"Santeria" is a ballad[5] by American ska punk band Sublime, released on their self-titled third album (1996). The song was released as a single on January 7, 1997. Although the song was released after the death of lead singer Bradley Nowell, "Santeria" along with "What I Got" is often regarded as the band's signature songs.
The song includes the bassline and guitar riff from Sublime's earlier song "Lincoln Highway Dub" off the 1994 album Robbin' the Hood.[6]Santería is an Afro-Cuban religion, practiced in Cuba, South Florida, and exported to other areas in the Caribbean.
The song tells the story of a jealous ex-boyfriend who is planning to take revenge on the man who stole his girlfriend. The man then decides to find a new girlfriend, but expresses his desire to use violence as he describes his plans to "pop a cap in Sancho" and "stick that barrel straight down Sancho's throat" if he ever sees him again, and to "slap her [the original girlfriend] down." The lead singer of Sublime, Bradley Nowell, refers to the man as "Sancho" and his ex-girlfriend as "Heina".[citation needed] In Chicano culture, a man who steals another man's girlfriend is often referred to as "Sancho"[7] while a man's woman or girlfriend is referred to as "Heina", which is adapted from the word reina, meaning "queen" in Spanish.[8]
Amusic video was filmed after the death of lead singer Bradley Nowell, who makes a cameo via stock footage. During the video, his beloved Lou Dog is seen along with the other members of Sublime remembering him. The video was a visualization of the story told in the song in the form of a Western, and featured Tom Lister, Jr. as Sancho and Nowell's widow Troy as La Heina. Lister was bitten by Lou Dog on the lip in a particular scene where he gets too close to Lou Dog's face.
