¿Dónde Jugarán Los Niños? Lyrics in English by MANA
Pudriendo is the present participle of the verb pudrir, which means 'to rot' or 'to decay'. It's a very strong, visual word you won't hear in a typical pop song.
Maná uses it in the stark, emotional line "Se está pudriendo el mundo" (The world is rotting). This isn't literal, but a powerful metaphor for the environmental destruction and pollution destroying the planet, leaving no place for children to play. This word perfectly captures the song's urgent and unforgettable message.
Mexican rock band Maná kicks things off with a nostalgic memory: a grandfather talking about flying homemade kites (papalotes) beneath an open blue sky, surrounded by colorful calla lilies (alcatraces) and clear, odorless rivers packed with fish. But that peaceful past disappears fast. Once the elder passes away, the song smacks you with harsh reality. The singer looks around at modern pollution and asks a brutally direct question: "¿Dónde diablos jugarán los pobres niños?" ("Where the hell will the poor children play?"). Adding diablos (devils) gives the frustration extra bite, turning an innocent query into pure exasperation.
From there, the track unleashes dramatic, catastrophic imagery. The narrator warns that "la tierra está a punto de partirse en dos" ("the earth is about to split in two") while the sea literally "vomita ríos de aceite" ("vomits rivers of oil"). There is no subtle metaphor here; it is an urgent wake-up call about environmental ruin. As smoke chokes the sky and nature breaks down, the chorus repeats its anxious plea, insisting that "se está pudriendo el mundo" ("the world is rotting") and leaving future generations with nowhere left to run.
