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RYAN ALEXANDER-TANNER

The following is the fifth in a four-part series examining Carlos Santana’s album Supernatural. The author of the piece quickly realized four parts were not enough and added a fifth. This, though, is for real the final installment. Seriously. For god’s sake.

I can’t really comment on the “Latin-ness” of Carlos Santana, or the album Supernatural. I have no authority to do so. I’m just an outsider and an admirer looking in at a culture to which I do not belong. I can say, the song following “Maria Maria” SEEMS like the most overt departure from the glitzy, fly-over-state accessible version of Latin music that made this album such a massive commercial monster.

“Migra” is a protest song driven by thudding drums and chant-singing. It goes back and forth between English and Spanish, and it does so in an interesting way. The gist of the Spanish segment is “fuck you, immigration officers, you hateful fucking horse fuckers,” and the English segment of the song is “hey people, let’s love each other and try to do better.”

They never actually say horse fuckers. It’s dual signaling and probably snuck by the exact people who would’ve clutched their pearls over it. Good for you, Carlos Santana. Do your dance. The song itself is actually kind of cool. There are soaring horns in it, and your boy (Ian Karmel) loves soaring horns. I love them. I wish only to float in a hang glider propelled further toward the heavens by soaring horns until I’m engulfed by the sun and die and then you’ll all be sorry.

I will say, though, “Migra” has a part where whoever is singing goes “Chaaaaaa” a bunch of times in a row—and it kind of sucks. It feels like you’re watching a Broadway musical from the ’80s. It’s a nitpick—but baby, I’m picking it.