Cantos a la Virgen de la Tirana

In La Tirana they are dancing
and to the Virgin they go to pray,
as a remedy for all evil,
the poor think they will heal.

Every month the foreman
before July comes to teach
mask and cape, lance and dagger,
how to worship the Virgin.

From Antofagasta, from La Paz,
that devilry comes to pay
others' debts, of the rest,
those who will never come to dance.

The Indian asks for water and corn
for the chicha of April
and if he gets sick he will ask
for the priest to come pray for him when he dies.

Every year he comes down again
from his mountains to dance,
Virgin of Carmen, what a carnival,
but his star will not change.