Getting legendary Clash guitarist Mick Jones’ blessing for anything at all would be a pretty cool feat, but when he extends that blessing to covering “Should I Stay or Should I Go” – arguably one of the band’s most known anthems – it’s cause for celebration. And that celebration comes today, as Brooklyn-based Xenia Rubinos drops her Spanish-language version of the anthem – complete with the added line “Si no me quieres, dímelo papi,” which gives the cover a uniquely Latinx vibe.
The cover was commissioned by documentary filmmakers Lindsey Cordero and Armando Croda for their documentary I’m Leaving Now (Ya Me Voy), which is a look at an undocumented worker’s struggle.
“I am a translator, I have been my whole life,” Xenia explained in a press release. “Many of my most foundational memories as an infant and young child are in Spanish; it was my only spoken language understandable to others until I was 3 when I began learning English at preschool by playing with other kids there. [My Family] insisted that I needed to only speak Spanish at the beginning, because the rest of my life would be in English and it was important for me to be able to communicate and that being bilingual would be an important skill when I joined the American workforce.”
Check out the song below: