The Rubber Rose Review

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When I was a kid, we would sing the lyrics to “La Cucaracha,” completely unaware that the song is talking about . . . .

D O P E!

I’m embarrassed to admit that as a grown up Latina, I had no idea that we were happily singing about vile insects that go around smoking dope.Where the heck were my parents? Didn’t they realize what we were singing?

I just found out today while listening to an Old Timey music show. What a pocha!

Did you know the lyrics?

La cucaracha, la cucaracha
Ya no puede caminar
Porque no tiene, porque le falta
Marijuana que fumar.

(The cockroach, the cockroach
Now he can’t go traveling
Because he doesn’t have, because he lacks
Marijuana to smoke.)

Ya la murio la cucaracha
Ya la lleven a enterrar
Entre cuatro zopilotes
Y un raton de sacristan.

(The cockroach just died
And they carried him off to bury him
Among four buzzards
And the sexton’s mouse.)

Now that I know what we were really talking about here, can someone tell me what a sexton is?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0nQMgaJibc[/youtube]