Los Ornelas

The Ornelas

Los Ornelas

It was the year '77Fue el año 77
Sunday, May 15thDomingo 15 de mayo
Five brave souls diedMurieron 5 valientes
In a cockfighting ringEn una plaza de gallos
Left halfway in the pitQuedando a medio palenque
Five men and two horses5 hombres y 2 caballos

Pedro, Juan, José, and FranciscoPedro, Juan, José y Francisco
The other was TeodomiroEl otro era Teodomiro
From the ranch of ReparitoDel rancho del reparito
Ornelas was their nameOrnelas su apelativo
All five were brothersLos 5 eran hermanitos
Brave and determinedValientes y decididos

The fight was in MichoacánEl juego era en Michoacán
At the ranch of El PotreroEn el rancho del potrero
Teams from ApatzingánPartidos de Apatzingán
From Toluca and GuerreroDe Toluca y de Guerrero
From Mexico CityDel Distrito Federal
From Uruapan and Pueblo NuevoDe Uruapan y Pueblo Nuevo

From Pueblo Nuevo came downDe Pueblo Nuevo bajaba
To fight was José SagreroA jugar José Sagrero
The Ornelas respondedLos ornelas contestaban
With roosters and with cashCon gallos y con dinero
They won all the fightsTodas las peleas ganaron
But lost their lives insteadPero su vida perdieron

The father of the OrnelasEl padre de los ornelas
A good man and quite wealthyUn hombre bueno y muy rico
Begged them not to goLes rogaba que no fueran
Crying, the poor old manLlorando el pobre ancianito
I lose my money in vainYo pierdo en vano el dinero
Just to keep their promisePor cumplir su compromiso

They mounted their horsesMontaron en sus caballos
Ignoring their father’s pleasSin atender a su padre
Sagrero was waitingSagrero los esperaba
Confident he’d beat themMuy seguro de ganarles
When the tables turnedAl ver que fue lo contrario
They were killed that afternoonLos mataron esa tarde

Ten million they were betting10 millones les ganaban
The Ornelas against SagreroLos ornelas a Sagrero
They shot them down dirtyA la mala les tiraron
Because they were scared of themPorque les tuvieron miedo
Twenty armed cowards20 cobardes armados
Surprised them all at onceA un tiempo los sorprendieron

The Sagreros, terrifiedLos Sagreros espantados
Ran away in a panicCorrieron despavoridos
They didn’t even take their gunsNi las armas les quitaron
Fearing they might still be aliveTemían que estuvieran vivos
They killed two horses2 caballos les mataron
And that’s where the ballad ends.Y aquí termina el corrido