Original Broadway Cast of On Your Feet
Mi Tierra
[CONSUELO, spoken]
I didn't know how much I failed her until the last night in La Habana. The last time she sang in front of an audience. That night, she was more than good! She was a star!
[GLORIA FAJARDO]
De mi tierra bella, de mi tierra santa
Oigo ese grito de los tambores
Y los timbales al cumbanchar
Y ese pregón que canta un hermano
Que de su tierra vive lejano
Y que el recuerdo lo hace llorar
Una canción que vive entonando
De su dolor, de su propio llanto
Y se le escucha penar
La tierra te duele, la tierra te da
En medio del alma cuando tú no estas
La tierra te empuja de raíz y cal
La tierra suspira si no te ve más
La tierra donde naciste, no la puedes olvidar
Porque tiene tus raíces y lo que dejas atrás
My homeland is grieving
My homeland is crying
I'll never forget her
Her soul I'll carry forever in my heart
Singing of her beauty, I will stay true (mi tierra)
Suffering the pain that she will go through (mi tierra)
Wherever I go, she'll be with me (mi tierra)
One day for certain I'll return
Mi tierra
Como me duele dejarte
No voy olvidar
My homeland has shaped me (my homeland)
Nourished me with pride (mi tierra)
My homeland will miss me
When I say goodbye
Goodbye!
[PHIL, spoken]
Emilio Estefan and Gloria Fajardo! Look at that! Straight from Miami! The sound and the machine! Welcome to New York!
What's this?
[EMILIO, spoken]
It's our next single. We need the label to get behind it and get it out there.
[PHIL, spoken]
It's in English. We can't put any money behind it.
[GLORIA, spoken]
We speak English! Well, him not so much, but the rest of us speak English.
[EMILIO, spoken]
We can cross over.
[PHIL, spoken]
Oh, God! There it is again, that phrase. You really wanna cross over? Fine! Get rid of the horns, simplify the percussion, change your name and then we'll talk!
[EMILIO, spoken]
When I first got to Miami, there was a sign in front of the apartment building next to ours. It said "No pets. No Cubans." Change my name? It's not my name to change, it's my father's name, it's my grandfather's name. My grandfather, who we left behind in Cuba to come here and build a new life! Now for fifteen years, I've worked my ass off and I've paid my taxes. So I'm not too sure where you think it is that I live, but this is my home. And you should look very closely at my face, because whether you know it or not, this is what an American looks like. We'll do it on our own.