Ruben Blades - Pedro Navaja

Ruben Blades - Pedro Navaja

Por la esquina del viejo barrio lo vi pasar
con el tumbao' que tienen los guapos al caminar,
las manos siempre en los bolsillos de su gaban
pa' que no sepan en cual de ellas lleva el pual.
Usa un sombrero de ala ancha de medio lao'
y zapatillas por si hay problemas salir volao',
lentes oscuros pa' que no sepan que esta mirando
y un diente de oro que cuando rie se ve brillando.
Como a tres cuadras de aquella esquina una mujer
va recorriendo la acera entera por quinta vez,
y en un zaguan entra y se da un trago para olvidar
que el da esta flojo y no hay clientes pa' trabajar.
Un carro pasa muy despacito por la avenida
no tiene marcas pero todos saben ques' policia uhm.
Pedro Navaja las manos siempre dentro 'el gaban,
mira y sonrie y el diente de oro vuelve a brillar.
Mientras camina pasa la vista de esquina a esquina,
no se ve un alma est desierta toa' la avenida,
cuando de pronto esa mujer sale del zaguan,
y Pedro Navaja aprieta un puo dentro 'el gaban.
Mira pa' un lado mira pal' otro y no ve a nadie,
y a la carrera pero sin ruido cruza la calle,
y mientras tanto en la otra acera va esa mujer,
refunfuando pues no hizo pesos con que comer.
Mientras camina del viejo abrigo saca un revolver, esa mujer,
iba a guardarlo en su cartera pa' que no estorbe,
un treinta y ocho Smith and Wesson del especial
que carga encima pa' que la libre de todo mal.
Y Pedro Navaja pual en mano le fue pa' encima,
el diente de oro iba alumbrando toa' la avenida, quiso facil!,
mientras reia el pual le hunda sin compasion,
cuando de pronto son un disparo como un caon,
y Pedro Navaja callo en la acera mientras vea, a esa mujer,
que revolver en mano y de muerte herida ahi le decia:
"Yo que pensaba 'hoy no es mi dia estoy sala',
pero Pedro Navaja tu estas peor, no estas en na' "
Y creanme gente que aunque hubo ruido nadie salio,
no hubo curiosos, no hubo preguntas, nadie lloro,
Solo un borracho con los dos cuerpos se tropezo,
Cojio el revolver, el pual, los pesos y se marcho,
Y tropezando se fue cantando desafinao'
El coro que aqui les traigo y da el mensaje de mi cancion.
"La vida te da sorpresas, sorpresas te da la vida" ay Dios
(La vida te da sorpresas, sorpresas te da la vida ay Dios)
Pedro Navajas matn de esquina, quien a hierro mata a hierro termina
(La vida te da sorpresas, sorpresas te da la vida ay Dios)
Maliante pescador, mal anzuelo que tiraste,
en vez de una sardina un tiburn enganchaste,
lalalalala...
(La vida te da sorpresas, sorpresas te da la vida ay Dios)

Por la esquina del viejo barrio lo vi pasar
con el tumbao' que tienen los guapos al caminar,
las manos siempre en los bolsillos de su gabán
pa' que no sepan en cual de ellas lleva el puñal.

On the corner of the old neighborhood I saw him go by
with that gait the handsome have when they walk
always with his hands in the pockets of his overcoat
so they don't know which one takes the knife.

Usa un sombrero de ala ancha de medio lao'
y zapatillas por si hay problemas salir volao',
lentes oscuros pa' que no sepan que esta mirando
y un diente de oro que cuando ríe se ve brillando.

Wearing a wide-brimmed half side hat
and slippers in case there are problems to clear off,
dark glasses so you don't know that he's looking at
and a gold tooth that you can see it shining when he's laughing.

Como a tres cuadras de aquella esquina una mujer
va recorriendo la acera entera por quinta vez,
y en un zaguán entra y se da un trago para olvidar
que el día esta flojo y no hay clientes pa' trabajar.

A woman was three blocks away from that corner
going along the entire sidewalk for the fifth time,
and she comes in a hallway and take a drink to forget
cause is a quite day and there are no clients to work.

Un carro pasa muy despacito por la avenida
no tiene marcas pero todos saben que es policía uhm.
Pedro Navaja las manos siempre dentro el gabán,
mira y sonríe y el diente de oro vuelve a brillar.

A car passes very slowly in the avenue
has no marks but everyone knows that is police car.
Pedro Navaja with his hands always within the overcoat,
looks and smiles and the gold teeth shines again.

Mientras camina pasa la vista de esquina a esquina,
no se ve un alma está desierta toa' la avenida,
cuando de pronto esa mujer sale del zaguán,
y Pedro Navaja aprieta un puño dentro el gabán.

While walking he looks from the corner to corner,
There isn't a soul, all the avenue is deserted,
when suddenly this woman leaves the hallway,
Pedro Navaja clenches his fist inside his overcoat.

Mira pa' un lado mira pal' otro y no ve a nadie,
y a la carrera pero sin ruido cruza la calle,
y mientras tanto en la otra acera va esa mujer,
refunfuando pues no hizo pesos con que comer.

He looks at both sides and doesn't see anyone,
and running without making noise crosses the street,
and meanwhile in the other sidewalk is that woman,
grumble because she didn't make money to eat.

Mientras camina del viejo abrigo saca un revolver, esa mujer,
iba a guardarlo en su cartera pa' que no estorbe,
un treinta y ocho Smith and Wesson del especial
que carga encima pa' que la libre de todo mal.

While walking she takes out from her old coat a revolver, that woman,
she's going to put it in her wallet for not to cramp,
a thirty-eight Smith and Wesson's special
that she takes to free her from all evil.

Y Pedro Navaja puñal en mano le fue pa' encima,
el diente de oro iba alumbrando toa' la avenida, quiso facil!,
mientras reia el pual le hunda sin compasion,
cuando de pronto son un disparo como un caon,

And Pedro Navaja with the knife in hand, approaches her
the gold tooth was lightening all the avenue, was easy,
while laughing he sinks the knife without compassion,
when suddenly a shot sounded like a cannon,

y Pedro Navaja callo en la acera mientras veía, a esa mujer,
que revolver en mano y de muerte herida ahi le decia:
"Yo que pensaba 'hoy no es mi dia estoy sala',
pero Pedro Navaja tu estas peor, no estas en na' "

And Pedro Navaja fell on the sidewalk while looked at that woman,
that revolver in hand and death wounded told him:
"I thought 'today is not my day I'm unlucky,
but you, Pedro Navaja, you are worse, you are nothing now "

Y creanme gente que aunque hubo ruido nadie salio,
no hubo curiosos, no hubo preguntas, nadie lloro,
Solo un borracho con los dos cuerpos se tropezo,
Cojio el revolver, el pual, los pesos y se marcho,
Y tropezando se fue cantando desafinao'

And believe me although there were noise, none came out,
there wasn't curious, there were no questions, no one wept,
Only a drunk find out the two bodies,
Take the revolver, theknife, the money and left,
And tripping, he left singing out of tune'

El coro que aqui les traigo y da el mensaje de mi canción.
"La vida te da sorpresas, sorpresas te da la vida" ay Dios
(La vida te da sorpresas, sorpresas te da la vida ay Dios)
Pedro Navajas matón de esquina, quien a hierro mata a hierro termina
(La vida te da sorpresas, sorpresas te da la vida ay Dios)
Maleante pescador, mal anzuelo que tiraste,
en vez de una sardina un tiburón enganchaste,

The chorus that bring to you here and takes the message of my song.
"Life gives you surprises, life gives you surprises" my God
(Life gives you surprises, life gives you surprises ah my god)
Pedro Navajas bully corner, "He who lives by the sword, dies by the sword"
(Life gives you surprises)
Thug fisherman, you cast a bad (fishing) line
instead of a sardine you catch a shark,

This is my try

"guapo" in this song means "fancy delinquent" not just handsome in this song. It is the original meaning of "guapo".

"Marcas", the marks of the car are the number plate.
"zaguan" is a hallway in old big houses. You didn't need to enter the house to be in the "zaguan". Even if this is something that happens in the middle of the street, the house could have a humble front but huge in the inside, but then the "zaguan" might be more like a corridor.

Hola Cerb

"guapo" para mí, en este contexto, tiene un sentido de "chulo", "pijo"
"marcas" creo que tiene un sentido más amplio, refiriéndose, al hecho de que no lleva distintivos de ninguna clase que lo identifiquen como un coche de la policía y no sólo al hecho de no llevar matrícula policial
"zaguán" segun la R.A.E. significa "espacio cubierto situado dentro de una casa, que sirve de entrada a ella y está inmediato a la puerta de la calle", la verdad es que es una palabra que yo no utilizo, yo suelo utilizar más, portal o entrada.

Tienes un buen conocimiento del castellano. ¿de dónde eres?

Saludos desde Palma de Mallorca

HI Xiurell

The song relates to a world that doesn't exist anymore.
The word "guapo" may be "chulo" in this context but, but the word "handsome" is not "chulo" in this context. That's what I meant.
You are right about how "marcas" is not only related to the plate.
"zaguan" is an old word. I have lived in a building with "zaguan" but I never called it like that because the word was already lost. It was a very spacious place, unlike the "portal" or "entrada" that houses have today.

I am from Peru, nice to meet you.

Ah, Peru, one of my favourite places, Cerb, when is the best time to come to Macchu Picchu and is it doable to tour that area and around Siula Grande within one week?. (If you have not seen the movie "Touching the Void", you must, that is how I have fallen in love with Siula Grande!.)

I have to agree with Cerb that "guapo" in this context means delinquent, however, to realize this, one has to read until the end of that paragraph where it says "pa' que no sepan en cual de ellas lleva el puñal".

Hi istanbulgal
I don't know of any city called Siula Grande O.o Sorry.
"Guapo" in the old sense meant "fancy delinquent". In time, because of social changes, it became "handsome". That's how it is. The song talks about an old reality, that still lived like 30 years ago. So there is no need to realize anything if you actually know the meaning of "guapo".

the translation is ok at best. there are a lot of grammatical errors, the tenses are mostly wrong, and thats just a few of the problems. but aside from that, this song is actually the best selling salsa single of all time and it's based on the song mack the knife. youtube it and you'll see that the songs basically have the same notes except that pedro navaja is in latin time and features afro-caribbean instruments.

im just replying to clarify a few things. to understand this song you need a good knowledge of how spanish is spoken not only in the caribbean but also in the u.s. so here it goes. the word "guapo," as heard in any salsa song, that is arranged by ppl from the caribbean will 100% of the time mean someone who is tough. it does not necessarily mean delinquent, just someone who isn't easily pushed around or punked. it's most definitely a positive adjective indicating that someone is brave. it can also be used as an adverb, but the meaning changes a bit. ex, luis está bravo= luis is mad. and this is how this word is used in the spanish speaking islands.

the definition of "zaguan" is pretty straight foward. you can go to a dictionary and find its historical meaning or you can look for clues in the song. if you do the latter you'd conclude that a zaguan is a type of bar, b/c the woman's going in there to drink.

for the "marcas," i dont see anyone that grew in America and has a working understanding of spanish getting it wrong. basically its referring to those police cars that lack any law enforcement insignia and yet are driven by on-duty officers.

hope this helps clear things up a bit. im a native of both spanish and english and my parents spoke spanish the way that its spoken in a lot of these songs so the meaning in these songs come to me rather easily.

I am a native spanish speaker jkmerc so I think I know what I am talking about.
Zaguan was not a a bar certainly. You can deduce it from the song but it's still a deduction. Most possibly the public woman went there and simply asked for a drink (hard to say if for free or not). No details.
You may be right about Guapo. Were your parents from Panama? Or maybe from Puerto Rico? But this is an old word. It had a bad connotation in the beginning but it changed. It meant bad man, bump. Now it means handsome.
Maybe in US it became a positive word, while remaining quite slanguish in below-america. I don't know.
In the US most people talk spanish in a way that is pretty confusing, sort of spanglish, while pedro navaja is 100% good spanish from Panama.
It's not even slang.