GTA 5 and the farm · 9:42pm Sep 28th, 2013
Man, everybody and their mothers are playing GTA5. Except me of course, I have no money and even if I had, I wouldn't be able to play more than 1 hour a day, and frankly how can you play such a massive game with intervals of 1 hour? It's immpossible.
But this blog is not about me not playing GTA5, no it's about a song in one of the stations. East Los FM 106.2
I know most people on the English speaking parts preffer other stations and ignore (or even hate) the spanish sounding station.
I will focus on one song in particular: -La Granja- por LosTigres del Norte. (The farm- The Tigers of the North).
Before the release of GTA5, when they revealed the radio stations and some of the songs that would feature, people reacted negatively towards this song.
Of course the majority of the complains were people who hates anything that has to do with spanish speaking persons or doesn't really 'get' what Norteño style music is all about. Also there were those who are fans of Norteño style music and Fans of LTdN who believe they makers should've selected other songs from the band that are far more superior.
Personally, I'm not a big fan of Norteño but I like LTdN, their music is very popular and influential, thought I may not be a big fan who know all their songs, the very few songs I like, I enjoy them fully. Now, when La Granja was announced to be in GTA5, I was neutral about the whole thing. I was happy that LTdN were in GTA but I personally would've sellected another song. But the more I thought about it, the more it make sense that song was selected; and that's because of the lyrics.
La Granja- thought it may not make sense if translated to english because the whole song is a giant metaphor for the current state of affairs in Mexico's goverment and society. And since I kinda enjoy telling people stuff they neever knew, I'll be translating the Lyrics and explaining just what the heck they mean, and maybe make people undestand a little bit about why this song make sense in GTA5 context.
[0:10 - 0:37]
"If the dog(bitch) is tied,
Althought she barks all day,
You shouldn't let her loose,
My grampa saidto me:
They might regret it,
Those who didn't know her"
Here the dog/bitch is a metaphor fot Organized Crime and violence, that was 'kept in line' thanks to the goverment. The granpa represents the goverment under the PRI ( spanish for: Institutional Revolutionary Party) who had been in absolute power over 70 years until the year 2000 when PAN (National Action Party) won the presidency. Now I could talk hours about PRI 's corruption and downright evil but let's just say they have dealings with organized crime so they stayed calm and low profile and let people have a sense of security.
[0: 40 - 1:07]
" 'cause of the fox we now know,
He came to break the dishes (to screw thing's up),
And the Bitch's rope,
he muched on it for some time,
And I think she was set loose,
to make a big mess"
the fox is a joke about the PAN 's candidate who won the presidency in 2000, Vicente Fox. He was the one who started a campain against Org. Crime, and "make the bitch go loose" means which here in Mexico we still live and feel the consecuance of his actions.
[1:11- 1:39]
"The piggies helped him (the fox)
They feed from the farm,
Everyday they want more corn,
and the income is lost.
And the Working farmer,
no longer trust them."
The Piggies are the PAN's Deputies (federal representatives), who "feed" from the riches of our country( the farm), the "corn" is the money gained from taxes which goes to the Piggies own pockets. And that causes the genral population/lower and middle class (the farmer) to no longer trust they goverment officials. (not that we trusted them to begion with)
[1:48 - 2:15]
"A hawk fell down,
the chicks commented,
Did it fell alone,
or the winds brought it down?
All the animals, were frightened by the noise."
The hawk is the plane of the Secretary of Interior Juan Camilo Mouriño, who died in the inccident.
The chicks represent the media and their speculation if it was an accident or if some Cartel was responsable.
The rest of the animals are goverment officials who are afraid of being next if it the Cartel were really responsable.
[2:18 - 2:46]
"The rabbit is dying,
In and out of the cage,
Every day there is so much death,
all along the farm,
Because there are no crops
like yestarday with so much alfalfa"
The Hitmen for Org. Crime ( the rabbit) are dying off inside and outside of jail because everyday they are shotouts and killings throught the country.
Also everyday they kept of finding and decomissioning tons upon tons of drugs (which are the crops and the alfalfa).
Sad Fact: the violence on the streets between the cops, armed forces and the cartels were so bloody and common in some parts of Mexico, schools from kindergartner to high school had drills and taught students what to do when people opened fire near schools.
Seeing dead people in the street was becomeing so common that if there was dead body in front of your store you just put a blanket over it and open like any other day and the patrons would still come and skip over the corpse to enter and shop.
I'm not sure what are the exact numbers of casualities (civil, police, armed forces, etc.) but the number went so high that there were more more deaths per day in Mexico than in countries that were waging war at the time.
[2:49- 3:14]
"On the edge of the farm,
A big fence was made,
So the farmer continues working,
And doesn't leave the farm,
'Because the bitch doesn't bite' (they say)
Thought the farmer doesn't agree."
Obviously the fence is the wall erected by USA to prevent illigal inmigration.
Thought I could also talk hours about WHY inmigration happens, the most influental factors are: the corruption of the goverment, the insecurity on the streets, the lack of jobs and the desire for a better life. Most of these factors can be attribuited to two sources: The PRI and the USA goverment and population.
Now when I say that, I'm not pointing figers or shifting the blame, but throught history, many of the problems Mexico faces right now can be traced back to the intrusion of the USA goverment in affairs that didn't concern them (Monroe Doctrine) and the USA populations' need for drugs that come form South america and before they arrive to USA, need to pass through Mexico first which caused the proliferation of Cartels and organized Crime.
Though Mexican population has the blame too, becasue instead of fighting back, the majority just accepted everything as fate or just bad luck and hope for things to get better without sacrficing anything. For them is easier to run away than staying and face the problem.
[3:19 - 3:51]
"Today and everyday,
We have so much insecurity,
Because the bitch is loose,
And she came to ruin everything.
Among all the farmers,
We have to tie her back...."
This is just a message and a cry for people to stand their ground and fight back against Org. Crime and regain some semblance of peace.
Now what does this have to do with GTA5?
Well, just think about it? Who are the ones (in-game) who listen to the spanish radio station and this song.
Most of the Hispanic-gangs are people who illegally crossed the border in hopes of escaping the violence and the corruption only to find themselves in a place whre the only people who accept them are other Hispanic people, who know what is like back home. Now, like any concentration of people who share a language and culture (especially one that had been filled with insecurity and violence this past decades) , it is innevitable the formation of gangs who proceed to commit crime activities.
In a way this song, though not the best of LTdN, is one that is very fitting for the culture and gangs that GTA5 makes refference and parody.
I hope you all learn something today and maybe open your eyes and ears to something new and different.
I knew mexican gangs and cartels were dangerous, and I didn't know of any hispanic songs with this kind of depth to them (emphasis on know of any, not just know), also thanks for reminding me that I forgot what the monroe document was (just about the only word of importance that I forgot In American History)
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It doesn't hurt to know a little more about history. And the Monroe Doctrine really pissed off a lot of countries back in the day. It's effect still resonate to this day.
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