Clandestino

I live with "illegals" in the UK. "Babylon" of course is the the Babylon of corruption in the Book of Revelation, and the Babylon system of the Rastas, but also the Rivers of Babylon, where we sat down and wept, where the Jews were in exile. (The site of Babylon is near Baghdad).

I always thought the line after africano clandestino was marroquino ilegal - makes a load more sense than marijuana.

The message is that all those despised asylum-seekers, economic migrants, Gypsies, whatever, are human beings like you.

God bless the illegals. Your day of freedom is coming.

this song is pretty much self explanatory. The introduction to the cd and the story that follows.

he means that he doesnt have any documentation, as in citizenship papers.

my favorite song of manu chao!! "perdido en el corazon de la grande babylon" means that he's along lost in the heart of babylon,, you now Babiloniaa Babylon,, the rasta people use "babylon" in order to make reference to big corrupted cities as the antique city Babylon, so he's trying to say that he's living in one of those doom megacities. oO

he's more generally painting a picture of someone who is persecuted (by laws that the listener is supposed to infer are unjust) and living in the shadows. The tension here is between the authorities or the law and the very human impulse to find a better life. When he says "mano Negra clandestina," it's a multifacted statement. It means clandestine black hand literally, but it refers to illegal workers (immigrants, sweatshop workers, etc) whose hidden hands turn the gears of industry. It's also a racial statement, refering to the actual hue of the hands of people of color. Finally, it's a reference to his old band, called Mano Negra.

jimguk... marroquino ilegal would make a lot of sense, but i doubt thats what it is for a couple of reasons: i believe that the word for a morrocan native is just "marroquin," with an accent on the i, and furthermore, manu chao is so into slang that i think hed probably use the more common (if less politically correct) 'morro.'

The part of "Por no llevar papel" can be translated like as don't have personal documents like an identification or a passport.

Btw, he sang "Marihuana ilegal", no doubt. I'm a latino, so trust me =P.

PS: Sorry for the bad english :x.

i get the general idea, but what does he mean when he talks about babylon?? and what does "para no llevar papel" mean? but dont carry paper?? that must not be right. can someone explain?

Yeah, he es ilegal. But I don't get any of the babylon references in his songs

Amén