An Anthem for Nicolás Maduro

What should be the theme song for Maduro's daily, four-hour long radio show, La Hora de la Salsa.

I wake up in the morning,
I take a shower, and put on some after-shave.
I eat a good breakfast,
And I don’t do anything else, anything else.

 

And then I read the newspaper,
And I even read the obituaries,
Or I even watch soap operas.
And I don’t do anything else, anything else.

 

By twelve noon
I eat a good lunch
Of rice and beans
And stewed meat, and I don’t do anything else.

 

And then I go to my hammock
To take a little nap,
And sometimes I sleep two hours,
And sometimes a little more, and I don’t do anything else.

 

And then I wake up around three,
And I drink a good coffee.
I smoke a cigarette and I take my guitar
And I start to sing:

 

A la la, a la la, a la la lara la lara

 

And when dinner time comes,
My wife cooks
A steak with French fries,
With a salad, and a thousand other things.
And I eat it, and I don’t do anything else.

 

Afterward, I go to the balcony
As if I were an important man,
To rock in the chair,
To have a chat with my wife.

 

A larara la la.

 

Ay, when I get sleepy,
I go to bed right away,
And I sleep until morning,
And I don’t do anything else.

 

(Life’s good like this, eating without working.)
Listen, I have never bowed down to any man
So don’t waste your time, I won’t change, oh no!

 

(Life’s good like this, eating without working.)
People, I have declared a strike, yes!
My wife takes care of me! Do you hear me?

 

(Life’s good like this, eating without working.)
How good, how good, how good,
How good it is to live this life,
Eating. sleeping, and doing nothing else!

 

Listen compadre,
Do you know what it is to be in a rocking chair, rocking over and over?
Waiting to get my food stamps from Social Security…
Anybody can do it!

 

(Life’s good like this, eating without working.)
Receiving a pension for being crazy,
But I’m not crazy, I am very smart!

 

(Life’s good like this, eating without working.)
How good…
They bring a plate of tripe,
Rice, beans, and stewed meat, to start…

 

(Life’s good like this, eating without working.)
Who’s going to work? Who, me?
Look for someone else, I already did what I came here to do.

Emiliana Duarte

Emi is a cook, a lover of animals, politics, expletives, and Venezuela. She is the co-founder of Caracas Chronicles LLC and Managing Editor if the site until December 2017.