El caso de la rubia platino [English translation]

He gave me a check for 700 pesetas1 in advance

plus expenses, without taking 500 more into account

in casino chips.

My last train was coming late,

so I decided to accept the case

of the platinum blonde.

I was just some unlincensed private detective,

fired from the secret police for possession,2

extortions and troubles with skirts.

I was, like the good ex-cop I was,

salaried by a big fish who knew

how to watch his back.

No whore is worth that much money,

I thought while I was putting my new hat

in the wardrobe.

She sung ok, but she moved

her ass with a swing that melted3

the ice in the cups4

When she finished having sex and came out of the room

I felt like the bells of the past

were tolling in mourning.

The last time I heard that melody

I was prescribed three years and a day

plus taxes in the prison La Modelo.

Playing blackjack and being tough,

without having much money

is like trying to all in

fate with a bluff.

It's not coincidence

that I'm feared in the casinos.

I was being given ten thousand pesetas for the case

of the platinum blonde.

Kisses given by bad girls

turn out being more expensive when they're for free

and smell like failure.

But the croupier5 was throwing good cards at me

and the platinum blonde was a brunette6

and the case was a big case.

In a bistro in the Marseilles Fos port

we took our time drinking bottle

after bottle of fortified wine.

Those who put a bounty on your head,

I told them that, when trying to exaggerate your beauty

they had fallen short.

I may have been falling in love

since in the blink of an eye7 I changed sides,

hotel and hat.

My father8 put two beds in the room

pretending that the lady was a lady

and that his son was a gentleman.

I am not, members of the jury,

like my lawyer claims,

even temporarily insane.

I shot my lover in the heart,

with premeditation, malice

and more shame than glory.

When playing blackjack and being great at it9,

not having much money

is like trying to all in

fate with a bluff.

It's not just a coincidence

that I'm feared in the casinos.

I was being given ten thousand pesetas to tail10

the platinum blonde.

To get in touch again with the world

I needed a couple of good clients,

something to pay for my vices and a decent office.

I can't get enough to eat from the whores of China town.

It's not every monday I get the case

of the platinum blonde.

So as not to be a corpse in the railway,

apart from street smarts,

one has to know that skirts are like lottery.

My Aladdin lamp disregarded my wish11.

I was being given ten thousand pesetas

for the case of the platinum blonde.

1. He never specifies what currency is being used in this song, so I'll go with pesetas, which is the currency that Spain was using at the time. It could be dollars too, but since he says "setescientas" and not "setescientos" (female vs male, and pesetas is female, while dólar is male), I'm doing it this way.2. of illegal guns3. to "melt" is a term usually associated with sexiness in Spanish4. Copas in Spanish from Spain are both cups and slang for bars (I think) and brothels.5. The table attender in a casino6. She dyed her hair blond to seem more attractive to her clients7. Literally "before the coffee8. Literally "my old man"9. Or being tough. That term has those two meanings and I don't know which one is used in Spain.10. Literally "to follow the platinum blonde's steps"11. Literally "shone with gas light"; figuratively, "ignored (sth)".