Pepe's song
Pepe emptied his pockets
Had no money for the train
Stood on the crowded station concourse
Thinking – I’m never ever going home again
So he walked up to a stranger
Said – Hey mister
Won’t you please give me my fare
And two hours later he was rich
And still standing there
He had made an important discovery
How easy taking other people’s money can be
And when Pepe danced
He’d close his eyes
Stretch his wings
And he would fly
Like a bird
Gliding high
In those deep blue
Spanish skies
Pepe picked pockets
And stole his first car
Broke into a luxury apartment
Thinking I want to be like the rich kids are
In the comisaría
Detective García pinned Pepe’s picture to the wall
Said – I’m gonna get you kid
And all it took was one call
Newspaper reporters
Told of Pepe’s life of crime
From court to institution
And back to the street one more time
And when Pepe danced
He’d close his eyes
Stretch his wings
And he would fly
Like a bird
Gliding high
In those deep blue
Spanish skies
Eloy was a film director
Put Pepe on the screen
And after two movies
He was the most famous juvenile delinquent
There had ever been
He was a guest on television
He was a host on the late night radio
He fell in love with an actress
From a musical show
He had money, he had love, he had fame
And all the kids on the street
Knew his name
And when Pepe danced
He’d close his eyes
Stretch his wings
And he would fly
Like a bird
Gliding high
In those deep blue
Spanish skies
Pepe got a habit
He ran out of money to support
It cost him his job, his girl, his car, his apartment
And the respect for which he’d fought
He walked the city streets
But whichever way he turned all he could see
Were the banks that seemed to call out to him
'You can rob me'
Pepe’s story was about to end as it had begun
Just a lonely boy on the run
And when Pepe danced
He’d close his eyes
Stretch his wings
And he would fly
Like a bird
Gliding high
In those deep blue
Spanish skies
pepe's song
words & music by Robert Campbell
illustrations by Piet Luethi
Back in the 1980s there was a whole series of films about young Spanish delinquents such as Navajeros (1980) and Yo, El Vaquilla (1985). The film director Eloy de la Iglesia specialised in this type of film and he features in this song about a kid who becomes the most famous juvenile delinquent in Spain.