Guantanamera Lyrics

[Intro: Celia Cruz & Wyclef Jean]
Hola, soy Celia Cruz
Y estoy aqui con Wyclef celebrando el Carnaval
Azúcar

Guantanamera

We out here in Miami just shinin' (Guajira, guantanamera)
Worldwide (Guantanamera)
'Bout to bring it to you in stereo (Guajira, guantanamera)
That was then, this is now
Welcome to The Carnival, the arrival
(Come on)

Spanish Harlem (Oh, yeah, oh)
Boogie Down Bronx (Oh, yeah, oh)
Manhattan (Oh, yeah, oh)
Back to Staten (Oh, yeah, oh)


[Chorus]
(Guantanamera) Hey, yo, I'm standing at the bar with a Cuban cigar
(Guajira, Guantanamera) Hey, yo, I think she's eyein' me from afar
(Guantanamera, guajira, guantanamera)


[Verse 1: Wyclef Jean]
Yo, I wrote this in Haiti overlookin' Cuba
I asked her what's her name, she said, "Guantanamera"
Remind me of an old Latin song my uncle used to play
On his old
forty-five when he used to be alive
She went from a young girl to a grown woman
Like a virgin, so she sex with no average man
Peep the figure, move like a caterpillar
Fly like a butterfly, let your soul feel her glide
Pac-Woman, better yet Space Invader
If your name was Chun-Li, we'd be playin' Street Fighter
Penny for your thoughts, a nickel for your kiss
A dime if you tell me that you love me

[Chorus]
(Guantanamera) Hey, yo, I'm standing at the bar with a Cuban cigar
(Guajira, Guantanamera) Hey, yo, I think she's eyein' me from afar
(Guantanamera, guajira, guantanamera)


[Verse 2: Jeni Fujita & Wyclef Jean]
Soy una mujer sincera (Do you speak English?)
De donde crecen las palmas (Can I buy you a drink?)
Soy una mujer sincera
De donde crecen las palmas (You killin' me)
Y antes de morir, yo quiero
Cantar mis versos del alma (Te quiero, mama, te quiero)

[Chorus]
(Guantanamera) Hey, yo, I'm standing at the bar with a Cuban cigar
(Guajira, Guantanamera) Hey, yo, John Forté, she's eyein' me from far
(Guantanamera, guajira, guantanamera)

[Verse 3: Lauryn Hill]
Yo, she was a rose in Spanish Harlem, mamacita, beg your pardon
Make stakes at a faster rate than she fornicates (In Spanish Harlem)
Pure traits of genius, goddess of Black Venus
Crab niggas angry 'cause they can't get between us
To no selección, smooth complexion
The lexicon of Lexington, parents came from Cuba
Part Mexican, pure sweet, Dons fell to her feet
She like Movado and shook her hips like Delgado
And broke niggas down from the Grounds to Apollo
And then some, she took her act, sent it to dim sum
And waited patiently while the businessmen come
Call late on purpose, got even politicians nervous
And made plans to infiltrate the street Secret Service
This gentle flower, fertility was her power
Sweet persona, Venus flytrap prima-donna

Que será, que será she turned dinero to dinera

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About

Genius Annotation

3rd track from Wyclef’s debut LP, ‘The Carnival’.
Cover of “Guantanamera” (Spanish: “from Guantánamo [feminine]”, thus “woman from Guantánamo”); perhaps the best known Cuban song and that country’s most noted patriotic song.

Composed by Joseíto Fernández, the lyrics to the song is about a woman from Guantánamo, with whom he had a romantic relationship, and who eventually left him. The alleged real story behind these lyrics (or at least one of many versions of the song’s origin that Fernández suggested during his lifetime) is that she did not have a romantic interest in him, but merely a platonic one.

Interpolates “Spanish Harlem” by Ben E. King.

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

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