written by Rubén Fuentes

Voy a dar un pormenor
De lo que a mí me ha pasado,
Que me han agarrado preso

Siendo un galla tan jugado.

Yo me fui para Agua Prieta
A ver quién me conocía
Y a las once de la noche
Me aprehendió la policia.

Me aprehendieron los gendarmes
Al estilo americano,
Como un hombre de delito,
Todos con pistola en mano.

La cárcel de Cananea
Está situada en una Mesa
Y en ella fui procesado
Por causa de mi torpeza.

Despedida no la doy
Porque no la traigo aquí
Se la deje al santo niño
Y al señor de Mapimi.

This beautiful corrido (story song)
is a favorite of my brother Pete who is
el jefe de policia in Tucson. He tells
a story about singing this in his
police car with one of the regular
drunks that he would pick up and either
escort to jail or drive home, depending
on how much mischief the man had been
up to. It is a song from Sonora sung
during the Revolutionary war, and I
remember my dad and his great compadre,
Felipe, singing its many verses late
into the night with a good bottle of
mexcal for the accompaniment. L.R.

Ballad of Cananea

I'm going to detail
What happened to me,
That they have taken me prisoner
Being a well played rooster.
(Even though I've been around and
should have known better.)

I went to Agua Prieta
To see if I had a reputation there
And at 11:00 at night
The police apprehended me.

They arrested me
In the American style,
As though I were a criminal
All of them with pistol in hand.

The jail of Cananea
Is situated on a plateau
And in it I was processed
On account of my stupidity.

I give you no farewell
For I don't have it with me
Leave it to the Holy Child
And to the Lord of Mapimi.

© 1987 Normal Music/ BMI