Vida [English translation]

No one’s born into a family or a people they have chosen

Will we be rich or poor, good or bad, fearful or outspoken?

We are born of a decision made without our consultation

And no one can predict the situation

When we are born we do not know even the name that will define us

Or what the future hides, or the path that lies before us

Between the cradle and the grave, we each seek out a pathway

And every choice we make has a part to play

We are just another deck in a game that already started

And we bet on cards that someone else has dealt us or discarded

Life is a doorway where no one pays to go inside

And your soul is the ticket they rip when they bill you for the ride

And each step creates a footprint, and each footprint tells a story

And each day gone by becomes a star on the horizon of your memory

And the tide of time ebbs and flows with all our contradictions

And our mistakes have time to heal between returning home and valediction

And our friends are all the family we have chosen among strangers

And in solitude or company, you learn lessons that will change you

That your spirit answers only to what your conscience dictates

And being a man and being a male are not the same

No one’s born into a family or a people they have chosen

Will we be good or bad, fair or foul, acquitted or imprisoned?

From when we’re born to when we die our life remains a wager

But our will provides the power for us to change it

(I’m dreaming of world that could be different

Where our love will always live on

Let’s make a world that will be different

Where our love will always burn strong...)

• Artist:Rubén Blades
• Album:Tiempos