15 Cuban Minutes - Jimmy Buffett

Sana, sana colito de rana

Si, no sanas hoy

Bueno sana mañana

Mañana, mañana

Lo que dice Havana

Si, no paso hoy

Paso mañana

Fifteen Cuban minutes

Fairly safe to say

Can feel more like an hour

Or the entire day

In the land where time means nothing

Not hard to slip away

El Diablo baila sábado

Y los curas on Sunday

Fifteen Cuban minutes

The end is out of sight

So, I’ll meet you by the cannon

On the Malecón tonight

It started in Havana

In nineteen twenty-one

On the schooner Chiquimula

Where a party had begun

Primer cumpleaños

For a tiny lad at sea

And in my heart, is still

That faded photo of J.D.

Signal flags were flying

Atop the entire fleet

What a rhumba band from Santiago

Played the birthday boy to sleep

That’s the tale was told to me

A seadog nursery rhyme

And the music that was handed down

From a long forgotten time

Fifteen Cuban minutes

Can get lost in the fog

Life’s a test, just do your best

Like a three-legged dog

In the land where time means nothing

You can often lose your mind

Now place your bets, or better yet

Just join a conga line

Fifteen Cuban minutes

Can turn night into day

They’re dancin' on the tables

Down at El Frente

Another entry in the log

My mind put to a test

When we sailed with the Hemingways

On a schooner from Key West

They’d come to make a movie

'Bout long forgotten times

See old friends, drink some rum

And visit family shrines

So how the hell did we wind up

Just taggin' right along

They were lookin' for a soundtrack

And heard one of my songs

So I sang Havana Daydreamin'

Just me and my guitar

To some very stern KGB guys

Tryin' to blend in at the bar

So for fifteen Cuban minutes

La bodega did ignite

Bongos y tumbadoras

Kept us up all night

Mojitos by the minute

Crowd stacked at the door

Niños, dogs and roosters

Frolicked on the floor

Fifteen Cuban minutes

Lots of give and take

Birthdays always come and go

But not a birthday cake

Fifteen Cuban minutes

Are easy to embrace

No calendars or watch to wind

No schedules to chase

In the land where time means nothing

This phrase it cries, delay

Put it on a t-shirt

And everyone will pay

You say minutos Cubanos

Dejace la drama

Aqui no hay AC

Solo la ventana

Music makes us happy

It’s in our chromosomes

No matter where we wander

The music takes us home

It started on the island

Dispersed by sweet song birds

Who flew north 'cross the Gulf Stream

And everybody heard

Now the clock just keeps on tickin'

I hear it everywhere I go

And I sing along in cars and bars

Along Calles Ocho

God bless Ricky Ricardo

And little Ricky too

They set my mind on island time

How about you?

The Greeks and the Egyptians

Had sundials in the sand

Now we have atomic clocks

That measure the Big Bang

Still I prefer the simple way

Let’s take it to the street

More walkin' and less talkin'

Tap time with your feet

15 Cuban minutes

Still stands the test of time

Like a Salas photograph

Or a Kenneth Patchen rhyme

If you’re looking for a launch pad

No news just hearsay

Don’t bother with the Wi-Fi

Fuck Siri, ask Jośe

15 Cuban minutes

There’s no end in sight

I’ll meet you by the cannon

On the Malecón tonight

Sana, sana colita de rana

Si, no sanas hoy

Bueno sana mañana

Mañana, mañana

Lo que dice Havana

Si, no paso hoy

Paso mañana