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MANDADOS and other corridos

Corridos Directory

MANDADOS Errands

CHORUS
La Migra caught me
300 times Isay
They never done me in

********************

I cross the Rio Grande swimming
La Migra threw me back
I land in Nogales
Another border crossing
They boot me to Juarez
I go to Tamalpais
Skip through Laredo
Disguised as a gringo
I tint my hair blond
I don't know English
Back I go again

Here through Mexicali
San Luis Rio Colorado
Cross every line
Secretly swimming
Never chicken out
I cross again

I know every crossing
Roads, rivers, canals
From Tijuana to Reynosa
Matamoros to Juarez
From Piedras Negras to El Paso
From Agua Prieta to Nogales

The DISHWASHER

I dreamed in my youth
Of being a movie star
One of those days I came
To visit Hollywood

One day very desperate
Because of so much revolution
I came to this side [of the border]
Without paying immigration
What a fast one
What a fast one
I crossed without paying

Arriving at the station
I ran into a friend
Who invited me
To work at the track
I supposed the track
Would be some kind of a store
It was to repair the road
Where the train ran
Oh my friend
Oh my friend
How he took me to the track

When I got angry with the track
He invited me again
To picking tomatoes
And gathering beets
There I earned indulgence
Walking on my knees
4 or 5 miles
They gave me as penance

Oh what work, poorly paid
For going on one's knees
My friend, who was no fool
Continued giving them a bad time
On completing [enough] for his fare
He returned to his land

I earned but a trifle
I left for Sacramento
When I had nothing
I worked with cement
Oh what torment
Oh what torment
Is that famous cement
Toss gravel and sand
In the cement mixer
Fifty cents an hour
Until the whistle blows
Four or more of us
Strained at that famous pulley
How could I stand it
I was better off washing dishes

How repentant
How repentant
I am for having come
Decent work done by Chicanos
With hot water hands swell
To make it short
I got tired of so many dishes
Thought came to me
Of working in theater
Oh how pretty
Oh how pretty
Circus, somersaults and shows

I ask your leave
To give this advice
To young and old
Who are inexperienced
That one didn't want to believe
What I say is true
If he wants to be convinced
Let him come over here
Remember this ballad
Is all I ask

The coach leaves
Soon we're going
Eyes that saw you leave
When will they see you return?
Goodbye dreams of my life
Goodbye movie stars
I return to my beloved homeland
Poorer than when I came
We take our leave
Goodbye my countrymen
Now we leave

LA CORONELA

For long-suffering people she labors
Deciding the nation's struggle momentarily
Silently with placid countenance
Reveals tactics of the adversary
The bodies of Montoya and Gaspar Vela
With quiet voice and loving pity
After the infernal battle
La Coronela with compassion dispatched

Even in exile she offered
Great courage and outspoken rebellion
Against the evil the nation faced
It was the people's fate each day
Driving voice concerning her
To soon convert to freedom

SAN YSIDRO MASSACRE

I sing of a cruel incident in San Ysidro
Incited by a crazed maniac
July 18 was the day
84 was the year
When this slaughter took place
The worst in all history

In the town's McDonald's
At 3 in the afternoon
An evil gunman appeared
James Huberty was his name
Everyone on the floor
The soulless man cried out
Frightened people obeyed his command

He assassinated people
Lying on the floor
Bodies of innocent victims
He scattered everywhere
Between tables he walked
To see who wasn't dead
Shooting them one final time
If anyone made a move

The horrible coward fired on
People outside and inside
Firing hundreds of rounds
He had plenty of weapons
Three youngsters lay riddled
With bullets, the diabolical
Assassin left them for dead
Piled in a heap

People arrived
Not knowing what happened
Lucky ones fled
While others were killed
Old lady and child
With four employees hid
In the basement and barely fit

At times there was silence
While he reloaded
He'd start shooting
To see who was next

Bodies covered in blood
Were all over
The stench of death everywhere
It was a war zone

Mexico's press calls
Him a white supremacist
The white people's press
Never mentions racist tendencies
One or two said
With anger and fervor
They know it's true
James was a wrongdoer

San Ysidro town
Knew his notions
He hated Mexicans
His plan was preconceived
You see brothers and sisters
His actions well planned
His dislike for La Raza
This is the result

They say victims died instantly
Don't believe those tales
They suffered enough
None knew the motive
Of the cold-blooded butcher
Police shot him full of holes

22 lay dead
17 wounded
God have mercy on our loved ones
Find them all in Heaven
Go little angels
Tell the Lord
Have mercy on us
Here suffering pain

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