1. Soy Campesino (I’m a Country Man)
(Ramón Vargas)
I’m a country man
Dressed in white
I wear a hat
And worn out shoes
(Repeat)
I dance to the gaita*
I smoke tobacco
I dance to the cumbia**
With great ease
(Repeat)
And that’s why I sing
(Tropical cumbia)
When I go dancing
(Tropical cumbia)
Cumbia, cumbia, cumbia
(Tropical cumbia)
Cumbia of Colombia
(Tropical cumbia)
How tasty my cumbia, baby! Come and enjoy it!
Let’s see it, buddy!
African rhythm, Jamaican, Colombian, Cuban, all of them Caribbean
¡Ajiaco!***
* a cane flute popular in Colombian folk music
** a style of Colombian dance music
*** Literally, “stew.” An expression that means roughly “mix it up!”
2. Ay Caramba!
(Words and Music by Natty Bo)
I run cross town
Check what is in the post
The post no come
Back another day
Travel so far
For money I been owed
Two weeks a pass
Well could it be at last, but no…
Ay caramba!
Go to work
So early in the morning
Bus break down
I start a walking
Reach too late
Boss him a bawling
“No work today,
No come back tomorrow”, whoy
Ay caramba!
Well Lord confess
I’m in a mess
So give me strength
Be my witness , yeh
No electric light
For two weeks or more
Debt collector
Come knock out the door
No more water come from the tap
The phone’s cut off
And I can’t pay the rent, oh whoy
Ay caramba!
Police them stop me
Say you look like wanted man
I say chance would be fine
They put cuff upon me hand
The very next day
They catch the guilty one
Saying, “We won’t keep you long
Let you out tomorrow,” whoy
Ay caramba!
Well life is tough
Sometimes it’s rough
But I know
When enough is enough, yeh
Woah yeh…
Ay caramba!
3. Tabú (Taboo)
(Margarita Lecuona)
Aah…
Soul of distant Africa
Fills my chest with fire
Soul of distant Africa
Fills my chest with fire
And the poor child of the slave
Always longs for the palm trees
Of the primitive jungle
Of gods of mystery and war
Ifá, Ochún, Obatala, for Chango and Yemaya (4x)*
Land of the longed for Africa
The deep rivers and blue sky
There, if a black man looks at a white woman
There, if a black man looks at a white woman
Taboo…taboo…taboo
Ifá, Ochún, Obatala, for Chango and Yemaya (4x)
Taboo…taboo…
* Orishas, or saints, of the Afro-Cuban syncretic religion santería
4. Oye Compay Juan (Listen, Buddy Juan)
(Gisela Navea/Beny Billy/Natty Bo)
Chorus:
Listen, my buddy Juan
I’m going to las Yaguas
Listen, my buddy Juan
I’m going to las Yaguas
I’m waking up nice and early
There in Ramon de las Yaguas
Look at all the wonders
That this region has
Lovely palm trees, vast coffee plantations
Tasty pineapple and honeycombs
I never though I could find
So much beauty in this place
(Chorus)
There coffee grows like grass
You smell the sweet aroma
Yuca* with yam and goat meat
Is the traditional food
Yuca with yam and goat meat
Is the traditional food
(Chorus)
There coffee grows like grass
You smell the sweet aroma, yes!
Yuca with yam and goat meat
Is the traditional food
Listen, my buddy Juan
I’m going to las Yaguas
Hey, country man, I’m going! Did you hear?
I’m going, I’m going, I’m going
I’m going to las Yaguas
Listen, my buddy Juan
I’m going to las Yaguas
* Cassava root, a tuber common in Latin American cuisine
5. No Me Desesperes (Don’t Drive Me Crazy)
(Words & Music by Carlos Marteles)
Come on, come on, come on, black woman
Don’t drive me crazy
Come on, come on, come on, black woman
Don’t drive me crazy
Look, you are
The most beautiful woman
Ay, look, you are
The most beautiful woman
Come on, come on, come on, I am
Going out of my mind
Come on, come on, come on, I am
Going out of my mind
To dance cumbia
The tango is killing me
Ay! To dance cumbia
The tango is killing me
6. Big Bamboo (El gran bambú)
(Words & Music by Vernon J. Roberts)
I asked my woman what should I do
To make her happy and to keep her true
All she said that I want from you
Is a likkle likkle piece of the big bamboo
Chorus:
De big bamboo it grows good and strong
The big bamboo grows good and long
The big bamboo stand up straight and tall
And the big bamboo pleases one and all
I gave my girl a sugar cane
Sweets for my sweet I did explain
She gave it back with my surprise
She like the flavor but not the size
(Chorus)
I gave my girl a coconut
She said she like it, its o.k. but
The only thing that worries me
What good is the nut without the tree?
(Chorus)
I met a chinyman named Dick Van Go
He got married went to Mexico
His wife divorce him pretty quick
She like bamboo but not chopstick
(Chorus)
The big, big bamboo, bamboo
Ay yai yai
Money in the land of the Yankee dollar, eh
7. Tungarara
(Words & Music by Isaac Villanueva)
That’s how the frog sings
When she sees her little toad
And when she is in love
She sings like a little bird
Tungarara…
The little toad answers back “cui cui”
Her with her little purse “cui cui”
The toad with his big mouth “cua cua”
And her with her little purse “cui cui”
The toad with his big mouth “cua cua”
When the night is falling
She sits to wait for the toad
And at the edge of the puddle
She falls asleep reproachfully
The little toad answers back “cui cui”
Her with her little purse “cui cui”
The toad with his big mouth “cua cua”
And her with her little purse “cui cui”
The toad with his big mouth “cua cua”
8. Cachita
(Words & Music by Rafael Hernández)
Listen up, Cachita
I'm bringing a little rumba
So that you can dance
Like me
Pretty girl
My beautiful Cachita
The hot rumba
Is better than son
(repeat)
See how you tear up the joint
With maracas
And timbales if you really want
To party
The French have fun this way
So do the Germans
The Irish have fun this way
And even Muslims
And if an English Lord dances
The excitement gets into him
And drives him crazy
Even the Japanese as well
Because the rumba has no frontiers
They even dance it at the North Pole
I’ve even seen an Eskimo
Dancing to it alone
Whoever is feeling blue
You’ve got to find your Cachita
And tell her, come on black girl
Let’s dance the rumba
What a beautiful ska, Cachita!
Give it some brass!
The tasty Ska…Cubano!
9. Istanbul (Not Constantinople) (Estambul, No Constantinopla)
(Jimmy Kennedy/Nat Simon)
Istanbul, Constantinople!
Nine lives left so don’t court disaster
Nine lives left and time is our master
Though we’re walking slow our hearts beating faster
Make our way to Istanbul
Now the crescent moon and the stars that that reach beyond
Whisper to us secrets I can only find in
Istanbul
Long time gone ‘nuff roads we a travel
Let me concentrate these puzzles unravel
Not feh dance with death but look to the future
For we reach the gates of Istanbul
Now the crescent moon and the stars that that reach beyond
Whisper to us secrets I can only find in
Istanbul
Darling take my hand
And try to understand
Many have failed to make it
To pass on through the gates of
Istanbul
10. Marianao
(Words & Music by Beny Moré)
Marianao
How beautiful you are
Your pretty women
Give you the enchantment of love
From Guajai
To Almendares
There are lovely places
I will never be able to forget
Your flowers
And sharing of happiness, yes
In my verses
I could paint a picture
With your parks
And your avenues
With your picnic grounds
And your boulevards
And the contrast
Of your lovely palm groves
And sugar cane thickets
And an old sugar mill
In Mariano life is seen
Through rose-colored glasses
And everywhere you look
You see a beautiful woman
(Repeat)
There in Mariano
I left my heart
And I’m going to see it
At nightfall
And I’m going to see it
At nightfall
12. Jezebel
(Words & Music by Wayne Shanklin)
If ever a devil was born
Without a pair of horns
It was you
Jezabel, it was you
If ever an angel spell
Jezabel
It was you
Jezabel, it was you
If ever a pair of eyes
Promised paradise
Deceiving me, grieving me
Leaving me blue
Jezabel, it was you
If ever the Devil’s plan
Was made to torment man
It was you
Jezabel, it was you
T’would be better had I never known
A lover such as you
Forsaking dreams and all
For the silent fall of your all
Like a demon love possessed me
You obsessed me constantly
What evil star is mine that my fates design
Should be
Jezabel
If ever a pair of eyes
Promised paradise
Deceiving me, grieving me
Leaving me blue
Jezabel, it was you
If ever the Devil’s plan
Was made to torment man
It was you
Night and day
Every way
Jezabel , Jezabel, Jezabel
14. Cumbia en Do Menor (Cumbia in C Minor)
(Rafael Coides)
I present to you the supersonic sound
Come to life!
Cumbia Orchestra Chispa Tren!
How funky, aah
Come here mulata and dance to my cumbia
This is the cumbia from Santiago de Cuba
Tear it up, tear it up!
How tasty!
Right now! Hot!
Party, party, party!
Run with it!
Give it some flavor, boy!
Get down! (Santiago, brother!)
And this mulata really knows how to move her…ay…
Additional Info
Ska Cubano Invents a Music that Should Have Been:
Head of A&R at Putumayo to Start New World Music Label: Cumbancha ...
Lyrics (in English translation)
Ska Cubano’s producer, Peter Scott, writes about the songs on ¡Ay ...
Top of Press Release
