Crescencio – English Translation

(Leslie Cartaya, Steve Roitstein © 2009 Riot Music, all rights reserved. ASCAP)

Crescencio was an honest man
Who lived in Pinar del Río
Where he had a hut
And a harvest of anon fruit
Tired of working the land
He wanted to go to the city
He was curious
To see how they lived there
With his straw hat on
He went to the terminal
Where he’d get to the capital
Transferred by train
This begins the story
Of the country man that believed
That trains moved on tracks
Pulled by five oxen

Chorus:
Man, what a scene
Look at Crescencio in the city
Walking around the Prado
Crescencio Pérez in the city

When he got to the city
He couldn’t believe his ears
All of these horrible noises
Couldn’t be real
What are these wagons
Racing by me
Faster than arrows
Running down the road?
How dangerous
My God, what a mess
In this blessed chaos
Everything is upside down
There are huts with many stories
And they even have stairs
And right out front on the sidewalk
Little kids sleep on the ground (Chorus)

People bump me as they pass by
Without saying excuse me
They’d almost knock me over
If I didn’t get out of the way
After that mad crush
And getting pushed around so much
I reach for my wallet
And it’s not in my pocket
If this is the famous city
I’m going back to Pinar del Río
I’ll stick with my hut
Where everything is prettier
So he happily got back on the train
And returned to his little country home
Where he lived peacefully
With his harvest of anon (Chorus)

Wow, look at Crescencio
Hey, Crescencio, where are you going?
Ah, I’m going back to Pinar del Rio already
I don’t wanna know nothin’ else
This city sucks
City? Mama, I don’t want no city
I’m going to the hill
I don’t want any more city