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Old March 04, 2024, 04:43 PM
AngelicaDeAlquezar's Avatar
AngelicaDeAlquezar AngelicaDeAlquezar is offline
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Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Mexico City
Posts: 9,088
Native Language: Mexican Spanish
AngelicaDeAlquezar is on a distinguished road
I agree with Rusty.
I'll just add a note on the Mexican version of the song.

In Mexican Spanish, "la raya" is slang for "salary" or "pay".
In old times, the companies or owners of the working places had stores where the workers bought their groceries and other necessary items. They were called "tiendas de raya" because workers paid with what they earned.
The stores sold things more expensive than anywhere else, but workers had no choice, as their whole days belonged completely to the owner (not very different from slavery). And since salaries were usually smaller than the needs of the workers, they were always indebted, so they always got less than they were supposed to earn, and it was too often that they didn't see any of their payment at all.

Workers normally owed the "tienda de raya" years ahead of earnings. ;(

In usual grammar, the sentence should say "La tienda me descontó mi raya", but for poetic reasons, the rhythm sent the verb at the end of the verse.
The verse in the song means: "The store deducted my pay".
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