Brujeria - La Migra

Coyotes rateros, te chingan la feria
Siguen al brujo, te llevo por gratis
Trae to abuela, to tio, el lelo
Pinches polleros, viven pa' feria
Te cobran to sueldo y largan to abuela
La pinche migra te esta esperando
Te devuelven despues de una paliza
La migra haya to abuela en el desierto
La mandaron a Tijuana pegada con palos
El brujo tiene contrabando bien bueno
Numeros de seguro y cartas verdes
La migra la migra
Te pegan bien duro
La migra la migra
Te pica el culo
La misma migra te pasan por lana

Mordidas de feria te compra todo

Siguen al brujo, te llevo al norte
Cuidado con ese alambre cortado
Hay cabron ay viene la troca
Pa tras pinches pollos ay viene la migra
Larga to abuela, correle tia ya
Aplastaron el lelo

lol, what a foul mouthed song. i can't translate it all, but i'll give you some of my favorite lines (that i understand completely)

La pinche migra te esta esperando - the fu**ing immigration is waiting for you
Te pica el culo - Scratch your a** (wth?)

where did you find this song? i've gotta have it. so damn funny

EDIT: nevermind, i heard it, sounds horrible. i thought it was supposed to be a joking song, but they seem pretty pissed off :P

btw, where you put to, it should be tu. to is short for todo (i've only seen that used in Caribbean countries though)

Coyotes rateros, te chingan la feria
Coyotes* are thieves, they nick your money

Siguen al brujo, te llevo por gratis
follow the brujo, I'll take you for free

Trae to abuela, to tio, el lelo
bring your grandmother, your uncle, the dumb one

Pinches polleros, viven pa' feria
bloody polleros*, they live for the money only

Te cobran to sueldo y largan to abuela
they charge you and..???.. your grandmother

La pinche migra te esta esperando
the bloody/fu**ing immigration is waiting for you (thnx dmoney )

Te devuelven despues de una paliza
They'll send you back after beating the cr*p out of you

La migra haya to abuela en el desierto
The immigration found your grandmother in the dessert

La mandaron a Tijuana pegada con palos
and sent her back to Tijuana after beating her up

El brujo tiene contrabando bien bueno
The brujo has very good stuff

Numeros de seguro y cartas verdes
social security numbers and green cards

La migra la migra
the immigration, the immigration

Te pegan bien duro
hits you hard

La migra la migra
the immigration, the immigration

Te pica el culo
picks your a** (like in "picking one's nose")

La misma migra te pasan por lana
the immigration itself will let you cross for some money

Mordidas de feria te compra todo
bribery can buy you anything

Siguen al brujo, te llevo al norte
Follow the brujo, I'll take you up north

Cuidado con ese alambre cortado
Watch that cut wire

Hay cabron ay viene la troca
Sh*t, the (immigration) truck's coming

Pa tras pinches pollos ay viene la migra
hide yourself bloody pollos*, there comes the immigration

Larga to abuela, correle tia ya
go away grandmother, run away now aunt

Aplastaron el lelo
they smashed the dumb one
------------------

*coyote and pollero are terms used to refer to the guys who help people cross the border into the US illegally. "Pollo" is literally "chicken", and in this case it would be the people who have paid to be smuggled into the US.

Difficult to translate... I did my best though

This is a hard one. I was going to give it a try but I think citlalli did a great job! I have just a couple of notes.

Brujeria, which is in the title of the song, means "Witchcraft".

Brujo means male witch, or warlock. It sounds like they call the smuggler a witch. That's a new one for me


"Te cobran to sueldo y largan to abuela
they charge you and.... your grandmother"
I would say maybe: They charge you your salary and get rid of your grandmother

"El brujo tiene contrabando bien bueno
The brujo has very good stuff"
And, how about: The warlock has good contraband

oooppsss!!! sorry... thought "Brujo" was the name of the singer, that's why I left it like that if they're referring to the smuggler it's also new to me!

Thanks for the line about "...largan to abuela"... I didn't know what "largan" is supposed to mean, that's why I only put "..." hehe... should have put "??" instead ... (I'll do it in a sec)

I'm usually guessing on all this slang. This is one of the reasons I come to this forum, to learn. The language is changing so much that I feel like I need to keep up with this evolution. I'm a linguist and I study dialects in English and am very interested in the Spanish regional and socioeconomic dialects. Of course, the ethnic dialects are fascinating (Puerto Rican, Colombiano, Mexicano, etc.) but look how this song just typifies the dialect of the Mexican-USA border. Interesting, no?

Yeah, quite interesting. I also work with languages (translator) and love the way they evolve and change continuously... every time I go back to Mexico there are new expressions and words! No doubt languages are a living entity When you say you study dialects in English you mean like british english, australian english etc?

citlalli, i like the way you found "nice" words for chinga and pinche lol
for te chingan la feria i would've said they f' your money (f' you out of your money)

Originally Posted by citlalli

Yeah, quite interesting. I also work with languages (translator) and love the way they evolve and change continuously... every time I go back to Mexico there are new expressions and words! No doubt languages are a living entity When you say you study dialects in English you mean like british english, australian english etc?

I love those as well, but I'm most facinated by cultural dialects such as Standard American English (what newscasters in the US speak), in comparison to Hawaiian Pidgen, Chicano (varies regionally), African American Vernacular
Native American influenced English (depending on the tribe), Pennsylvania Dutch, etc.). The differences are not only phonetic (how it sounds) but also semantic (vocabulary differences) and even grammatical differences. These cultural dialects may be influenced by a mother tongue, but also by religion, geographical region, etc.

Originally Posted by damarys

I love those as well, but I'm most facinated by cultural dialects such as Standard American English (what newscasters in the US speak), in comparison to Hawaiian Pidgen, Chicano (varies regionally), African American Vernacular
Native American influenced English (depending on the tribe), Pennsylvania Dutch, etc.). The differences are not only phonetic (how it sounds) but also semantic (vocabulary differences) and even grammatical differences. These cultural dialects may be influenced by a mother tongue, but also by religion, geographical region, etc.

wow, i never really thought about that. i guess my english would be a mix between chicano, southern, and african america lol

Originally Posted by dmoney101

citlalli, i like the way you found "nice" words for chinga and pinche lol
for te chingan la feria i would've said they f' your money (f' you out of your money)

It's coz I'm a nice girl... hahaha... jk... hey! I dunno if it's meant to be a compliment or what, but thanks anyway ... to be quite frank I just didn't know how to say "ch**gar" in english; but now I know

Originally Posted by damarys

I love those as well, but I'm most facinated by cultural dialects such as Standard American English (what newscasters in the US speak), in comparison to Hawaiian Pidgen, Chicano (varies regionally), African American Vernacular
Native American influenced English (depending on the tribe), Pennsylvania Dutch, etc.). The differences are not only phonetic (how it sounds) but also semantic (vocabulary differences) and even grammatical differences. These cultural dialects may be influenced by a mother tongue, but also by religion, geographical region, etc.

Wow! what you do and study sounds really fascinating and interesting

Originally Posted by dmoney101

wow, i never really thought about that. i guess my english would be a mix between chicano, southern, and african america lol

... and mine would be a mix of interlingua, wall street institute, harmon hall, etc... haha... joking again (I never attended any of those places!)

citlalli - I used to work as a Spanish/English interpreter (different than a translator) while I attended graduate school in Southern California. It was interesting but very difficult. I did not like interpreting in courts because I just did not feel comfortable with the legal jargon (vocabulary) and even when I did get it right, the person I was interpreting for had no idea what I was talking about. The legal lingo and the formal Spanish spoken in courts was a very different dialect than the social/street Spanish most defendants used on a daily basis. I was not allowed to "explain" what the judge and attorney were saying; I just had to intepret word for word or phrase for phrase but not necessarily for comprehension; they didn't want it to appear like I was giving legal advice. I commend you as a translator. Anyone who has tried to translate these songs knows how difficult it is to do.

Bueno, chica... chao! (That's my Cuban dialect!)

Yes, interpreting is very difficult and tricky. When I was being trained to obtain my translation degree, I had to do two compulsory semesters of interpreting at school; I think it was meant to give us a little taste of it and see who had the skill and interest to go on studying to become an interpreter (it involved one year more at school). I didn't like it, as I have always been much better at writing than at speaking, and sometimes I'm a bit slow when it comes down to interpreting (lol, I have to do it all the time on an informal basis for my husband ). Moreover, as translator you have the chance to doublecheck and improve your work, but as an interpreter you don't , and I find that a bit scary, too big a responsability for instance in a court of law, precisely where you were active. I respect you so much for doing that sort of job

Well... see you around here

Citlalli - The forum is very fortunate to have a professional translator offering services for free!!!!!!!! I don't know about the background of the other fine translators here, but I'm just a "wannabe", trying to improve my skills on unsuspecting posters! Ja-ja....
I did like interpreting in most venues (except for courts...too stressful!). The hardest part was getting people I was interpreting for to look and talk to each other; I just wanted to be a voice. I just hated when people would not look at my client and just say, "Tell her that....". Well, golly, she's right here, you tell her yourself! I just had to set the rules right away. You know, look at each other, talk to each other and I will interpret. That made things so much easier. Then some people don't like the instant interpreting and want to speak for 15 minutes and then have you remember what they said and interpret it back! Uh... I don't have dementia but I'm also not super human. It's a tough job but it can be fun.
Hasta......

Well, I take the little translations here as a hobby and anti-stress therapy... whenever I get bored or tired of my job, I'll log in here and translate some nice set of lyrics or post some photos just for fun, and to make new friends of course
And don't be so modest! No one who's been active as professional interpreter is a "wannabe"... no way !!

Originally Posted by citlalli

Well, I take the little translations here as a hobby and anti-stress therapy... whenever I get bored or tired of my job, I'll log in here and translate some nice set of lyrics or post some photos just for fun, and to make new friends of course
And don't be so modest! No one who's been active as professional interpreter is a "wannabe"... no way !!

yea, you've gotta be well qualified to be a pro. i'd love to do that for a profession, if only i could make millions doing it :P