Calle Mayor

The flood of people is so dense
how hard it is to walk backwards
there are stands on the floor with ponchos, dolls
all handmade and there are also jerseys
with the brutal fear that comes from being a foreigner
The two Peruvians say how much it is
to a foolish guy who laughs at them
try to get a better price
and when he achieves it he feels like a winner
He triumphed in his battle, his war
on the main street

I don't care if we are gypsies or clowns
It doesn't matter if from the north or the south
because life is life and men are men
here and on the main street
I don't care if we are black or white
the color doesn't matter either
because life is life
and men are men
here and on the main street

And there are black people who sell useless junk
like one of those unbreakable vacuum cleaners
quartz watches of those digital
thousand watt parrots, earrings, necklaces
ivory bracelets, tire inflators
small speakers of those, ha, that don't sound
and here no one forces anyone to buy anything
Yours is your money and yours is the transistor
The street belongs to everyone and the language doesn't matter.
and spend the morning on the main street

And there is a couple dressed as Sunday
with a couple of devils they call children
he tramples the positions and after a while
one of the blacks tells him: "be careful!"
and that father arrives with a goose step
looking at the foreigner up and down
while he shouts: You fucking black man,
If you touch my son I will open your head!
And the people applaud the battle won
against the stranger who came from the sea
and when the kid picks up his fabrics
think that there are more beasts here than in the jungle
and there is no point in trying again
convince the father that they are both equal
and on the Oran ship it is cold
and the kid feels terrible inside
and has lost sight of the coast
and the night appears... and the night appears
and the night appears...on the main street

I don't care if we are gypsies or clowns
It doesn't matter if from the north or the south
because life is life and men are men
here and on the main street
I don't care if we are black or white
the color doesn't matter either
because life is life
and men are men
here and on the main street