"El Corrido de Don Lulai" by Del Castillo, English translation of lyrics
"The Narrative of Don Lulai"
Album: Brotherhood, 2006
Style: Corrido lyrics style with a rock and flamenco music style
Country: USA (Texas)
Listen:
I love songs with stories and characters. "El Corrido de Don Lulai" is such a song, about a horseback rider on a journey. Listen to it at YouTube here.
I like it when people introduce me to new groups. Keep those song requests coming.
[Expand embedded music video]
Translation:
Este es el corrido del caballero Don Lulai
Que salió una noche luna llena, ay caray,
Con su pistola y su gitana por un lado,
Estaba cierto que esta vez estaba enamorado.
This is the narrative of the cowboy Don Lulai
Who set out one full moon night, oh dear,
With his pistol and his gypsy by his side,
He was certain that this time he was in love.
Su traje negro y su pelo despeinado,
Caballo listo que iban a Jacao,
Con su pistola y su gitana por un lado,
Estaba cierto que esta vez estaba enamorado.
His suit black and his hair disheveled,
Horse ready because they were en route to Jacao,
With his pistol and his gypsy by his side,
He was certain that this time he was in love.
Luna llena en la sierra. (x2)
Luna llena...
Full moon on the sierra. (x2)
Full moon...
Llegaron con la luz de los días encadenados,
Caballo muerto con el hocico todo sangrado,
Con su pistola y su gitana por un lado,
Estaba cierto que esta vez estaba enamorado.
They arrived with the light from days linked with days,
Horse dead with its snout all bloody,
With his pistol and his gypsy by his side,
He was certain that this time he was in love.
Luna llena en la sierra. (x2)
Luna llena...
Full moon on the sierra. (x2)
Full moon...
[Musical interlude]
Montale caballero,
Soy caballero, nunca me muero.
Sangre de puro, puro vaquero,
Yo te lo juro.
Mount, gentleman,
I am a horseback rider, I never die.
(With) blood of pure, pure cowboy,
I swear to you.
Soy caballero, nunca me muero,
Sangre de puro, puro vaquero, puro vaquero.
I am a horseback rider, I never die,
(With) blood of a pure, pure cowboy, pure cowboy.
[Mexican grito]
- ¡Pa' [para] que sepan!
- Pa' que sepan ¿qué?
- ¡Que lo que es eterno nunca muere!
- So (that) they know!
- So (that) they know what?
- That what is eternal never dies!
[Mexican gritos again]
¡Mexico! ¡Zapata!
Mexico! Zapata!
[Rooster crowing, then shooting sound]
- ¿Quién quiere caldo?
- ¡Nosotros!
- Who wants soup?
- We do!
Translation Notes:
Caballo listo que iban a Jacao
Horse ready because they were en route to Jacao
I have no idea where Jacao is located or what this signifies. I tried searching for an actual place named Jacao and I tried a few variations (Jacado, Jacaro, etc.), but nothing came up. If you know what this means, please comment.
---
Llegaron con la luz de los días encadenados
They arrived with the light from days linked with days
cadena (f. noun) = chain
encadenar (verb) = to chain; to link, to connect (together)
Basically, this line is saying that the riders kept going day after day without rest, and that the days blurred together. They should really treat their horse better than that.
---
Montale caballero,
Soy caballero, nunca me muero.
Sangre de puro, puro vaquero,
Yo te lo juro.
I was translating this stanza and I translated caballero as "cowboy" rather than "gentleman" (its secondary meaning) because the protagonist was riding an actual horse and carrying a pistol, so it seemed appropriate. However, then I read the word vaquero and I said, "oh no, a dilemma!"
Both caballero and vaquero can mean "cowboy."
The socioeconomic associations are slightly different.
Caballero tends to bring up the image of upperclass horseback riders, hence the secondary meaning of "gentleman" and its usage in phrases like damas y caballeros (ladies and gentlemen). The root word of caballero is caballo (horse). A caballero is most literally someone who rides a horse.
The root word of vaquero is vaca (cow), making this word have a better claim to the translation "cowboy" if I have to pick. The word vaquero is associated with people who work the land and tend cattle. It is a more middle and working class type of word, which also fits in better with the English word "cowboy."
---
Mexico! Zapata!
Emiliano Zapata was a general in the Mexican Revolution in the early 20th century. He fought in south Mexico, and his main cause was land reform to recover property for the poor and mostly indigenous masses who worked the land. This population had traditionally owned the land, but the wealthy classes were increasingly buying it out or taking it using coercive measures. Zapata believed that the land belong to the people who worked it. He fought for the right of indigenous populations to live self-sufficiently and more autonomously, which put him at odds with the federal government. He is a beloved cultural icon in Mexico for the masses.
Album: Brotherhood, 2006
Style: Corrido lyrics style with a rock and flamenco music style
Country: USA (Texas)
Listen:
I love songs with stories and characters. "El Corrido de Don Lulai" is such a song, about a horseback rider on a journey. Listen to it at YouTube here.
I like it when people introduce me to new groups. Keep those song requests coming.
[Expand embedded music video]
Translation:
Este es el corrido del caballero Don Lulai
Que salió una noche luna llena, ay caray,
Con su pistola y su gitana por un lado,
Estaba cierto que esta vez estaba enamorado.
This is the narrative of the cowboy Don Lulai
Who set out one full moon night, oh dear,
With his pistol and his gypsy by his side,
He was certain that this time he was in love.
Su traje negro y su pelo despeinado,
Caballo listo que iban a Jacao,
Con su pistola y su gitana por un lado,
Estaba cierto que esta vez estaba enamorado.
His suit black and his hair disheveled,
Horse ready because they were en route to Jacao,
With his pistol and his gypsy by his side,
He was certain that this time he was in love.
Luna llena en la sierra. (x2)
Luna llena...
Full moon on the sierra. (x2)
Full moon...
Llegaron con la luz de los días encadenados,
Caballo muerto con el hocico todo sangrado,
Con su pistola y su gitana por un lado,
Estaba cierto que esta vez estaba enamorado.
They arrived with the light from days linked with days,
Horse dead with its snout all bloody,
With his pistol and his gypsy by his side,
He was certain that this time he was in love.
Luna llena en la sierra. (x2)
Luna llena...
Full moon on the sierra. (x2)
Full moon...
[Musical interlude]
Montale caballero,
Soy caballero, nunca me muero.
Sangre de puro, puro vaquero,
Yo te lo juro.
Mount, gentleman,
I am a horseback rider, I never die.
(With) blood of pure, pure cowboy,
I swear to you.
Soy caballero, nunca me muero,
Sangre de puro, puro vaquero, puro vaquero.
I am a horseback rider, I never die,
(With) blood of a pure, pure cowboy, pure cowboy.
[Mexican grito]
- ¡Pa' [para] que sepan!
- Pa' que sepan ¿qué?
- ¡Que lo que es eterno nunca muere!
- So (that) they know!
- So (that) they know what?
- That what is eternal never dies!
[Mexican gritos again]
¡Mexico! ¡Zapata!
Mexico! Zapata!
[Rooster crowing, then shooting sound]
- ¿Quién quiere caldo?
- ¡Nosotros!
- Who wants soup?
- We do!
Translation Notes:
Caballo listo que iban a Jacao
Horse ready because they were en route to Jacao
I have no idea where Jacao is located or what this signifies. I tried searching for an actual place named Jacao and I tried a few variations (Jacado, Jacaro, etc.), but nothing came up. If you know what this means, please comment.
---
Llegaron con la luz de los días encadenados
They arrived with the light from days linked with days
cadena (f. noun) = chain
encadenar (verb) = to chain; to link, to connect (together)
Basically, this line is saying that the riders kept going day after day without rest, and that the days blurred together. They should really treat their horse better than that.
---
Montale caballero,
Soy caballero, nunca me muero.
Sangre de puro, puro vaquero,
Yo te lo juro.
I was translating this stanza and I translated caballero as "cowboy" rather than "gentleman" (its secondary meaning) because the protagonist was riding an actual horse and carrying a pistol, so it seemed appropriate. However, then I read the word vaquero and I said, "oh no, a dilemma!"
Both caballero and vaquero can mean "cowboy."
The socioeconomic associations are slightly different.
Caballero tends to bring up the image of upperclass horseback riders, hence the secondary meaning of "gentleman" and its usage in phrases like damas y caballeros (ladies and gentlemen). The root word of caballero is caballo (horse). A caballero is most literally someone who rides a horse.
The root word of vaquero is vaca (cow), making this word have a better claim to the translation "cowboy" if I have to pick. The word vaquero is associated with people who work the land and tend cattle. It is a more middle and working class type of word, which also fits in better with the English word "cowboy."
---
Mexico! Zapata!
Emiliano Zapata was a general in the Mexican Revolution in the early 20th century. He fought in south Mexico, and his main cause was land reform to recover property for the poor and mostly indigenous masses who worked the land. This population had traditionally owned the land, but the wealthy classes were increasingly buying it out or taking it using coercive measures. Zapata believed that the land belong to the people who worked it. He fought for the right of indigenous populations to live self-sufficiently and more autonomously, which put him at odds with the federal government. He is a beloved cultural icon in Mexico for the masses.