Pedro Navaja



Pedro Navaja (Pedro Knife) is a salsa song written and performed by Rubén Blades from the 1978 collaboration with Willie Colón, Siembra, about a criminal of the same name. "Navaja" means knife or razor (hence an analogy to Blades' surname) in Spanish. Inspired by the song Mack the Knife, it tells the story of a panderer's life and his presumed death. The song is recognized throughout Hispanic America as it pictures scenes and stories common to these countries, even though the story takes place in New York City. The song deals with life, death and the unexpected with dark humor.

There is also a movie titled Pedro Navaja, filmed in Mexico in 1984, starring Andrés García as the title character, Maribel Guardia as his girlfriend, and Resortes as his best friend, which is based on this song; it was made without Blades's input, which caused him to record "Sorpresas" (Surprises), a song that continues the story, turning the movie's plot around by revealing Navaja was still alive and had killed another panderer while he was being searched by the panderer, provided that the other panderer believed he was truly dead. There was also a musical, La verdadera historia de Pedro Navaja, based on the Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht's play The Threepenny Opera, staged in Lima, Peru, starring, among others, Camila Mac Lennan, and in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where Luis Vigoreaux played the title character. The 1984 Mexican film had a 1986 sequel, El Hijo de Pedro Navaja (Pedro Navaja's Son), which starred Guillermo Capetillo.

Reception
On the review of the album Siembra, John Bush of Allmusic referred the message as "a devastating life-in-el-Barrio exposé". He also praised the arrangements of Willie Colón and Luis Ortiz, noting the use of street noise and police sirens as well as the statement "I like to live in America". David Wilson of Wilson & Alroy's called "Pedro Navaja" a "masterpiece".

Covers
The song has been covered by Los Joao, La Lupe, La Orquesta Plateria (that popularized the song in Spain), Pepe Arevalo, Los Flamers, Roman Palomar, A Palo Seko, Markoz, and La Pozze Latina. Pedro Navaja was one of the songs that Puerto Rican singer Chayanne covered his 1994 album, Influencias. Mexican pop singer, Emmanuel covered the song on his live album, Emmanuel Presenta...