To the Colombian people who have suffered for more than half a century
Bogotá!
Live long your rainbow
And ‘Providencia’, the jewel in your crown
You, the golden, red and blue land
Will echo in the song
‘La Sonora Dinamita’ will play on
With the Cumbia dance
And its steely-chain sound
Bearing on the ankles of slaves
A message of freedom
Smile!
Now is the time to stand again
It’s more than half a century
That beyond these dark clouds
A reckless cobalt sky has breathed
For half a century
‘Providencia’ the paradise
Has waited for your spark
To break at last the broken cycle
And bring hope to its green coast
Gabo will write of no more love in the time of cholera
And your children of tomorrow
Will take each other’s hands
To dance the Cumbia and the Vallenato
Stand up!
Bolivar is waiting for ‘Totó la Momposina’
To begin murmuring a song
Heedless of the tobacco taste still bitter in his mouth
