We used to say that they were able to make great music with just a couple of chords. Recently I also put them as example of the OK type of Punk nihilism, one that is not compromised with anything but that also does not sell off.
It is hard to choose from their many emblematic songs but this one maybe exposes well their nihilism: Historia Triste (Sad Story):
Pasan los años, pasa tu vida,
pasan los meses, pasan tus días,
pasan las horas, también tus minutos,
este puede ser tu último segundo.
Oooooh! Historia triste.
Oooooh! Historia histórica.
Oooooh! Historia final.
Una mañana muy temprano
de tus sueños despertarás.
No lo sabrás, ese es tu día:
vas a morir!
English:
Years go by, your life goes by,
months go by, your days go by,
hours go by, also your minutes,
this may be your last second.
Oooooh! Sad story.
Oooooh! Historic story.
Oooooh! Final story.
One morning very early
from your dreams you will wake up.
You won't know, that's your day:
you're going to die!
Their music and lyrics may be misleadingly simple but they did not lack message at all. For example, Os engañan (They deceive you, concert video):
Anuncios publicitarios que prometen felicidad
de algún producto de moda que te hará cambiar.
Comprador que entra en la tienda, al acecho el vendedor.
Vendedor que vende productos, comprador que se vaya a mamar.
Oh, sí, sí! Os engañan, os engañan así! (repeat)
Mi vieja me despertó, en la cama estaba yo:
'Han cambiado la hora, lo dijo añoche el televisor'.
English:
Publicity ads that promise happiness
of some fashion product that will make you change.
Buyer that enters the shop, seller that waylays,
seller that sells products, let the buyer go fuck off.
Oh, yeah, yeah! They deceive you, they deceive you that way! (repeat)
My old lady woke me up, I was still in bed:
'They have changed time, television said it last night'
I'm going to finish with a song that I believe that belongs very much to this day (though in the time was more like dispelling all the "work ethics" myths of fascism: Dónde está el porvenir? (Where is the future?):
Fiebre de mono, tripa de sapo, rabo de rata, esencia de lapo.
Eh!
Dónde está el porvenir que crearon nuestros viejos?,
dónde está el porvenir que forjaron nuestros viejos?
O es acaso esta mierda en la cual vivimos?
...semen de gato, nariz de payaso.
Liebre por gato.
Dónde está el porvenir que crearon nuestros viejos?,
dónde está el porvenir que forjaron nuestros viejos?
O es acaso esta puta mierda en la cual vivimos?
... de año, ... de asfalto, ... de piel, puestón de caballo.
Grito de espanto!
Dónde está el porvenir que crearon nuestros viejos?,
dónde está el porvenir que forjaron nuestros viejos?
O es acaso esta puta mierda en la cual vivimos?
Note: some parts of the witch formulas I cannot understand, so I put "..." in those places.
English:
Monkey's fever¹, toad's guts, rat's tail, spit's essence.
Eh!
Where is the future that our old men created?
Where is the future that our old men forged?
Or is it maybe this shit we live in?
... cat's semen, clown's nose.
Hare for cat².
Where is the future that our old men created?
Where is the future that our old men forged?
Or is it maybe this fucking shit we live in?
Year's ..., asphalt's..., skin's..., horse's high.
Horror cry!
Where is the future that our old men created?
Where is the future that our old men forged?
Or is it maybe this fucking shit we live in?
Translation notes:
¹ These are junky's slang words: monkey (mono) is the abstinence syndrome (hence monkey's fever), while horse (caballo) is heroin (hence horse's high).
² Cat for hare (gato por liebre) is a Spanish expression meaning to scam, to give something of low quality (cat) for high quality one (hare) - talking food, of course. Here the saying is reverted (meaning: quality for junk), though I miss the intent.
Next should be La Polla Records.
Year's flowers..., asphalt's beds ..., time´s dust..., horse's high.
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