Mulata - Inti Illimani

For well over 30 years, Inti-Illimani (the name translates as "Sun God") has held a beacon for Chilean music, both the traditional folk styles and the more contemporary nueva cancion. Back in 1967 a group of students at Santiago's Technical University formed a band to perform folk music. Taking their name from the Aymaran Indian language of the Andes, they began playing traditional music — something few did back then — and quickly earned a reputation around the capital, becoming more and more adept on their instruments. By the '70s they'd grown into a political beast, taking on the nueva cancion (literally "new song") of many young groups, and being quite outspoken lyrically — enough to be forced into exile in 1973, where they'd stay for 15 years. However, they refused to be cowed by the Chilean dictatorship. Basing themselves in Rome, Italy, they continued to record, and toured more heavily then ever before, earning a powerful reputation around the globe, and becoming very unofficial ambassadors of Chilean music, as well as opponents to the ruling regime. In addition to performing with a number of famous, political figures like Pete Seeger and Mikis Theodorakis, they were included on the famous 1988 Amnesty International Tour, along with Sting, Peter Gabriel, and Bruce Springsteen.

http://www.inti-illimani.cl/english.html


Ya yo me enteré, mulata
mulata ya sé que dise
que yo tengo la narise
como nudo de cobbata.

Y fíjate bien que tú
no eres tan adelantá
porque tu boca e bien grande
y tú pasa, colorá.

Tanto tren con tu cuerpo
tanto tren
tanto tren con tu boca
tanto tren
tanto tren con tus ojo
tanto tren.

Si tú supiera, mulata
la veddá
¡que yo con mi negra tengo
y no te quiero pa' ná!

English translation

I realized mulata
that you've been saying
my nose is like the knot of a tie

but, you see,
you ain't better off yourself
with your big mouth
and your red belly

You swing too much with your body
you swing too much
you swing too much with your mouth
you swing too much
you swing too much with your eyes
you swing too much

If you only knew mulata
the truth
that my black woman is all I care about
and I don't want you at all.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Inti Illimani
• baila
• Conga
• Havana
• Mambo
• Latin music
• Inti-Illimani
• chile
• mulata
• afro-latin

[treemarks]

see notes for lyrics and english translation