Cucaracha Lyrics

Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports
1

I had always heard them as
La cucaracha! La Cucaracha!
No tengo puede caminar.
Porque no falta, porque no tiene
Marijuana par fumar!
As
The little cockroach, the little cockroach
He has not the power to walk.
It isn’t his fault, for he has no
Marijuana to smoke.

and it was a reference to Pancho Villa’s automobile, a delapidated old Model T that was constantly running out of gas or breaking down. Hence No tengo puede caminar.

Sage

2

I think it’s actually:
La Cucaracha! La Cucaracha!
Ya no puede caminar.
Porque no tiene, porque le falta
Marijuana que fumar!

There’s a stanza that comes ahead of that, with a different melody:
Cuando uno quiere otra
Y esta otra no lo quiere,
Es lo mismo que si_un calvo
En la calle_encuentra_un peine.
I’ll give you some time to translate that one; if you can’t I’ll do it for you. :slight_smile:

3

And, the column being discussed–What are the words to “La Cucaracha”?

4

I just read that column. If you think that’s a bad name for a restaurant (the one in Minnesota), H. Allen Smith mentioned one in one of his books–a place in Paris called Café Deux Magots. (!!) :eek:

5

And an earlier thread: