Piraña
Willie Colon/Hector Lavoe Lyrics

The first set of lyrics from Willie Colón & Héctor Lavoe's song "Pirana" paints a vivid picture of a woman who is "sin grasa, sin transmisión, sin gasolina, sin aceite y sin motor" - essentially, a car that won't start. The use of car imagery is a metaphor for the woman's state - she is broken down and helpless. The singer mocks her, saying "estás más esmuañanga' ¡bendito!... para que sufras", which roughly translates to "you're more run down than a car! bless you!... so you'll suffer". Essentially, the singer seems to be expressing their schadenfreude at the woman's misfortune, perhaps indicating that she had somehow wronged him in the past.

The second set of lyrics takes a poetic turn, describing a journey the singer takes to see the woman in question. The imagery of "tierra dormida duramente abatida por la luz del sol" (land asleep, hardly beaten down by the sun) is evocative of a barren and hostile environment, which the singer struggles through to reach the woman. Despite this, "nada fue la distancia" - the distance was nothing to the singer, who was driven by "mi loca esperanza" (my crazy hope) of seeing her again. When they are finally reunited, the woman is described as "convertida en malamaña" - again, using car imagery to describe her as a broken-down object, in this case one that is deceitful or cunning. She is called a "piraña", a term that could be translated as "maneater" or "shark". The singer declares that she does not need to explain why she is called this, as it's clear from her actions and the way she presents herself.

Overall, the song seems to be about a man who has been hurt by a woman who is deceptive and manipulative, and who takes pleasure in seeing her brought low. The use of car imagery throughout the song reinforces the idea that the woman is a machine, an object to be used and disposed of. However, the poetic descriptions of the landscape and the journey to see her also suggest that there is a deeper emotional connection between the two that is being expressed through the metaphor.