Frijolero – Molotov

My father first introduced me to this song when I was six and I told him that someone called me a “dirty fucking beaner”. Although we are not Mexican, this song has hit home for so many Latinos that end up experiencing racism and xenophobia in the United States.

Today’s song is…

Frijolero by Molotov

English Subtitles:

This song had been Molotov’s greatest hit and has launched them to fame and success. Molotov specializes in rock, more specifically, Latinamerican rock. This genre is famous for being censored due to the immense criticization towards the government and society.

Let’s look at the lyrics:

I am fed up
With people putting a sombrero on me
So listen when I tell you
Don’t call me a beaner

Everybody knows that Mexican people are largely stereotyped with the Mexican sombrero; many times people wear it as a joke or costume for Halloween. What this line also means is that he is tired of all the negative stereotypes that white Americans put on Mexicans because this causes unnecessary hate and violence towards them for just existing.

We never inflate our currency
by going to war with other countries

Here Molotov is criticizing the way that America has been able to inflate their currency, by going to war and involving themselves in other countries. This is not always a bad thing, a main example that they kept in mind while writing this verse is that during World War Two, America had an immense contribution in terms of how the war ended. However there is no doubt that the US currency was the only stable one after the war. It is also important to note that the US gives weapons to countries in the Middle East, without any regard towards the people that live there and are suffering the consequences of their own greed.

Even though we’re portrayed
as sellers
of the drugs we plant
you are the consumers

Many Americans criticize Mexicans, or Latinos in general, over the fact that they grow the plants that turn into drugs, but here Molotov points out that the biggest consumer of these drugs are the Americans themselves. Everybody knows that the only way that these drugs are able to go through into the US is through the border. Meaning… that some members of the border patrol are in on these drug operations, so the blame cannot go solely onto Latinos.

If not for Santa Ana, just to let you know
That where your feet are planted would be Mexico

A huge piece of land on the West side in America used to belong to Mexico. The Santa Ana that they are referring to is the traitor that is responsible for handing over this land to the US, as seen in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.  Mexico’s influence over this land still remains to this day, as seen in city names such as Los Angeles, California, Las Vegas, Nevada, and Mesa, Arizona.

Citations:

Loesche, Dyfed, and Felix Richter. “Infographic: U.S. Arms Transfers to Rivaling Middle Eastern Allies.” Statista Infographics, 15 June 2017, https://www.statista.com/chart/9833/american-arms-exports-to-middle-eastern-countries/.

“Mexican Marijuana Farmers See Profits Tumble as U.S. Loosens Laws.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 30 Dec. 2015, https://www.latimes.com/world/mexico-americas/la-fg-mexico-marijuana-20151230-story.html.

projects, Contributors to Wikimedia. “Files.” Wikimedia Commons, Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., 6 June 2022, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Files.

“The State of California.” FIELDGUIDES OUTDOOR EDUCATION, https://www.fieldguides.org/fieldguides-blog/the-state-of-california.