La Chuza-manduza

Lyrics

[Intro: female lead, low and smoky] La Chuza-manduza—Medusa at the gate, You cross that line, you answer to your fate. [Verse 1: deep male rap] Dust on the boots, red thread on the door, Your promise came dressed like a debt from before. Four strings cut a path through the salt and the smoke, Old women went quiet when the brass bell spoke. You brought your fine suit and your borrowed good name, I brought every witness you paid to forget the flame. One hand on the ledger, one hand on the key, Now tell me, mi vida, who sent you to me? [Pre-Chorus: raspy female lead] You want the blessing, you want the blame, You want the water but not the rain. Say what you came for; don’t dress it up— The cup is on the table. Drink it up. [Chorus: female lead with male choir] La Chuza-manduza, Medusa—who crossed? Who sold the name, who counted the cost? If God put the mark there, don’t hide your hand, You came for the crown; now answer the land. La Chuza-manduza, look me in the face, You wanted the door, now you stand in its place. [Verse 2: deep male rap, African polyrhythm] Three knocks, two turns, one drum underfoot, The market keeps score when the papers look good. Grandma’s blue bowl and the map in its seam, A river drawn crooked through somebody’s scheme. You moved the old boundary, you fenced off the spring, Then hired a choir to praise you as king. I know every cousin who carried your crate, I know which one trembled when you named the date. [Ad-libs: high male voice] Who? — You know who. Where? — Right here. [Chorus: changed groove, female lead and choir] La Chuza-manduza, Medusa—who crossed? Who sold the name, who counted the cost? If God put the mark there, don’t hide your hand, You came for the crown; now answer the land. La Chuza-manduza, look me in the face, You wanted the door, now you stand in its place. [Break: Arabic violin and flute, then sudden stop] [Female lead] No more pretty words. [Verse 3: deep male rap, half-time trap] You said, “Take the little; the rest can remain.” A child learned the border by tracing the stain. You left us a number, a lock, and a lie, But the root under stone doesn’t ask your reply. Now the whole room is listening, no one looks down, Your seal in the dust, your coat on the ground. I won’t raise a blade; let the record be plain: You came with a blessing and left with the blame. [Bridge: female lead, intimate; choir enters gradually] If you meant mercy, why bargain in secret? If you meant home, why erase who could speak it? I kept the old names in the hem of my dress. You can’t take the truth by calling it less. [Final Chorus: full male choir, evolving percussion] La Chuza-manduza, Medusa—who crossed? Who sold the name, who counted the cost? If God put the mark there, don’t hide your hand, You came for the crown; now answer the land. La Chuza-manduza, the whole town knows, You planted the thorn; now reap what it grows. La Chuza-manduza, look me in the face— You wanted the door, now you stand in its place. [Outro: female lead over cuatro and distant choir] No mask, no blessing, no borrowed name. The door remembers who came.