Nicomorphinist
Bluelighter
"La Cucaracha"
It is a drugs song
Whilst some expect this, others don't
The Zapatistas
Back in the old days
Found a kids' song bout the smoke
I think it was the leader of the national government at the time, mayor of Mexico City or some such tihing . . . sort of a Zapatista version of "Fuck Martinez"
This was not all that different from when in the late XIX. and early XX. Century, when there were picket lines and demonstrations about various things, strikes and other such things, the other side would have the Salvation Army and/or the local equivalent come and the band would play at top volume to drown out the picketers. The Industrial Workers of the World, CGT, unions, political parties, Catholic Workers and other labour, anarchist, anarcho-syndicalist and/or nationalist or regionalist groups would come up with alternative lyrics to the songs being played, the source of the IWW's Little Red Song Book and the various equivalents in the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Spain, the Austro-Hungarian Empire the like . . . like "God rest you thugs and greedheads/And rest you pinheads too/Just lock up everyone in town/Who disagrees with you" and "Jingle bells/Mc Kinley smells" or what have you
The marijuana/cockroach connexion goes back at least to the 1880s if I am not mistaken . . .
I can think of at least four restaurants named La Cucaracha around the world . . . however I have yet to come across restaurants named things like The Cockroach, Die Kakerlake, Le Cafard, something along the lines of "Šváb" (there was a place in Prague near to a couple of Franz Kafka-related landmarks that one of the ladies I was with once asked the proprietor if they considered it . . . not too far away was the cemetery in which Kafka is buried, and nearby is a place with a disassembled golem in the attic, which I wish I would have had the presence of mind to enquire about), Karaluch, Таракан, or Žohari or something similar . . . there are also La Cucarachas in Ostrava and Brno, too, the latter being a mixture of Mexican and Tex-Mex, Southern and South-Western, Argentine, and Brazilian fare, with the same group of about 15 people owning a second place in the same building which is a Croatian restaurant . . . then there is one in Olomouc as well; Wrocław in Poland too . . . the presence of excellent Mexican restaurants in the Czech Republic and adjacent areas is something about which I have heard a lot; I am not certain if it is one group of folks from Mexico who got together and opened them all or if there was some related reason or what . . .
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The full lyrics of the song in lyrics, which is "The Cockroach" are as follows:
It is a drugs song
Whilst some expect this, others don't
The Zapatistas
Back in the old days
Found a kids' song bout the smoke
I think it was the leader of the national government at the time, mayor of Mexico City or some such tihing . . . sort of a Zapatista version of "Fuck Martinez"
This was not all that different from when in the late XIX. and early XX. Century, when there were picket lines and demonstrations about various things, strikes and other such things, the other side would have the Salvation Army and/or the local equivalent come and the band would play at top volume to drown out the picketers. The Industrial Workers of the World, CGT, unions, political parties, Catholic Workers and other labour, anarchist, anarcho-syndicalist and/or nationalist or regionalist groups would come up with alternative lyrics to the songs being played, the source of the IWW's Little Red Song Book and the various equivalents in the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Spain, the Austro-Hungarian Empire the like . . . like "God rest you thugs and greedheads/And rest you pinheads too/Just lock up everyone in town/Who disagrees with you" and "Jingle bells/Mc Kinley smells" or what have you
The marijuana/cockroach connexion goes back at least to the 1880s if I am not mistaken . . .
I can think of at least four restaurants named La Cucaracha around the world . . . however I have yet to come across restaurants named things like The Cockroach, Die Kakerlake, Le Cafard, something along the lines of "Šváb" (there was a place in Prague near to a couple of Franz Kafka-related landmarks that one of the ladies I was with once asked the proprietor if they considered it . . . not too far away was the cemetery in which Kafka is buried, and nearby is a place with a disassembled golem in the attic, which I wish I would have had the presence of mind to enquire about), Karaluch, Таракан, or Žohari or something similar . . . there are also La Cucarachas in Ostrava and Brno, too, the latter being a mixture of Mexican and Tex-Mex, Southern and South-Western, Argentine, and Brazilian fare, with the same group of about 15 people owning a second place in the same building which is a Croatian restaurant . . . then there is one in Olomouc as well; Wrocław in Poland too . . . the presence of excellent Mexican restaurants in the Czech Republic and adjacent areas is something about which I have heard a lot; I am not certain if it is one group of folks from Mexico who got together and opened them all or if there was some related reason or what . . .
Mexican Folk - La cucaracha (English translation)
Mexican Folk - La cucaracha lyrics (Spanish) + English translation: The cockro
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La Cucaracha lyrics by Lila Downs with meaning. La Cucaracha explained, official 2025 song lyrics | LyricsMode.com
Original lyrics of La Cucaracha song by Lila Downs. 1 user explained La Cucaracha meaning. Find more of Lila Downs lyrics. Watch official video, print or download text in PDF. Comment and share your favourite lyrics.
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The full lyrics of the song in lyrics, which is "The Cockroach" are as follows:
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