Los Tigres del Norte perform their song “Somos más Americanos” from the album Uniendo Fronteras (released in Aug 2001) with Zack de la Rocha on MTV Unplugged.
They have shouted at me a thousand times I should go back to my country
Because there’s no room for me here
I want to remind the gringos: I didn’t cross the border, the border crossed to me
America was born free, but men divided it
They marked a line so that I jump it
And they can call me “invader”
And that’s a very frequent mistake
They took from us eight states
Who’s then the invader?
I’m a foreigner in my own land
And I didn’t come here to cause you trouble
I’m a hard-working man
And if history isn’t lying
The powerful nation settled here, in the glory
Among brave warriors,
Indians of two continents mixed with Spaniards
And if we take centuries into account
We are more American
We are more American than the children of the Anglo-Saxons
They got from us without money the waters of the Río Grande
And they took from us Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado
Also California and Nevada were taken away
Utah was not enough, so they took Wyoming as well
I’m the blood of the Indian
I’m Latin American, I’m mestizo
We are made of all colours
And of all trades
And if we take into account centuries
even if it hurts our neighbours
We are more American
Than all of the gringos
