10 Meanings
Add Yours
Follow
Share
Q&A

Chan Chan Lyrics

De Alto Cedro voy para Marcane
Luego A Cueto voy para Mayari.

El carino que te tengo
Yo no lo puedo negar
Se me sale la babita
Yo no lo puedo evitar

Cuando Juanica y Chan Chan
En el mar cernian arena
Como sacudia el 'jibe'
A Chan Chan le daba pena

Limpia el camino de paja
Que yo me quiero sentar
En aquel tronco que veo
Y asi no puedo llegar

De Alto Cedro voy para Marcane
Luego a Cueto voy para Mayari.
10 Meanings

Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.

Add your thoughts...
Cover art for Chan Chan lyrics by Buena Vista Social Club

One more thing...

The villages and cities mentioned in the song (i.e. Alto Cedro, Marcané, Cueto and Mayarí) are all in Holguín Province in eastern Cuba. Christopher Clolumbus called it ''the most beautiful country human eyes has ever seen...''

I might just go and meet my very own Juanica.

Cover art for Chan Chan lyrics by Buena Vista Social Club

Well, it's definitely got an erotic vibe to it...

A boy named Chan Chan and a girl named Juanica travel throughout Cuba searching for sand to build a house with. They finally arrive at the perfect beach and set about sifting the sand to remove the pebbles. Things begin to get more tense however, when Juanica begins to shake her sieve. Chan Chan can't help but notice her body moving rhythmically beneath the folds of her dress. The feelings this sight elicits from him soon fill him with shame and he leaves the beach hurriedly, seeking shelter beneath a tree (to masturbate perhaps, who knows?).

P.S. You never know when a few lines in español might come in handy:

El cariño que te tengo No te lo puedo negar Se me sale la babita Yo no lo puedo evitar

The love I have for you Is something I cannot deny I drool all over I cannot help it

Cover art for Chan Chan lyrics by Buena Vista Social Club

I went to Cuba at the end of my senior year for an educational trip. It was the best two weeks of my life.

Cover art for Chan Chan lyrics by Buena Vista Social Club

I love Buena Vist Social Club... but I wish I could understand Spanish.

Cover art for Chan Chan lyrics by Buena Vista Social Club

this song makes me all emotional and junk.. its so pretty

Cover art for Chan Chan lyrics by Buena Vista Social Club

I love Buena Vist Social Club... but I wish I could understand Spanish.

Cover art for Chan Chan lyrics by Buena Vista Social Club

I love Buena Vist Social Club... but I wish I could understand Spanish.

Cover art for Chan Chan lyrics by Buena Vista Social Club

Isn't this song about masturbation? u_u

Cover art for Chan Chan lyrics by Buena Vista Social Club

Esta canción me encanta, está es una de mis canciones favoritas. Por desgarcia los no van a hacer otras canciones... ¡qué triste!

Cover art for Chan Chan lyrics by Buena Vista Social Club

Maybe the song does not mean anything, but let us say it is from old Cuban lore, only that there is no Cuban lore of Chan Chan and Juanica that I know, but there is Cuban lore (Abakua secret society and religion foundational myth, it has much influence on Cuban music) of Eribangando and Sikan. All were looking for the Voice everywhere but it could not be found. Sikan, the princess, and Efi prince were lovers. She went to get water and found the Tanze fish, the Voice, incarnation of the high god Abasi. Ceiba (jiba, sieve in the song) is a tree, another incarnation of the high god. She made wrong and told her lover. She was sacrificed, the lover become sad. Eribangando cleared the path to the sacred tree Ukano Bekonsi. It is not clear if Eribangando was the lover, but he saved Sikan from a snake, had great love for her. This is a rather similar story, else what means clear the path and go to sit on the tree trunk?

 
Questions and Answers

Ask specific questions and get answers to unlock more indepth meanings & facts.

Ask a question...