Pedro Navaja

Pedro Navaja

On the corner of the old neighborhood I saw him pass by,
with the swagger that tough guys have when they walk,
hands always in the pockets of his overcoat
so they don't know in which one he carries the knife.

He wears a wide-brimmed hat tilted to one side
and sneakers in case he needs to make a quick getaway,
dark glasses so they don't know what he's looking at
and a gold tooth that shines when he smiles.

About three blocks from that corner a woman
is walking along the entire sidewalk for the fifth time
and she enters a doorway and takes a drink to forget
that the day is slow and there are no clients to work.

A car passes very slowly down the avenue,
unmarked, but everyone knows it's the police.
Pedro Navaja, hands always inside his overcoat,
looks and smiles and the gold tooth shines again.

He looks to one side, looks to the other and sees no one,
and quietly, but without noise, crosses the street.
And meanwhile, on the other sidewalk, that woman
mumbles because she didn't make any money to eat.

As she walks, she takes a revolver from her old coat
and puts it in her purse so it doesn't get in the way.
A .38 'Smith & Wesson' special
that she carries to protect herself from all evil.

And Pedro Navaja, knife in hand, went towards her,
the gold tooth shining down the avenue,
while he laughed, the knife mercilessly stabbed her,
when suddenly a shot rang out like a cannon...

And Pedro Navaja fell on the sidewalk while he watched that
woman
who, with a revolver in hand and fatally wounded, said to him:
'I thought: today is not my day, I'm lucky',
but, Pedro Navaja, you're worse off: you're nothing'.

And believe me, people, even though there was noise, no one came out.
There were no onlookers, no questions, no one cried.
Only a drunk stumbled upon the two bodies,
picked up the revolver, the knife, the money, and left.

Stumbling, he left singing out of tune,
the chorus that I bring here will convey the message of my song:
'Life gives you surprises, surprises life gives you'
Oh, God!...

Pedro Navaja, corner thug, he who lives by the sword
shall die by the sword.
'Life gives you surprises, surprises life gives you'
Oh, God!...
Criminal fisherman, the hook you threw
instead of a sardine, caught a shark...
'Life gives you surprises, surprises life gives you'
Oh, God!...
The city of New York has five million stories
'Life gives you surprises, surprises life gives you'
Oh, God!...
As my grandmother used to say: 'He who laughs last, laughs best'.

'Life gives you surprises, surprises life gives you'
Oh, God!...
When destiny calls, not even the bravest can change it,
if you were born to be a hammer, nails will fall from the sky...
'Life gives you surprises, surprises life gives you'
Oh, God!...
Tough neighborhood, watch out on the sidewalk, watch out camera'
because if you don't run, you'll fly...

'Life gives you surprises, surprises life gives you'
Oh, God!...
Like in a Kafka novel, the drunk turned down the alley...
'Life gives you surprises, surprises life gives you'
Oh, God!...
The moral, Pedro Navaja, is that no one knows who they work for.
'Life gives you surprises, surprises life gives you'
Oh, God!...