Pedro Navaja 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 blade in Spanish. Inspired by the song Mack the Knife, it tells the story of a panderer's life and presumed death. The song is recognized throughout Hispanic America, as it retells scenes and stories common to these countries, although the story takes place in New York City. The song deals with life, death and the unexpected with dark humor. A film titled Pedro Navaja based on the song was filmed in Mexico in 1984, starring Andrés García as the title character, Maribel Guardia as his girlfriend, and Resortes as his best friend. It was made without Blades's input and he responded by recording the song "Sorpresas", which continues the story, turning the movie plot by revealing that Navaja was alive and had killed another panderer while he was being searched by the panderer, provided that the other panderer believed Navaja was dead. The 1984 film had a 1986 sequel, El Hijo de Pedro Navaja starring Guillermo Capetillo. The story is believed to take place in the New York neighborhood of Queens. The musical La verdadera historia de Pedro Navaja is based on John Gay's "The Beggar's Opera". The book and lyrics are by Pablo Cabrera, and music is by Pedro Rivera Toledo. It was first produced by Teatro del Sesenta in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in 1980 at the Teatro Sylvia Rexach; toured to Santo Domingo, DR; and, opened the Joseph Papp's Latino Festivals of 1985 and 1986, where José Félix Gómez and Idalia Pérez Garay played the title role; also produced by the Teatro Musical de La Habana, Cuba; produced by the Compañía de Teatro Nacional de Venezuela ; Lolyn Paz produced it three times: in Caguas, Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Fort Lauderdale, FL ; Lima, Peru, starring, among others, Camila Mac Lennan.
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", part of the chorus lyrics for the song "America" from West Side Story, the film.
Covers
The song has been covered by Los Joao, La Lupe, La Orquesta Plateria, 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...
