Chalino Lyrics in English by Eden Muñoz
Chalino is a corrido told from the point of view of the man who shot Chalino Sánchez, the singer known as "el rey del corrido" (the king of the corrido). Eden Muñoz writes it like a last confession. The narrator knows they have come for him: "No digan nada, sé a qué vienen" (don't say anything, I know what you're here for). He asks for one more drink, "Denme un Tecate, salud por mi despedida" (give me a Tecate, cheers to my farewell), Tecate being the Mexican beer you would expect at a party like this.
The details are what make it chilling. "Por la tejana se dieron cuenta quien era" (they knew who he was by his cowboy hat), where tejana is the Texan-style hat that was Chalino's trademark. The narrator remembers "15 de mayo" (May 15th), seeing him take off his hat while "Se oían Las Nieves De Enero" (you could hear Las Nieves de Enero), one of Chalino's own songs, and then "el dieciséis, Culiacán lo hizo de nuevo" (on the sixteenth, Culiacán did it again). The ending is a boast and a death sentence in one line: "Pa' que presuman, yo maté a Chalino Sánchez" (so they can brag about it, I killed Chalino Sánchez). It is a dark, clever way to pay tribute to a legend, and great for learning commands like denme, díganle and no se asombren.
