San Juan Bay (Clutching of Pearls)

This is my love letter to the Puerto Rican people and a reminder that Latin music has always been part of the American soundscape. Music holds no bias, no bigotry, and no single language can contain the rich tapestry it weaves into our hearts. How quickly we forget the rhythms that lifted us.

From Machito, the Cuban-born bandleader who helped create Afro-Cuban jazz in the 1940s, to Ritchie Valens, whose “La Bamba” became the first mainstream rock hit sung entirely in Spanish. From Carlos Santana fusing Latin American jazz with rock and roll, Gloria Estefan’s Latin percussion shaking up the pop charts, to the global rise of Jennifer Lopez, Selena, Shakira, and now Bad Bunny, who will make history at the Super Bowl in 2026. This vibrant music has always been here. It’s not new. It’s legacy.

One day, I hope we can leave behind our petty fears and embrace the joy music offers. Even if it’s not your taste, don’t let your outrage be about language. That kind of performative panic doesn’t protect culture; it only reveals how small your vision of it really is.

Verse
You get enraged from books and songs
And lose your mind when nothing’s wrong
Clutching pearls at the Superbowl
Saying things are out of control
“English”, you scream, “is the only way!
Deport the star from San Juan Bay!”

Chorus
You put up walls, we build a stage
You push us back, we turn the page
The music’s stronger than you think
A language shared, our secret link
 
Verse
You cry when things don’t go your way
Leading our country to moral decay
Would not wear a mask but used your voice
Yelling out “My body, my choice”
You could not see the irony
As you drowned in the hypocrisy

Chorus
You whine and moan, we do the work
You call us weak, we heal the hurt
We’re much stronger than you know
We’re rising high, you’re sinking low

Bridge
A group of children are far more mature
Than you could ever be, I’m sure
They’ll dance to songs in any language
And build a world without your baggage

Chorus
You put up walls, we build a stage
You push us back, we turn the page
The music’s stronger than you think
A language shared, our secret link

Outro
The Spanish rhythms, bilingual hooks
Love letters sung from deepest roots
Latin music’s been here for an age
We danced the congas before your rage