Clandestino is the first full-length solo album by Manu Chao, released in 1998. The album contains many soundbites throughout, two of which are bits of a speech by Subcomandante Marcos. The French edition of Rolling Stone magazine named this album the 67th greatest French rock album (out of 100). The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
"Clandestino" is the second single and the title track from Manu Chao's first album, Clandestino. The lyrics of the song are sung in Spanish and deal with the issue of immigration: "I wrote it about the border between Europe and those coming from poorer nations. Look around — maybe 30% of the people in this street are clandestino [illegal]." The song peaked at number 78 on the French charts. It charted again in November 2013, peaking at number 196.
A music video was produced for the song along with the album track which appears on the single, "Mama Call".
Solo voy con mi pena
sola va mi condena
correr es mi destino
para burlar la ley
Perdido en el corazon
de la grande Babilon,
me dicen el clandestino
por no llevar papel
Pa'una ciudad del Norte
yo me fui a trabajar,
mi vida la deje
entre Celta y Gibraltar
soy una raya en el mar
fantasma en la ciudad,
mi vida va prohibida
dice la autoridad
Solo voy con mi pena
sola va mi condena
correr es mi destino
por no llevar papel
Perdido en el corazon
de la grande Babilon,
me dicen el clandestino
yo soy el quiebra ley
Chorus
Mano Negra
clandestino
Peruano
clandestino
Africano
clandestino
Marihuana
Ilegal
Solo voy con mi pena
sola va mi condena
correr es mi destino
para burlar la ley
Perdido en el corazon
de la grande Babilon,
me dicen el clandestino
por no llevar papel
Nigeriano
clandestino
Argeliano
clandestino
Mano Negra