Tuve Una Infancia Difícil

Surely they already know me
I am Sarmiento
And let's start
Right now from the beginning

At five years old, I was already reading
I didn't need school, I already knew

Supposedly I never missed
Not a single day
Even if meteorites rained, I went to class

So happy
With joy
I knew that by studying I would be someone in life

Someone important
Intelligent
Governor, senator, or president

Oh, what a tough childhood I had!
I was the one who left behind the poverty of San Juan
Oh, what a tough childhood I had!
No one, not your mother, not your aunt, taught me

At fifteen years old
I was already a teacher
What I have in brilliance
I don't have in modesty

And although my parents
Wanted to see me as a priest
They will see me in another position
The biggest one

And then my mother
Doña Paula will know
That one day they will call her son
Father of the classroom

And working on her loom under the fig tree
She will also know that I once skipped school
A secret that only she and now Zamba
Will keep while we sing this cumbia

Oh, what a tough childhood I had!
The toughest in Argentina
Oh, what a tough childhood I had!
And yes, I have a bad temper
Sorry that I don't smile