en Coiba de madrugá."

Lead: "Un consejo: allá en el monte
apréndete a resbalar."

(coda)

Lead: "Es el lamento del cazanguero
en Coiba de madrugá." (bis)

============================================================

Those are the lyrics as I heard them. I'll help you with some words that
might give you trouble, regionalisms and things of that sort. You do the
rest.

Madrugá: contraction for "madrugada" (wee hours of the morning)

Cazanga/cazanguero: frankly don't know what it is.

¡Apura!: contraction for : "¡apúrate! (Hurry up!)

Coiba: one, if not, the largest island off the coast of Panamá. Known
mostly for his penal colony complex.

Malograr: to spoil ( in this case spoil the immates farming efforts).

Gringo: an american.

Cascajo: gravel used for road construction.

Cativá: town in the panamanian country side.

"Cabo, llave": phrase used by panamanian prison immates to request
permission to leave a cell.

"Apréndete a resbalar" : literally, learn how to slide. I suspect is
something akin to "don't call attention to yourself". Avoid trouble. In
such prison setting, a sound advice.

If you need more help, let me know.

César

Post by ken cohen
Can anyone let me have a translation of the lyrics to this great song? Thanks.
Ken Cohen

[ken cohen]

Thanks for all the helpful stuff, guys. I need a bit of time to
assimilate it, and come back to you with some feedback. But one thing
I can say now is I recently discovered that the literal meaning of
Cazanga is Pionus Menstruus, the blue-headed parrot, which is found in
Panama, and elsewhere. So you might think Cazanguero means something
like "parrot-catcher"? But again, this presumably is prison slang.
Any ideas about that one?

I first heard about the song about 13 years in a brilliant book by
John Storm Roberts called "The Latin Tinge". (The same book led me to
Ruben Blades's Maestra Vida, another masterpiece.)

Ken Cohen

[Mark Zanger]

Well, two theories:

1. If a cazanga is a parrot, then a cazanguero could be a gossip or a
storyteller.

2. Since a papagallo is a parrot generally, and also slang for a homosexual
in some places, maybe a cazanguero is, in this particular underworld, a
homosexual or a pimp.

I will ask a Puerto Rican DJ I know who often talks to Ruben.
--
-Mark H. Zanger
author, The American History Cookbook, The American Ethnic Cookbook for
Students
www.ethnicook.com
www.historycook.com

Post by ken cohen
Thanks for all the helpful stuff, guys. I need a bit of time to
assimilate it, and come back to you with some feedback. But one thing
I can say now is I recently discovered that the literal meaning of
Cazanga is Pionus Menstruus, the blue-headed parrot, which is found in
Panama, and elsewhere. So you might think Cazanguero means something
like "parrot-catcher"? But again, this presumably is prison slang.
Any ideas about that one?
I first heard about the song about 13 years in a brilliant book by
John Storm Roberts called "The Latin Tinge". (The same book led me to
Ruben Blades's Maestra Vida, another masterpiece.)
Ken Cohen

[ken cohen]

Wow, I never thought I'd get so close to sorting this out! Still one
or two questions:

1. "tengo una cortinita bien bonita y la vendo barata" -
"cortinita"? - a little curtain - maybe a piece of skirt - is this
support for the theory that
cazanga can be a pimp?

2. "llego un gringo pa' la doce,
lo trajerson por ............" - an American came to do 12 [years?],
they put him in for [.....what?.......]

3. dice el guardia que esta [......?......] - what are the missing
words?

To me it could sound something like "..vez no.." If so, the meaning
would be something like, the guard says "this time don't lag so far
behind."

4. why the worry about whether the cazanga comes at the time of
sowing?
"a la siembra hay que quidar que no venga la cazanga". Do the
parrots eat the seed? Or is the appearance of the cazanga a sign of
good/bad luck?

Thanks again.


Ken Cohen

[Agustin Gurza]

Post by ken cohen
Wow, I never thought I'd get so close to sorting this out! Still one

Yeah, everybody's put in a little piece of the puzzle and it's almost
there. Let me see what I can fill in from Ruben's explanation, as best
I remember it.

On the island of Coiba, the prisoners were made to work. Some sowed
seeds in the nearby fields, so they had to line up before heading out.
The problem was that the birds, "la cazanga," would swoop in to eat
the seeds, and spoil their work. So the Cazangero had to be aorund to
scare the birds away.

Everything else revolves around this central theme of forced labor and
the futility of it. So here it is line by line, working off Cesar's
lyrics, with some modifications

Post by ken cohen
El Cazanguero (Rubén Blades)
Lead: "Na na ná...... uuuuuuu...."(bis)
Chorus: "Es el lamento del cazanguero

en Coiba de madrugá." (bis)

That's the lament of the "cazangero" in Coiba at dawn

Post by ken cohen
Lead: "Apúrate Chino Juan,
que a la fila llaman ya,
dice el guardia que esta vez no,
'no te quedes tan atrás'.

Hurry, Chino Juan, they're already calling to get in line.
The guard says, this time, don't fall so far behind.

Post by ken cohen
Haga sol o llueva fuerte,
a la siembra hay que cuidar,
que no venga la cazanga
nuestro esfuerzo a malograr,
nuestro esfuerzo a malograr,
nuestro esfuerzo a malograr."

Rain or shine, the seeds must be protected,
So the "cazanga" (flock of birds) won't come
To ruin our work.

Post by ken cohen
Repeat Chorus
(montuno)
Lead: "Ay apura Chino Juan
que a la fila llaman ya."
Coro: "Ajá, ajá" (repeated through montuno)
Lead: "Sale la cazanga en Coiba
temprano de madrugá."

The birds come out in Coiba, early at dawn

Post by ken cohen
Lead: "Cuantos hombres te han
llorado campamento central."

How many men have cried for you, central camp? (I believe this is a
reference to the location where men are first brought into the prison.
They cry until they get used to it, or hardened by it. Also, not sure
if it's "te han llorado" or "se ven llorando")

Post by ken cohen
Lead: "¿Cuántas latas de cascajo
hay de aquí hasta Cativá?"

How many cans of gravel are there from here to Cativa? (This refers to
another
tedious task where the men had to carry gravel from one place to the
other. Counting them is a way of marking the time.)

Post by ken cohen
Lead: "Ay, llave cabo, llave cabo,
llave cabo, cabo llave."

Guard, bring the key.

Post by ken cohen
Lead: "Llegó un gringo pa' la doce,
lo trajeron por fumar. "

A gringo arrived at No. 12; They brought him for smoking. (A gringo
was picked up for smoking marijuana, and taken to cell, or cell block
12.)

Post by ken cohen
Lead: "La tristeza de todo preso
es no tener la libertad."

The sadness of all prisoners is not having freedom.

Post by ken cohen
(mambo)
Lead: ¡A Nivia!
¡Ese campamento central!
(montuno)
Lead: "La familia está formada
la campana sono ya."

The family has gathered, the bell has sounded. (Not sure about this,
but I believe it refers to visiting days when the prisoners' families
could come.)

Post by ken cohen
Lead: "Apura, apura, apura, apura, (didn't count the "apuras")
apura, apura Chino Juan."
Lead: "Ay, llave cabo, cabo llave"
Lead: "La tristeza de todo preso
es no tener la libertad."
Lead: "Tengo una cortinita
bien bonita y la vendo barata."

I have a little curtain and I'm selling it cheap. (The curtain refers
to some craft the prisoners are allowed to make. I don't recall,
though, where they have the opportunity to sell them.)

Post by ken cohen
Lead: "La cazanga esta formada
en Coiba de madrugá."
Lead: "Un consejo allá en el monte"
apréndete a resbalar."

A word of advice for those on the hillside: learn to drag your feet.
(This also could be "learn to let it slide." It's a tip for newcomers
to not work too fast, but learn how to go slow without getting
punished. It's prison survival for the tropics.)

============================================================

[ken cohen]

Post by Agustin Gurza
Yeah, everybody's put in a little piece of the puzzle and it's almost
there. Let me see what I can fill in from Ruben's explanation, as best
I remember it.

Great, Agustin, that's just amazing!

Only one piece of the puzzle missing:-

"A Nivea!"


Ken Cohen

[CNDA]

Probably a female aquaintance.

I think the name is "Nivia". I know another woman named Nivia, also a
panamanian.

César

Post by ken cohen

Post by Agustin Gurza
Yeah, everybody's put in a little piece of the puzzle and it's almost
there. Let me see what I can fill in from Ruben's explanation, as best
I remember it.

Great, Agustin, that's just amazing!
Only one piece of the puzzle missing:-
"A Nivea!"
Ken Cohen

[ken cohen]

One more thing about "Chino Juan" - apparently there's quite a
significant Chinese community in Panama, which goes back to the
building of the Panama Canal.



Ken Cohen

[CNDA]

Post by Agustin Gurza
the seeds, and spoil their work. So the Cazangero had to be aorund to
scare the birds away.

So "Cazanguero" means a human scarecrow.

Post by Agustin Gurza

Post by CNDA
Lead: "Apúrate Chino Juan,
que a la fila llaman ya,
dice el guardia que esta vez no,
'no te quedes tan atrás'.

Agustín, I had such a hard time with "esta vez no", the same with "lo
trajeron por FUMÁ" (smoking pot) , which I knew, but, just didn't hear
it in my copy of the recording.

Post by Agustin Gurza
How many men have cried for you, central camp?

The penal colony at the Island of Coiba is where prisoners sentenced to
long terms are sent. The conditions there are meant to break the back of
the meanest of criminals. The island is said to be sorrounded by
shark-infested waters making an attempt to escape almost suicide without
outside help.

Post by Agustin Gurza
How many cans of gravel are there from here to Cativa? (This refers to
another tedious task where the men had to carry gravel from one place

to the

Post by Agustin Gurza
other. Counting them is a way of marking the time.)

I don't know what's the minimum jail sentence that would land a
convicted criminal in Coiba, I suspect quite a few "latas de cascajo".

Post by Agustin Gurza

Post by CNDA
Lead: "Ay, llave cabo, llave cabo,
llave cabo, cabo llave."

Guard, bring the key.

I don't know if a corporal or private on guard duty is goin to come over
to unlock a jail cell door in Coiba, perhaps. In the old "Cárcel Modelo"
( Modelo Jail), right next to the old comandancia (Police headquarters),
the jail cells didn't have locks, however, no one would dare to open any
of them without getting an affirmative acknowledgement from the guards
to his call of: "cabo llave".

Post by Agustin Gurza
A gringo arrived at No. 12; They brought him for smoking. (A gringo
was picked up for smoking marijuana, and taken to cell, or cell block
12.)
Lead: "Llegó un gringo pa' la doce,

Post by CNDA
lo trajeron por fumar. "

This "soneo" was probably written in jest , really. You can be sure that
there was no way the panamanian system of justice would send anyone, not
less an american, to Coiba for simply smoking joints. At best, an
overnight stay in the aforementioned "La Modelo", with an included
"ass-kicking" for attempting to open the cell door without first
uttering the required: "cabo llave".

I seem to recall hearing that this tune was written for Héctor LaVoe to
do the lead vocals, Héctor didn't show on the scheduled date so Willie
had Rubén laid the track.

César.

[Marcane]

"Mark Zanger">>>Since a papagallo is a parrot generally, <<<<<<<

Papagallo is Antillian for peacock, or for a older rooster. In
Oriente, Cuba, papagallo is also a kite.

Marcané