El Mal Lyrics in English by Zoe Saldaña, Karla Sofia Gascón, Camille
Empresas fantasmas literally means “ghost companies,” but the established English equivalent is “shell companies”: businesses that exist mainly on paper, often to hide money or contracts. In the song, the phrase exposes alleged corruption involving fake public-school projects, making it both vivid and highly relevant to the song’s political theme.
In Emilia Pérez this is the fundraising gala where the guests get named one by one. Every verse starts with "Miren al" [Look at] and points at somebody in the room: the chemist they made "ministro de algo" [minister of something], who had his partner's family killed and disposed of with "A-a-a-ácido" [A-a-a-acid]; the judge who throws out cases "a falta de pruebas" [for lack of evidence]; the governor, with the pointed question "¿Quién votó por él, la gente o el cártel?" [Who voted for him, the people or the cartel?]. The chorus keeps the threat short: "Habla, esta gente habla" [They talk, these people talk], "Pero ahora lo van a pagar" [But now they're gonna pay].
The best joke is Emilia's own verse. A former cartel boss stands up in front of these men and calls herself "Una mujer como las demás" [A woman like any other]. Then the song drops the sarcasm for its last lines, about the families of the disappeared who never get a body back: "Perder a un ser amado es una tragedia" [Losing a loved one is a tragedy], "Perder sus restos es una condena" [Losing their remains is a curse].
