| Lyrics: | ESMERALDA
I am Esmeralda Agrón, Señora.
I know I've no right to speak.
My son
is not the savage boy you see,
The cape, the sneer, the slicked-back hair
It hides the
child I nursed and bathed,
Señora.
Please don't turn your eyes from me
Your son,
gone to God, and mine to blame
My fated son,
He too is gone
The state will see to
that, I am sure,
Señora
The state will see to that, I am sure.
1ST
MOTHER
You Spanish people, you come to this country
Nothing here changes your
lives
Ungrateful immigrants asking for pity
When all of your answers are knives
This
city makes a cartoon of a crime
Capes and umbrellas the glorification of
slime
I have
to face this horror, Señora.
2ND MOTHER
My religion
Asks me to pray for the
murderer's soul
But I think you'd have to be
Jesus on the cross
To open your heart
after such a loss
Can I forgive him?
Can I forgive him?
No, I cannot
Can I
forgive him
No, I cannot
Friends become strangers
Compassion is hard to express
in words
The trembling flowers they bring
Fear in the roots and the stem
What
happened to me they know could happen
to them.
Can I forgive him
No, I
cannot
Can I forgive him
No
ESMERALDA
Only God can say 'Forgive'
His
son too received a knife
But we go on, we have to live
With this cross we call our
life
1ST MOTHER
Feels like a bomb fell
And wave after wave come the
aftershocks
2ND MOTHER
You can't believe that it's true
There must be some
mistake
You drift through this nightmare from which
you can't wake
BOTH
MOTHERS
Can I forgive him?
Can I forgive him,
No, I cannot
Can I forgive
him?
Can I forgive him, no, I cannot
Can I forgive him?
Can I forgive him, no,
I cannot
Can I forgive him
No, I cannot.
Lead Vocal, Acoustic
Guitar-Paul Simon
Recorded at Paul Simon's home |
