This lighthearted song tells the story of a work break gone wrong. The singer tells of a hot day, when he and his co-workers sit under the coconut tree to barbecue and crack open a few beers—but by the end, all the beer is gone, and so is his job! Our Saturday evening practice group transcribed this one back in early July. Now, with only one song left in our current “season,” Jay is already refreshing the list for the next round.

As always, this post includes the Chamorro lyrics and an English translation for Unu Ha’ na Låta by Daniel De Leon Guerrero. Happy listening!

Annai gof maipe i ha’åni, annai duru1 ham manmacho’cho’	When the day was very hot, when we were working hard
Manmatåchong ham påpa trongkun niyok, pues duru på’gu ham mambarbeque	We sat down under the coconut tree, then we are barbecuing hard now
Ai pues måttu magas-måmi, ai duru ham på’gu di ha lalåtdi	Oh then our boss arrived, oh he really scolded us
Ai ilek-ña unu gi mangga’chong, “Båsta pachot-mu ya un gimini”	Oh, one of the guys said, “Stop talking and drink”

Unu ha’ na setbesa ginimen-hu åntes di u talo’åni	I just drank one beer before the afternoon
Lao annai pångpang dossi na låta kulan månnge’ hu siesienti	But when chugged twelve cans, I felt so good
Lao annai pångpång un kes, mafire yu’ despues, guihi na ha’åni	But when I drank a case, they fired me after, (on) that day

Ai pues ma’ågang magas-måmi påpa para ufisina	Oh then our boss was called down to the office
Ilek-ña, “Guaha guini mangihåyi2 na duru hamyu manggimen sitbesa”	He said, “Someone here tattled that you guys are drinking beer hard”

Ilek-ña, “Unu ha’ na sitbesa ginimen-hu, boss, åntes di u talo’åni”	He said, “It was only one beer that I drank, boss, before the afternoon”
Lao annai pångpång dossi na låta, kulang månnge’ hu siesienti	But when (I) slammed twelve cans, I was feeling good
Lao annai pångpang dos kes manmafire ham despues, guahu yan i magas-måmi	But when we kicked back two cases, we were fired afterwards, me and our boss

[dandan interlude]

Ilek-hu, “Unu ha’ na setbesa ginimen-hu åntes di u talo’åni”	I said, “I just drank one beer before the afternoon”
Lao annai pångpang dossi na låta kulan månnge’ hu siesienti	But when I threw back twelve cans, I felt good
Lao annai pångpång dos kes, mafire yu’ despues, guahu yan i magas-måmi	But when I slammed two cases, then they fired me, me and my boss

Ai pues humånao yu’ para i gima’, ha nánangga yu’ ai si neni	Then I went home, oh (my) baby was waiting for me
Ilek-ña, “Håfa granpuniteru3, håfa på’gu para åpas dibi?”	She said “What, m**er f***er3, how are we going to pay our bills now?”

Ilek-hu, “Unu ha’ na setbesa ginimen-hu, neni, åntes di u talo’åni”	I said “I drank only one beer, baby, before the afternoon”
Lao annai pångpang dossi na låta kulan månnge’ in siesienti	But when I slammed twelve cans, it was like we were feeling pretty good
Lao annai pångpång tres kes, manmafire ham despues, guahu yan i magas-måmi	But when I pounded three cases, they fired us, me and my boss
Lao annai pångpång tres bes, manmafire ham despues, guahu yan i magas-måmi	But when the count hit three, they fired us after that, me and by boss

Notes

1. duru: This can mean “hard, fast, continuously, or vigorously.” The idea is that you are doing something in a continuous, untiring manner. In English, we often use the word “hard” to convey this idea. For example: I was working hard; I was studying hard. ↩︎
2. mangihåyi: The root word is kiyåyi or kehåyi, which means “to tell on someone.” It has been transformed with the indefinite man- prefix in this form. ↩︎
3. granpuniteru: This might also be spelled as Gran puñetero. One of the speakers in our group was telling us that this is considered a very bad, vulgar thing to call someone. ↩︎
4. granpuniteru: This might also be spelled as Gran puñetero. One of the speakers in our group was telling us that this is considered a very bad, vulgar thing to call someone. ↩︎