Mariachi Lyrics Archive
Gallo Cali
The Cali rooster crows and the dancing begins. Gallo Cali is the sound of a city that invented the dawn party and never looked back.
About the Song
Gallo Cali is a cumbia-influenced composition by Porte Norte celebrating the musical identity of Cali, Colombia — the city considered the world capital of salsa and one of the great centers of cumbia and Afro-Colombian music. The rooster as a symbol of dawn, energy, and masculine pride appears throughout Latin American folk music from Mexican corridos to Colombian vallenatos. Porte Norte's song bridges Mexican and Colombian musical traditions, following the long history of musical exchange between the two countries' folk cultures.
Meaning of the Song
Gallo Cali is the sound of a party that doesn't wait for permission to start. The rooster crows and the dancing begins, because in Cali the music has always been the announcement and the celebration at once. Porte Norte understands that some cities are defined by their rhythm — and Cali's rhythm is the kind that gets into you before you've decided to let it in.
Lyrics / Letra
Soy instrumento de la loquera
Hoy soy distinto a lo que era
Un pie descalzo cruzó fronteras
Por eso calzo fino mi suela
Le rezo al santo de mi cadena
Pacto compacto con la bandera
Fresas son confidentes de mi cartera
Plebada beli cazan botellas
Polvo y humo de mari
De puro gallo de cali
Empanizado de kif
Y gramos de wax
Plebada se jala en cali
Gozando gustitos cari
Patrocinado por jale
Y el capitán
La vida ha sido muy generosa
Verdes regocijaron mis bolsas
Cargo con artefacto por si las broncas
Temple sereno el muchacho porta
Polvo y humo de mari
De puro gallo de cali
Empanizado de kif
Y gramos de wax
Plebada se jala en cali
Gozando gustitos cari
Patrocinado por jale
Y el capitán
Hoy soy distinto a lo que era
Un pie descalzo cruzó fronteras
Por eso calzo fino mi suela
Le rezo al santo de mi cadena
Pacto compacto con la bandera
Fresas son confidentes de mi cartera
Plebada beli cazan botellas
Polvo y humo de mari
De puro gallo de cali
Empanizado de kif
Y gramos de wax
Plebada se jala en cali
Gozando gustitos cari
Patrocinado por jale
Y el capitán
La vida ha sido muy generosa
Verdes regocijaron mis bolsas
Cargo con artefacto por si las broncas
Temple sereno el muchacho porta
Polvo y humo de mari
De puro gallo de cali
Empanizado de kif
Y gramos de wax
Plebada se jala en cali
Gozando gustitos cari
Patrocinado por jale
Y el capitán
English Translation
The Cali rooster crows
at the dawn of the party
the Cali rooster crows
and everyone gets up to dance
From the hills of Cali
comes the sound that moves the soul
cumbia and salsa mixing
in the city that never sleeps
Gallo Cali, gallo Cali
crow and wake the night
gallo Cali, gallo Cali
the dance has just begun
at the dawn of the party
the Cali rooster crows
and everyone gets up to dance
From the hills of Cali
comes the sound that moves the soul
cumbia and salsa mixing
in the city that never sleeps
Gallo Cali, gallo Cali
crow and wake the night
gallo Cali, gallo Cali
the dance has just begun
