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Sun 2 Apr, 2006 10:40 am
I was looking through the Staright Dope archives for data to contribute to the most common town name thread, when I came across a Q and A about the lyrics to La Cucaracha. I had also always wondered about the lyrics. Here's a chunk of the response (I had no idea!):
Quote: But you wanted the lyrics. One complication is that there are about five million verses, many of them proof of how creative you can get on a couple quarts of Dos Equis at three o'clock in the morning. Here are the two most commonly quoted:
La cucaracha, la cucaracha
Ya no puede caminar
Porque no tiene, porque le falta
Marijuana que fumar.
(The cockroach, the cockroach
Now he can't go traveling
Because he doesn't have, because he lacks
Marijuana to smoke.)
You can see how closer acquaintance with the lyrics does not improve the PR situation. Sometimes the last line is replaced with a bowdlerization such as limonada que tomar (lemonade to drink), but if you're old enough to be messing with dad's E-mail program, you're old enough to know the truth.
To continue:
Ya la murio la cucaracha
Ya la lleven a enterrar
Entre cuatro zopilotes
Y un raton de sacristan.
(The cockroach just died
And they carried him off to bury him
Among four buzzards
And the sexton's mouse.)
Straight Dope
Littlek, I was just about to email you with something along the lines of "hey littlek, I didn't get much sleep last night. No, not because of my tremendous crack habit, but because I was trying to figure out the meaning of La Cucaracha. Help me out here."
And then I run into this. You're a scholar and a gentleman. I mean, a fine lass.
Ok, beautiful day out. I'm retarded for being online. Slappy outie like five g.
Now, as I heard the back story, La Cucaracha was a roach in the slang usage. She didn't want to travel on, meaning the present smoker wouldn't turn loose of her.
That's funny. You smoke, littlek? I absolutely looooove weed.
Nope, I don't smoke, Kuk.
Makes sense, roger........
Slappy, what can I say. Did you go for a ride?
No ride today. I didn't realize until last week my registration expired, hopefully take care of that this week. Went walking down Mass Ave, through Davis Sq,
slappy, you know we live right off of mass ave, ya? next time give us a call and stop by or whatnot.
I have no clue where you girls live now. My new chica just got an apartment right off Mass Ave, Somerville but I think near Cambridge. Right down the street from Joe Sent Me. I don't live far either.
right. we live off of mass ave between harvard and central sq. - but from your chica's place it's probably 5 mins walking across harvard campus... There is also a scrabble night at Joe Sent Me every Monday evening, but we won't be there tomorrow. In fact we've only been once or twice, so forget that, it's totally irrelevant.
Slappy wrote:Went walking down Mass Ave, through Davis Sq,
The image of Slappy out for a walk seems every bit as incongruous as that of Hitler bowling.
Littlek yelling from her bedroom: "I've seen Slappy walk, tell him!!! Upside ehbeth" Oh wait, upon asking, she clarified: "outside, even". I heard wrong.
gustavratzenhofer wrote:Slappy wrote:Went walking down Mass Ave, through Davis Sq,
The image of Slappy out for a walk seems every bit as incongruous as that of Hitler bowling.
Except when I walk, I carry a boombox on my shoulder, which gives off the tough guy image.
Although blasting Anita Franklin probably doesn't help the cause.
Anita Franklin?!
No telling what sort of image that'd give off! Did you mean...Aretha?
<snort>
Priceless!!! Yes, blasting a boombox across the Haaaahvahd Yaaaahd may not be a good idea... then again, they deserve that.
Quote:La cucaracha, la cucaracha
Ya no puede caminar
Porque no tiene, porque le falta
Marijuana que fumar.
This is probably the most popular version of the song. Warner Brothers featured it in a Porky Pig cartoon about bullfighting.
Porky sings a gringo version of the song selling hot tamales in the coliseum stands:
Hot tamales, hot tamales
Get them while they're goo-goo-goo-good and hot. . .
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