El Manco Arana
Mercedes Sosa
The One-Armed Spider
The one-armed spider hits hard
When a job comes his way
And so hard it seems
Like he didn't lack an arm
He lost it in some harvest
In a mine or roping
With hunger at his heels
He didn't lose it by waving
I see him in the morning
With his two arms open
The left one, new and fresh
The right one, a dead child
If rest is an uphill battle
For the one-armed man for years
How can I not lend him
With my song, the arm for a while
The one-armed man's woman knows
That his love sounds like a guitar
And Arana strums in the air
All the warmth of his beloved
When a wine knocks him down
I imagine him dreaming
That suddenly through the canes
His arm rises peeling
Oh, Arana that's life
Or death if he wants it
Leave it to Arana
Because one doesn't die from being one-armed
