El Vivo Y El Bobo Lyrics in English by Gente De Zona, Haned, Lucho dBi
Bobo translates to "fool" or "dummy." While it might seem simple, it's used in a very specific and culturally relevant phrase in this song: "El vivo quiere vivir del bobo."
This phrase, which means "The clever one wants to live off the fool," is a common Cuban saying. It highlights a dynamic where someone cunning tries to take advantage of someone naive. Understanding bobo in this context unlocks a deeper cultural insight into the song's message about self-reliance and not being taken advantage of.
Gente de Zona spend this whole song telling everybody to mind their own business. The hook is an old Cuban proverb, "El vivo quiere vivir del bobo" [the sly one wants to live off the fool], and once you hear it that way the rest of the track is the group refusing to be the fool. "Lo mío me lo busco solo" [I earn what is mine on my own], then the line that sounds lifted straight off a corner-store sign, "No se presta, ni se fía" [nothing lent, nothing on credit]. It is a boast, but a tired one, the kind you make about people who stopped calling.
The second verse is where the accounting happens. "A mí nadie me regaló nada" [nobody gave me anything], and "Para los que me han virao' el brazo, yo seguí mi paso" [for those who turned their back on me, I kept on my way]. The best bit is smaller than either of those. "El tiempo siempre / Va a decir quién es quién" [time will always tell who is who] gets said once and then left alone while the beat carries on, which is far more confident than arguing the point would be. Haned and Lucho dBi trade shout-outs over the top, and the track signs off by naming everyone in the room.
