Joe the taxi*
Doesn't go everywhere
Doesn't go by the soda (popstand, I believe)
His yellow sax
Knows all the roads by heart
All the little bars
All the black corners
And the Seine
And its bridges that shimmer
In his box (caisse)
The music for Joe
Is the rhumba
From old rock to mambo
Joe the taxi
That's his life
From rum to mambo
Traffic jam**
He's like that
Rum and mambo
Joe, Joe, Joe...
In his box [cha-cha-cha]
The music of Joe sounds [cha-cha-cha]
It's the rhumba [cha-cha-cha]
From old rock to fake mambo [cha-cha-cha]
Come on, Joe [cha-cha-cha]
Come on, Joe [cha-cha-cha]
Come on, darkness***
In the night, toward the Amazon [cha-cha-cha]
Joe the taxi
And Xavier Cugat
Joe the taxi
And Yma Sumac****
Joe, Joe, Joe...
Joe the taxi
That's his life
From rum to mambo
Traffic jam
Joe the taxi
And the mariachis
Joe the taxi [cha-cha-cha]
And the cha-cha-chi [cha-cha-cha]
Joe the taxi [cha-cha-cha]
And the cha-cha-chi [cha-cha-cha]
Come on, Joe [cha-cha-cha]
Come on, darkness [cha-cha-cha]
In the night, toward the Amazon [cha-cha-cha]
Joe the taxi [cha-cha-cha]
And the cha-cha-chi [cha-cha-cha]
Joe the taxi...
_____________________________
*"Taxi" here most likely means a cab driver.
**literally means "bottling"; here, it is a play on words because of the mentioning of rum.
***"Fonce" means "dark", but "fonceur" means "go-getter", or a "go-ahead type". "Fonce might have a double-entendre where it stands for both of these.
****Xavier Cugat and Yma Sumac are key figures in the spread of Latin American music.