Patria y Vida (Homeland and Life)
Listen to the Song in Spanish
Listen to the Lyrics in English
Descemer Bueno, Gente De Zona, and Yotuel – Original Text (2021)
[Intro: Randy (Gente de Zona)]Y eres tú mi canto de sirena
Porque con tu voz se van mis penas
Y este sentimiento ya está añejo
Tú me dueles tanto aunque estés lejos
[Yotuel]Hoy yo te invito a caminar por mis solares
Pa’ demostrarte de que sirven tus ideales
Somos humanos aunque no pensemos iguales
No nos tratemos ni dañemos como animales
Esta es mi forma de decírtelo
Llora mi pueblo y siento yo su voz
Tú cinco nuevе, yo doble dos
Sesenta años trancado еl dominó
Bombo’ y platillo a los quinientos de La Habana
Mientras en casa en las cazuelas ya no tienen jama
¿Qué celebramos si la gente anda deprisa?
Cambiando al Che Guevara y a Martí por la divisa
Todo ha cambiado, ya no es lo mismo
Entre tú y yo, hay un abismo
Publicidad de un paraíso en Varadero
Mientras las madres lloran por sus hijos que se fueron
[Chorus: Gente de Zona and Yotuel]Se acabó, tú cinco nueve, yo doble dos
Ya se acabó, sesenta años trancado el dominó, mira
Se acabó, tú cinco nueve, yo doble dos
Ya se acabó, sesenta años trancado el dominó
[Descemer Bueno]Somos artistas, somos sensibilidad
La historia verdadera, no la mal contada
Somos la dignidad de un pueblo entero pisoteada
A punta de pistola y de palabras que aún son nada
[Alexander (Gente de Zona)]No más mentiras, mi pueblo pide libertad, no más doctrinas
Ya no gritemos “Patria y Muerte” sino “Patria y Vida”
Y empezar a construir lo que soñamos, lo que destruyeron con sus manos…
Que no siga corriendo la sangre, por querer pensar diferente
¿Quién le dijo que Cuba es de ustedes, si mi Cuba es de toda mi gente?
[Chorus: Gente de Zona and Descemer Bueno]Se acabó, ya se venció tu tiempo, se rompió el silencio
Ya se acabó, ya se acabó la risa y el llanto ya está corriendo
Se acabó, y no tenemos miedo, se acabó el engaño
Ya se acabó, son sesenta y dos haciendo daño
[Maykel Osorbo]Allí vivimos con la incertidumbre del pasado, plantado
Quince amigos puestos, listos pa’ morirnos
Izamos la bandera todavía la represión del régimen al día
Anamely Ramos firme con su poesía
Omara Ruiz Urquiola dándonos aliento, de vida
Rompieron nuestra puerta, violaron nuestro templo
Y el mundo ‘tá consciente de que el movimiento San Isidro continúa puesto
[El Funky]Seguimos en las mismas, la seguridad metiendo prisma
Esas cosas a mi como me indignan, se acabó el enigma
Ya ‘sa tu revolución maligna, soy funky style aquí tienes mi firma
Ya ustedes están sobrando ya no le queda, ya se van bajando
El pueblo se cansó de estar aguantando, un nuevo amanecer estamos esperando
[Chorus: Gente de Zona and Yotuel]Se acabó, tú cinco nueve, yo doble dos
Ya se acabó, sesenta años trancado el dominó, mira
Se acabó, tú cinco nueve, yo doble dos
Ya se acabó, sesenta años trancado el dominó
[Outro: All]Patria y Vida
Patria y Vida
Patria y Vida
(Sesenta años trancado el dominó)
English Translation by Gabriela Jatene
[Intro: Randy (Gente de Zona)]And you are my siren song
Because your voice takes away my sorrows
And this feeling is already old
You hurt so much even though you are far away
[Yotuel]Today I invite you to walk my streets
To show you what your ideals are good for
We are human even if we do not think alike
Let’s not treat or harm each other like animals
This is my way of telling you
My people cry and I hear their voice
You’re five nine, I am double two*
[ays_pb id=14]Sixty years with the domino stuck*
[ays_pb id=16]Great fanfare for Havana’s five hundred
While at home pots no longer have food in them
What are we celebrating if people walk fast
Exchanging Che Guevara and Martí for “the currency*”?
[ays_pb id=15]Everything has changed, nothing is the same
Between you and me, there is an abyss
Advertising a paradise in Varadero
While mothers cry for their children who have gone
[Chorus: Gente de Zona and Yotuel]It’s over, you’re five nine, I’m double two
It’s already over, sixty years with the domino stuck, see
It’s over, you’re five nine, I’m double two
It’s already over, 60 years with the domino stuck
[Descemer Bueno]We are artists, we are sensitivity
The true story, not lies
We are the trampled dignity of an entire people
Under the barrel of a gun and words that mean nothing yet
[Alexander (Gente de Zona)]No more lies, my people demand freedom, no more doctrines
Let’s no longer shout “Homeland and Death”, but rather “Homeland and Life”
And start building what we dream of, what they destroyed with their hands
[Randy (Gente de Zona)]Let no more blood be shed, for wanting to think differently
Who told you that Cuba is yours, when my Cuba belongs to all my people?
[Chorus: Gente de Zona and Descemer Bueno]It’s over, your time is up, the silence is broken
It is over, laughter is over and the cries are running
It’s over, and we are not afraid, the deceit is over
It is over now, its sixty two causing harm
[Maykel Osorbo]There we lived with the uncertainty of the past, waiting
Fifteen assigned friends, ready to see us die
We hoist the flag, the regime’s repression still in course
Anamely Ramos, steadfast with her poetry
Omara Ruiz Urquiola encouraging us, giving us life
They broke down our door, they violated our temple
And the world is aware that the San Isidro Movement continues to be resolved
[El Funky]Things continue the same, security attacking us
Oh how these things outrage me, the enigma is over
Enough with your evil revolution, I am funky style, here’s my signature
You are now redundant, you don’t fit in, you’re on your way down
The people are tired of taking it, we are awaiting a new dawn
[Chorus: Gente de Zona and Yotuel]
It’s over, you’re five nine, I’m double two
It is over now, sixty years with the domino stuck, see
It’s over, you’re five nine, I’m double two
It’s over, sixty years with the domino stuck
[Outro: All]Homeland and Life
Homeland and Life
Homeland and Life
(Sixty years with the domino stuck)
Patria y Vida as sung by Yotuel, Gente De Zona, Descemer Bueno, Maykel Osorbo and El Funky
Translation Notes
*”You’re five nine, I am double two”: A reference to the year 1959 and the year 2020.
*”Sixty years with the domino stuck”: This sentence is a reference to the Cold War notion that countries would turn Communist one after the other – like dominos. Cuba was the first domino, but it got stuck – no one else followed through into communism.
*”The currency”: Meaning US dollars – this is drawing attention to the fact that Cuba is effectively dollarized.
Author Notes
Yotuel Omar Manzanares Romero was born on October 6th 1976 in Havana. He is an Afro-Cuban singer and actor, and is currently the lead singer of the 2003 Latin Grammy Award-winning rap group Orishas.
Context
In February 2021, the song “Patria y Vida” was released by Yotuel, Descemer Bueno, Gente de Zona, Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, Maykel Osorbo and DJ El Funky. The slogan “Patria y Vida” (“Homeland and Life”) is an inversion of the Cuban Revolution slogan Patria o Muerte (“Homeland or Death”).
The song was widely successful, and “Patria y Vida” was used as a rallying cry during the July 2021 Cuban protests, where a shortage of food and medicine and the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic triggered a series of protests against the Cuban government. These were the largest anti-government demonstrations in Cuba since 1994.
Sources
Arego, Alberto, and Lien Carrazana. “’Patria y Vida’ the Making-of of the Song That Told the Cuban Regime: ‘It’s over!’.” DIARIO DE CUBA, Síguenos En Twitter, Facebook o Instagram. Si Resides En Cuba, Suscríbete a Nuestro Boletín Con Una Selección De Los Contenidos Más Destacados Del Día. Si Vives En Cualquier Otro Punto Del Planeta, Recibe En Tu Buzón De Correos Enlaces a Lo Más Relevante Del Día., 18 Mar. 2021, https://diariodecuba.com/cultura/1616086673_29671.html.