La Tamalera lyrics In English Translation – Luis R Conriquez
I was driving my truck
One Sunday afternoon
Saw a cart on the corner
A woman was selling tamales
The sun was scorching
But hunger was even worse
When I saw the green light
I advanced thoughtfully
I looked in the rearview mirror
I had sensed something
I saw a motorcycle approaching
And someone showed a knife
The tamale vendor with her hands raised
Watched as they took away
The money she had earned with so much sacrifice
The food for her children waiting at home
My blood boiled
I couldn’t stay still
I didn’t stop to think
With my gun on my forehead
Before sending him to hell
I made him apologize
And return what he had stolen
“Look, ma’am,
Here’s the one who robbed you,
You tell us what to do,
We’ll finish him off right now,
Because he deserves nothing less.”
And I uncovered his face
And she couldn’t believe it
She cried loudly
The thief was her son
To maintain his vices
He had robbed his own saintly mother
Trampled on her sacrifices
“Please don’t do anything to him,
I deserve this punishment,
For not knowing how to raise him,
An ungrateful son.”