# Cucaracha Lyrics

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cucaracha-lyrics/721712>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [June 5, 2015, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cucaracha-lyrics/721712 "2015-06-05T15:05:31Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![SageGrouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@SageGrouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SageGrouse)\
**Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cucaracha-lyrics/721712/1 "2015-06-05T15:05:31Z")

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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

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**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\
**Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cucaracha-lyrics/721712/2 "2015-06-05T16:12:29Z")

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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. 🙂

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**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\
**Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cucaracha-lyrics/721712/3 "2015-06-05T17:54:24Z")

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And, the column being discussed–[What are the words to “La Cucaracha”?](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2315/what-are-the-words-to-la-cucaracha)

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**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\
**Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cucaracha-lyrics/721712/4 "2015-06-05T18:48:44Z")

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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:

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**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\
**Post date:** [June 7, 2015, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cucaracha-lyrics/721712/5 "2015-06-07T08:15:10Z")

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> [@samclem](#):
>
> And, the column being discussed–[What are the words to “La Cucaracha”?](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2315/what-are-the-words-to-la-cucaracha)

And an earlier thread:

> **[La Cucaracha lyrics](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=758066)**
>
> Ages ago I read somewhere that the Mexican word “marihuana” (I believe that was the spelling) could also refer to a low-grade tobacco.