Songlations

"Four Paths"
Album: Various
Style/theme: Ranchera, forsaken love
Country: Mexico

Listen:

Happy new year! Here is a song about picking your life path when you feel lost. The cuatro caminos refers to the four cardinal directions. Listen at YouTube here.

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Translation:

Es imposible que yo te olvide.
Es imposible que yo me vaya.
Por donde quiera que voy te miro.
Ando con otra y por ti suspiro.

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"One More Time"
Album: La Edad de la Violencia
Style: Pop/rock
Songwriters: Ceci Bastida, Alex Epton
Country: Mexico

Listen:

This song is very energetic and cheerful, so I keep forgetting that it’s kind of a lone wolf vengeance fantasy song. If it plays in the background, I think, "this song is catchy." When I pay attention to the lyrics and suddenly notice (again, as if for the first time) that it’s openly threatening, then I think, "whoa, I wouldn't want to meet this person." But the song still sounds so cheerful! See the music video at YouTube.

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Translation:

No, nunca pertenecí,
A nadie entendí.
Todos se ríen de mí.

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"I'm Off (I'm Leaving Now)"
Album: Veo La Marea (I See the Tide), 2010
Style: Hypnotic pop, funk pop, alternative
Country: Mexico

Listen:

This is a hypnotic song with the singer keeping an artfully controlled faux monotone (it's not really a monotone at all, but I'm not sure what this style is called). The metric of the song is very strong. The background instruments keep an even heartbeat and fade in and out for emphasis. Since the theme is about walking and ocean tides, this strong metric makes the song itself sound like a continuous march. As the lyrics say, "Ya me voy, es imparable..." (I'm leaving now, it's unstoppable...")

If you like Café Tacvba's "Eres", you'll probably like this song, and vice versa.

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Translation:

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"I Hate You and I Love You"
Album: Julio Jaramillo Todo Boleros and various other compilation albums
Style: Conflicted love song, bolero
Country: Ecuador

Listen:

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Julio Jaramillo sings poetically about a love that inspires a lot of conflicted feelings in him. This song was popular in Latin America in the mid-20th century and is now a classic oldie.

Translation:

Me muerdo los labios para no llamarte.
Me queman tus besos, me sigue tu voz.
Pensando que hay otro que pueda besarte,
Se llena mi pecho de rabia y rencor.

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Okay, I am here again! Hello! I apologize for the 1 year break. It is my longest break since I started translating. I have been translating songs since high school all the way through graduate school (about a decade). It became a well-ingrained habit to put aside some time every week to work on Songlations. My last year of graduate school was very busy, but I still had enough translation drafts saved up that I was able to maintain a regular update schedule until my last semester, when I had to take a long break to write my dissertation and look for jobs. I naively assumed I would still have some free time for myself, but nope. Writing a PhD dissertation and finding a job ended up consuming ALL my free time.

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Sincerely,
Cairaguas Gonzalez, PhD (yeah!)

"Black Gold"
Album: Vengo (I Come), 2014
Style: Poetry, string instruments, slow hip hop elements, anti-war song
Countries: Chile, France

Listen:

Ana Tijoux sings about the human cost of imperialism and instigating conflict for economic or dogmatic interests. Death and war are personified. Listen to Ana's anti-war song at YouTube. Also look at this list of charities that are helping migrants and refugees who crossed the Mediterranean Sea and also this list.

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Songlations is expected to continue having less frequent (monthly) updates until the end of the year at least. I am writing my PhD dissertation on gene regulation in plants and looking for jobs in California right now, so... busy!

Happy independence days to almost all Latin American countries on September 15 and 16, as well as the start of Hispanic Heritage Month in the United States.

Translation:

No mira ni siente, nunca se detiene,
Solo camina con dolor permanente.

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"Let No One Raise Their Voice at Me"
Album: Pafuera Telarañas (Out, Spiderwebs), 2004
Style: Folk
Country: Spain

Listen:

Bebe sings about motherhood, toughening up, taking charge of one’s life, and taking on all challenges. Listen at YouTube here. By the way, I started a Tumblr to promote Songlations posts more. Follow me there if you use Tumblr.

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Translation:

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"Machista"
Album: Machista, 2014
Style: Contemporary pop, energetic pop with rock influences, electropop
Countries: USA, Ecuador (lead vocalist Karen Freire)

Listen:

I found Buffalo Moon on Mic.com's list of "11 Incredible Latina Musicians You Won't Find on Mainstream Radio." The song "Machista" is an energetic song about the narrator's macho lover whom she is leaving. The music video [YT] shows her packing a suitcase and leading a little girl (presumably her daughter) out of the house. She's done with that whole macho thing. The video has a girl power energy to it. This would be a good workout song.

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Transcription and translation:

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"I Got Tired of You"
Album: Confesiones (Confessions), 2003
Style: Pop, soft rock
Country: Puerto Rico

Listen:

This Obie Bermúdez song "Me Cansé de Ti" is a less charitable break-up song than José Alfredo Jiménez's "Que Te Vaya Bonito" from three posts ago. Obie doesn't want to be in this relationship anymore. The song is a breakup conversation in progress. Awkward! Listen at YouTube here.

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Unrelated aside: I guess I lied last post; I'm still very busy! Lots of deadlines in May. I have a conference in June, a conference in July, and a wedding in August. I'm also training two people at work. I may post songs less often than the "every 1-2 weeks" average, but I'll keep posting when I can. Keep sending song requests. I don't have time to search for new songs or artists right now, so song requests help keep the blog posts diverse. Don't worry, no me cansé de Songlations.

Translation:

Siéntate conmigo.
Ya llego la noche y siento frío.
Quiero hablar contigo.
Siento que este amor ya no es el mismo.

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"A Light In the Darkness"
Album: Mejor Morir En Pie (Better to Die Standing)
Style: Heavy metal, hard rock
Country: Mexico

Listen:

The singer wants to see the twinkle return to his lover's eyes. His lover is in a funk, depressed, or stressed. Listen at YouTube here.

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April was a month of a lot of deadlines for me, but I'm back to my regular schedule until summer travel.

Translation:

Miré tus ojos
Y en tu mirada no pude hallar
La luz que me habló, perdida en la oscuridad.

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