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Pedro NavajaBuy Pedro Navaja now from AmazonFirst, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the song. And once you've experienced the song, tell everyone what you thought about it. | |
Wikipedia article"'Pedro Navaja'" is a salsa song written and performed by Rubn Blades from the 1978 collaboration with Willie Coln, 'Siembra', about a criminal of the same name.[http://www.maestravida.com/pedronavaja.html "Pedro Navaja" on MaestraVida.com] 'Navaja' means "knife" or "razor blade" in Spanish. Inspired by the song "Mack the Knife",[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbi2HunKux8 "Performance with Seis del Solar"] it tells the story of a panderer's life and presumed death. The song is recognized throughout Hispanic America, as it retells scenes and stories common to these countries, although the story takes place in New York City. The song deals with life, death and the unexpected with dark humor. A film titled 'Pedro Navaja' based on the song was filmed in Mexico in 1984, starring Andrs Garca as the title character, Maribel Guardia as his girlfriend, and Resortes as his best friend.[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0258016 IMDB profile] It was made without Blades's input and he responded by recording the song "Sorpresas" (Surprises), which continues the story, turning the movie plot by revealing that Navaja was alive and had killed another panderer while he was being searched by the panderer, provided that the other panderer believed Navaja was dead. The 1984 film had a 1986 sequel, 'El Hijo de Pedro Navaja' ('The Son of Pedro Navaja') starring Guillermo Capetillo. The story is believed to take place in the New York neighborhood of Queens. The musical 'La verdadera historia de Pedro Navaja' is based on John Gay's "The Beggar's Opera" and Bertolt Brecht StorylineThe lyrics of the song by Blades describe the namesake of the song as he walks down an unnamed avenue in New York City, explicitly mentioning how Navaja dresses, what kind of shoes and hat he wears, his dark glasses (worn so that no one can tell where he's looking at), his shiny gold tooth, and how he always hides his hands in his coat pockets so that "no one can tell in which hands he holds his knife." At the same time, the song notes and also describes a tired streetwalker who is walking the same street about three blocks from Navaja. An unmarked police cars slowly cruises down the avenue, and the prostitute steps into an alley to have a drink - it's a slow day and she hasn't had any clients. Navaja looks around the empty avenue, when suddenly the woman comes out of the alley and he sees her. He tightens his grip on the knife and silently runs across the street. Meanwhile, the prostitute takes a gun out of her coat pocket and is about to put it in her purse, so that it stops "bothering" her, when Navaja attacks her with the knife, laughing and the gold tooth "lighting up the avenue" as he plunges the weapon into her. Suddenly a shot rings out from a Smith & Wesson .38 Special ('Smith y Wesson del especial"') and Navaja falls to the ground while the mortally wounded woman taunts him verbally as she also falls to the ground. A drunken man stumbles upon the two dead bodies, picks up the gun, the knife, and two dollars and saunters away singing off-key about the "surprises that life throws at you." ReceptionOn the review of the album 'Siembra', John Bush of Allmusic referred the message as "a devastating life-in-el-Barrio expos". He also praised the arrangements of Willie Coln and Luis Ortiz, noting the use of street noise and police sirens as well as the statement "I like to live in America", part of the chorus lyrics for the song "America" from West Side Story, the film. It was listed on 'Billboard's "15 Best Salsa Songs Ever" in 2018. CoversThe song has been covered by Los Joao, La Lupe, La Orquesta Plateria (that popularized the song in Spain), Pepe Arevalo, Los Flamers, Roman Palomar, A Palo Seko, Markoz, and La Pozze Latina. Pedro Navaja was one of the songs that Puerto Rican singer Chayanne covered his 1994 album, 'Influencias'. Mexican pop singer, Emmanuel covered the song on his live album, 'Emmanuel Presenta...' ReferencesCategory:Salsa songs Category:Chayanne songs Category:Emmanuel (singer) songs Category:Spanish-language songs Category:1978 songs Category:Rubn Blades songs Category:Songs written by Rubn Blades | |
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