"Flaca de las Coloradas" by Dick El Demasiado, English translation of lyrics
"The Skinny One of the Red Lands"
Style: Experimental cumbia
Country: Netherlands (born); Guatemala, Argentina, South Africa, France (adult life)
Listen:
This is a serpent charming cumbia song about a snake that tried to ride a bus, bites the driver to get out of paying the bus fare, and finds out that it has run out of venom. Listen to it at YouTube here.
[Expand embedded video]
Translation:
De culebra aquí se trata,
Una flaca de las coloradas.
Esto no es un santo texto,
Ni el cuento de la manzana.
This is about a serpent,
A skinny one from the red lands.
This is not a holy text,
Nor the story of the apple. [*reference to Genesis]
La culebra entró por la puerta,
Por la rota del autobús.
Ni siquiera compro boleto,
Ni a nadie le saludo.
The serpent entered through the door,
By the hole in the bus.
It didn’t even buy a ticket,
Nor greet anyone (on the way).
Esta historia es de la culebra,
Una flaca de las coloradas,
Pues aquí culebra flaca, la que come un picaflor,
Pues aqui culebra colorada, la que va matando lo mejor.
This story is about the serpent,
A skinny one from the red lands,
Well, here a skinny serpent, the kind that eats hummingbirds,
Well, here a red serpent, the kind that kills the best things.
Y el hombre que lo manejaba, él de profesión chofer,
A culebra le preguntaba si boleto traía,
Si boleto podía ver.
And the man who drove it (the bus), the one with the profession of driver,
He asked the serpent if it had a ticket,
If he could see a ticket.
[Musical interlude]
El reptil de dientes cornudos, te lo haces en el pantalón,
Ni siquiera se molestaba;
Lo mordió en la punta de su copol.
The reptile of horn-like teeth, you’ll sh*t your pants,
It didn’t even bother itself;
It bit him in the tip of his copol.
Tienes suerte, mi funcionario,
El veneno se acabo.
La blanquita me hace falta.
Tengo gotas sin ardor.
You are lucky, my civil servant,
The venom has run out.
I am in need of some white powder. [*blanquita = slang for Cocaine]
I have drops without the sting.
Y es así que me voy al mercado
Donde todo se puede comprar,
Las pastillas, balas y cuchillos,
Hasta pala pa’ enterrar.
And it’s for this that I am going to market,
Where one can buy everything,
Pills, bullets and knives,
Even the shovel for laying to rest.
Si algún día, culebra, se sube
Y usted está en el control,
Cuidado con las patadas;
Soy pelota y usted el gol.
If one day, serpent, you get on
And you can control yourself,
Beware of the kicks;
I am a (soccer) ball and you are the goal.
Translation Notes:
Dick El Demasiado = Dick (Richard) the Too Much
Information about this man is difficult to find. The most informative page I found was a Dutch Wikipedia page on who I think is the main singer, Dick Verdult. I used Google Translate to figure out who he is, where he comes from, and what he does.
I also found an interview from WhatsUpBuenosAires calling Dick Verdult the "godfather of the experimental cumbia scene in Argentina."
---
De culebra aquí se trata...
This is about a serpent...
Of a serpent here the topic concerns... [*lit.]
---
El reptil de dientes cornudos, te lo haces en el pantalón
The reptile of horn-like teeth, you’ll sh*t your pants [*meaning translated]
The reptile of horn-like teeth, you’ll make it (to yourself) in your pants [*literal translation]
The bolded phrase is idiomatic, with everyone understanding that the vague "it" refers to poo.
---
Lo mordió en la punta de su copol.
It bit him in the tip of his copol.
I can’t find a relevant meaning of copol (or copo) anywhere. I tried slang dictionaries, monolingual Spanish dictionaries (e.g. RAE.es), and bilingual dictionaries. I tried looking for other transcriptions and everyone says "copol" for this line. I hear what could either be copol or copo.
I have guesses, some of them gruesome, but nothing to back them up.
Style: Experimental cumbia
Country: Netherlands (born); Guatemala, Argentina, South Africa, France (adult life)
Listen:
This is a serpent charming cumbia song about a snake that tried to ride a bus, bites the driver to get out of paying the bus fare, and finds out that it has run out of venom. Listen to it at YouTube here.
[Expand embedded video]
Translation:
De culebra aquí se trata,
Una flaca de las coloradas.
Esto no es un santo texto,
Ni el cuento de la manzana.
This is about a serpent,
A skinny one from the red lands.
This is not a holy text,
Nor the story of the apple. [*reference to Genesis]
La culebra entró por la puerta,
Por la rota del autobús.
Ni siquiera compro boleto,
Ni a nadie le saludo.
The serpent entered through the door,
By the hole in the bus.
It didn’t even buy a ticket,
Nor greet anyone (on the way).
Esta historia es de la culebra,
Una flaca de las coloradas,
Pues aquí culebra flaca, la que come un picaflor,
Pues aqui culebra colorada, la que va matando lo mejor.
This story is about the serpent,
A skinny one from the red lands,
Well, here a skinny serpent, the kind that eats hummingbirds,
Well, here a red serpent, the kind that kills the best things.
Y el hombre que lo manejaba, él de profesión chofer,
A culebra le preguntaba si boleto traía,
Si boleto podía ver.
And the man who drove it (the bus), the one with the profession of driver,
He asked the serpent if it had a ticket,
If he could see a ticket.
[Musical interlude]
El reptil de dientes cornudos, te lo haces en el pantalón,
Ni siquiera se molestaba;
Lo mordió en la punta de su copol.
The reptile of horn-like teeth, you’ll sh*t your pants,
It didn’t even bother itself;
It bit him in the tip of his copol.
Tienes suerte, mi funcionario,
El veneno se acabo.
La blanquita me hace falta.
Tengo gotas sin ardor.
You are lucky, my civil servant,
The venom has run out.
I am in need of some white powder. [*blanquita = slang for Cocaine]
I have drops without the sting.
Y es así que me voy al mercado
Donde todo se puede comprar,
Las pastillas, balas y cuchillos,
Hasta pala pa’ enterrar.
And it’s for this that I am going to market,
Where one can buy everything,
Pills, bullets and knives,
Even the shovel for laying to rest.
Si algún día, culebra, se sube
Y usted está en el control,
Cuidado con las patadas;
Soy pelota y usted el gol.
If one day, serpent, you get on
And you can control yourself,
Beware of the kicks;
I am a (soccer) ball and you are the goal.
Translation Notes:
Dick El Demasiado = Dick (Richard) the Too Much
Information about this man is difficult to find. The most informative page I found was a Dutch Wikipedia page on who I think is the main singer, Dick Verdult. I used Google Translate to figure out who he is, where he comes from, and what he does.
I also found an interview from WhatsUpBuenosAires calling Dick Verdult the "godfather of the experimental cumbia scene in Argentina."
---
De culebra aquí se trata...
This is about a serpent...
Of a serpent here the topic concerns... [*lit.]
---
El reptil de dientes cornudos, te lo haces en el pantalón
The reptile of horn-like teeth, you’ll sh*t your pants [*meaning translated]
The reptile of horn-like teeth, you’ll make it (to yourself) in your pants [*literal translation]
The bolded phrase is idiomatic, with everyone understanding that the vague "it" refers to poo.
---
Lo mordió en la punta de su copol.
It bit him in the tip of his copol.
I can’t find a relevant meaning of copol (or copo) anywhere. I tried slang dictionaries, monolingual Spanish dictionaries (e.g. RAE.es), and bilingual dictionaries. I tried looking for other transcriptions and everyone says "copol" for this line. I hear what could either be copol or copo.
I have guesses, some of them gruesome, but nothing to back them up.