ESMERALDA
I am Esmeralda Agr髡, Se駰ra.
I know I've no right to speak.
My son is not the savage boy you see,
The cape, the sneer, the slicked-back hair

It hides the child I nursed and bathed, Se駰ra.
Please don't turn your eyes from me
Your son, gone to God, and mine to blame
My fated son,
He too is gone
The state will see to that, I am sure, Se駰ra
The state will see to that, I am sure.

1ST MOTHER
You Spanish people, you come to this country
Nothing here changes your lives
Ungrateful immigrants asking for pity
When all of your answers are knives
This city makes a cartoon of a crime
Capes and umbrellas the glorification of slime
I have to face this horror, Se駰ra.

2ND MOTHER
My religion
Asks me to pray for the murderer's soul
But I think you'd have to be
Jesus on the cross
To open your heart after such a loss
Can I forgive him?
Can I forgive him?
No, I cannot
Can I forgive him
No, I cannot

Friends become strangers
Compassion is hard to express in words
The trembling flowers they bring
Fear in the roots and the stem
What happened to me they know could happen to them.
Can I forgive him
No, I cannot
Can I forgive him
No

ESMERALDA
Only God can say 'Forgive'
His son too received a knife
But we go on, we have to live
With this cross we call our life

1ST MOTHER
Feels like a bomb fell
And wave after wave come the aftershocks

2ND MOTHER
You can't believe that it's true
There must be some mistake
You drift through this nightmare from which you can't wake

BOTH MOTHERS
Can I forgive him?
Can I forgive him,
No, I cannot

Can I forgive him?
Can I forgive him, no, I cannot

Can I forgive him?
Can I forgive him, no, I cannot

Can I forgive him
No, I cannot.


Lead Vocal, Acoustic Guitar-Paul Simon
Recorded at Paul Simon's home