Cabron

It is "dodger blue" and "mad doggin me", the lyrics are printed in the Cd booklet of By The Way. I think the song is about gangs. The blue color is the Surenos.I think its making fun of gangs, and trying to convey a message that gangs are dumb and it ruining our mexican youth. He is probably trying to say STOP FIGHTING OVER COLORS AND SIDES OF TOWNs YOU STUPID CABRONS!!!!!

Cabron means "asshole" my spanish teacher is a native speaker (IE He grew up speaking spanish/living in Mexico) and that's what he said it means.

i think this song is about gangs in L.A. i think that because it's pretty obvious. hehe.

Take it from a Mexican, guys: Cabron has lost its meaning over the years, but in actual original spanish it means "big male goat". So that's right. But it can also be used as an insult for someone who's being difficult, (i.e. "fucking you over") or as an affectionate insult for your friends (like "dude", only if you were to call them "cabron" with malice, it's not "dude" anymore). There's no direct translation to any word in English (and it is NOT one of the worst spanish insults--give your teacher the finger). Anyway, this song may be very simple and unsnazzy and simply cheap, but a song doesn't have to be "fun" to be a good song. I heard this once and thought, "You know, this song isn't great, but at the same time, it's awesome." I think all of you who say this song sucks really need to get down and grasp the whole gut of the lyrics and the teasing melody. It's not moving, no, it's pretty simple, yeah. But it's a hell of a song, and I respect the hell out of it. Thanks a lot, RHCP--especially Antony. (That's how it's spelt. Don't get crazy on me.) It's definitely about L.A. gangs, but at the same time it's about one specific dude who doesn't like the gang lifestyle and hates having to stand up to the idiots who seem to think they're "right". It's kind of like an emotional song, only at the same time not. I love the twist. It doesn't have to be another Otherside for me to enjoy it--and it shouldn't have to be for you! Get over yourselves, guys.

mrpollock: i thought cabra was goat.. and that cabron means ***hole.

the correct lyrics are mad dog and me not my dog or mack doggin' me

ortiz and jayjayjay are right about what Cabron means. It really means big male goat. Among friends, it's not a bad word necessarily (it's like calling one of your friends a bad name but you're joking about it), but among people you don't know, it's a bad word. For example, in English, bitch literally means female dog, but over time, it's become a bad word. And in Spanish, cabron means big goat, but it has now become a cuss word in certain latin american countries.

dude this is the best song for representing summer, i think its about hanging out with friends, doing the right thing, and doing wat u gotta do, for u or someone else, aye?

I was checking out the lyrics because my young kids love this song, and we didn't want to have them running around singing something really awful (er...I just couldn't let them get hooked on "I Like Dirt"...just one example). Factoring in some things others have said, I'm pretty confident the narrative is from the perspective of a gang member who wishes the fighting would stop, but can't bring himself to take the actual first step.

Everyone is focused WAY too much on the title/chorus. The key meaning of "cabron" is that it's a nasty insult -- the exact nature isn't relevant. And Kiedis came out and said the connotation he's using is "mean mutha@#$%$." Why use such a nasty word as title and chorus? Because it creates an awesome juxtaposition with the beautiful guitar riff and the ballady feel of the song. I bet John had the riff worked out, and the Spanish feel inspired or shaped Anthony's lyrics.

So the dodger blue and mad-doggin' -- clearly references to a rival gang member wearing blue. I doubt he's specifically calling out the LA Crips, but that's a gang reference most people would recognize, and it's a fluid lyric. So the singer is "speaking" to a rival gang member who is eyeing him and calling him out. But the next lines are skipped frequently: I'll get it on...if you want me to -- so, I WILL fight you. "What else can I do" -- but this is the key -- the rival gang fighting is not optional, and the narrator isn't willing to be the one to stand up and say no. Maybe "I'm small" earlier means this is a young gang member who isn't completely jaded and still knows this life sucks, and wishes it would end. But as a young member, he's not going to have nearly enough influence to make a difference -- so he's HOPING the other guy will.

And the next line is another key: everyone will take a cue from you -- so the narrator is saying "if YOU refuse to keep the fighting going, others will listen to you." Or more generally -- if more of us stop the fighting, others will follow. So the song then might be more about sending a message to the gang LEADERS. Because the next line is "what else can THEY do" -- so if the leaders are the ones to stop the fighting, their subordinates will have to follow (or will be compelled to follow).

And the verse ends with more language that clearly separates this from any of the sexual theories: the narrator doesn't want to fight, he wants to party, and is saying pretty simply, we could all just party all night instead of killing each other.

The second verse is essentially repeating the theme with a couple of changes. I'm not quite sure what to make of "I come around and make peace " -- but the broader theme of the second verse is identifying with each other, so the idea could be "see, I barbecue and party, you do too." But the later lines are much clearer. Whereas the first verse was all about "I do, they do, you do" the second is all about "just like you" and "if you only knew." So, where the first verse was selling the idea by showing a better way, this verse is trying to make the rival identify with the narrator -- by getting him to understand they're all really the same at their cores, he might be less inclined to want to fight every rival he meets, or order fights with every rival, etc.

The lines get repeated in the outro, but what's slick is that they are twisted to hammer home a poignant sense of hopelessness. "If you want me too / What else can I do? / Cause I'm just like you / If you only knew" Here the singer is saying "yup, if you want to fight, I WILL fight you because you and I are the same" So saying "we're the same" here isn't an appeal to give him a reason not to fight, it's a reminder that they ARE the same deep down, and that's the sad part of this all. Despite the singers desire for the fighting to end, he knows that he can't be the one to stop it (maybe he's too young, or maybe he's too entrenched) because deep down he's no different from the rival across the way. And for the final irony -- he's calling that rival cabron at the same time that he's admitting he (the singer) is no different. So "cabron" is every bit self-accusatory as it is an insult.

N.B. there is a PDF copy of the Kiedis autobiography on the web, and I searched it for a reference to anyone named "Cabron" questioning Kiedis about drugs, so I'm not sure that theory is valid.

And NOW I get to figure out if I'm ok with my 3 and 7 year olds running around the house innocently singing "cabron" at the top of their lungs...

hello.

I read comments here 3 days ago and i can't stop laughing how this song has been misunderstood in your country. So i created an account to give you a helping hand. Because no one here got the real explanation of cabron.

cabron can be translated as billy goat. (and not as goat, because that would have been "cabrona")

And one of the meanings is asshole as been told.

But there's another one more vulgar. A cabron, billy goat, is told about a guy because he is "wearing horns" In european countries, someone "wearing horns" means that his wife cheated with another guy... so in this very song, you have to translate cabron as "cuckhold"

you can check with this spanish/fench dictionnary larousse.fr/dictionnaires/espagnol-francais/cabr%C3%B3n/168357

cabron, can be an animal in a normal meaning, or a vulgar way for "cocu" in french tongue...

"cocu" in french tongue... means "cuckhold" in english dictionnaire.reverso.net/francais-anglais/cocu

check the lyrics and you'll see that the match is perfect. The cuckhold is the very last to be told he is a cuckhold the very local news of the lyrics refers as the wife has cheated

so, when someone happens to learn he is a cuckhold, there are two options : punching the other guy... if you're mad or get along with the other guy and having a barbecue because all of us are cuckholds !

I hope that'll help :)

and C.U cuckholds :)

dunno who told us about his teacher whom is a spanish native but he should find another teacher... and go do it with his wife if she is not ugly... so that he'll be able to sing this song over him withtout bein caught :)