Ranch Bureaucracy

I woke up real early, with my hat and coffee in hand

Wanted to get a replacement for my driver's license

The lady at the window told me with compassion

You need your updated CURP and a reduced-size copy

I ran to the RENAPO module, with my photo and my paper

But the system"crashed," another internet failure

As the sun was burning me, under the bus stop awning

I thought: What a modern country with so much control!

'Cause in Mexico the line never ends

Not for a paperwork errand, nor to pay at the SAT

We have rules like in Germany

But beat-up streets and a cable that's about to blow

Over there, the train is late, but it never stops

And here the subway floods if it even drizzles a bit

Oh, my beloved Mexico, how much paperwork you have!

I went for my new license, with patience and with humor

They asked me for a utility bill, from the doctor's house

Then the payment in another office, with a digital format

That only works on Explorer version from two-thousand-something

They say we're a powerhouse, and that we're going to improve

But the traffic light's bulb refused to even blink

While the electricity bill goes up for no reason

Not even the CFE can explain where my connection is

'Cause in Mexico the line never ends

Not for a paperwork errand, nor to pay at the SAT

We have stamps like in Germany

But the drainage bursts if it rains too much

Over there, school teaches and people get healthy

Here the teacher protests and the doctor just survives

Oh, my beloved Mexico, how much paperwork you demand!

And it's not that I'm complaining, my homeland is my love

But if we fill out so many forms, sir

Why does the pavement crack under the sun?

And why does the garbage truck not come when it's hot?

'Cause in Mexico, paperwork is sacred

You sign three times and you're still missing a stamp

We have regulations like in Germany

But the service doesn't even come close!

I just want to live without so many certified copies

Without so many forms and so much paper

Oh, my beloved Mexico, with love and with paper!

I'm still in line at the national population registry

Maybe by the year two-thirty it'll be my turn to leave