Ciudad de La Banda

From Santiago to the east crossing the Dulce River
before the little canal the city begins.
With its low houses, its sunny patios,
gardens with geraniums, the family table.
Dirt streets that are watered in the afternoon
Besares avenue, La Alambra, the station.
How to forget all that if it's part of my life
if there in my adolescence I lived my first love.

Oh! city of La Banda through scented estates
tree-lined sidewalks where I learned to love
Oh! romantic and beautiful city of La Banda
my love I declare to you, girl, in this waltz.

I remember those braids of Olímpico and Tiro
those fierce Sundays of Sarmiento and Central,
those serenades over in Villa Juana
that never ended before dawn.
Where are the boys with their tops and marbles
who became your gangs, Trujillo and Villa Unión.
Today when two dawns lit up in my temples
my eyes moisten with the memory.
Oh! city of La Banda...

Oh! romantic and beautiful city of La Banda
my love I declare to you, girl, in this waltz.