"Puedes Contar Conmigo" by La Oreja De Van Gogh, English translation of lyrics
"You Can Count On Me"
Album: Lo Que Te Conté Mientras Te Hacías La Dormida (What I Told You While You Pretended to Sleep), 2003
Style: Pop/rock, a bit nostalgic
Country: Spain
Listen:
At YouTube here.
[Expand embedded video]
Translation:
Un café con sal.
Ganas de llorar.
Mi mundo empezando a temblar,
Presiento que se acerca el final.
A coffee with salt.
Wanting to cry.
My world starting to tremble,
I feel that the end draws near.
No quiero ganar.
¿Ahora eso qué más da?
Estoy cansada ya de inventar
Excusas que no saben andar.
I do not want to win.
What does that matter now?
I am tired, now, of inventing
Excuses that do not stand up. [*lit. Excuses that do not know how to walk.]
Chorus A:
-------------------
Y sólo quedarán
Los buenos momentos de ayer
Que fueron de los dos.
Y hoy sólo quiero creer...
And only they will be left,
The good moments of yesterday
That belonged to the two of us.
And today I only want to believe...
Chorus B:
--------------------
Que recordarás
Las tardes de invierno por Madrid,
Las noches enteras sin dormir.
That you will remember
The winter afternoons around Madrid,
The whole nights without sleeping.
La vida pasaba y yo sentía
Que me iba a morir de amor
Al verte esperando en mi portal,
Sentado en el suelo sin pensar
Que puedes contar conmigo.
Life was passing and I felt
That I was going to die of love
(On) seeing you waiting at my doorstep,
Sitting on the ground without thinking
That you can count on me.
-----------------------
No...
Nunca hubo maldad,
Sólo ingenuidad,
Pretendiendo hacernos creer
Que el mundo estaba a nuestros pies.
There was never malice,
Only naivety,
Trying to make us believe
That the world was at our feet.
Cuando el sueño venga por mí,
En silencio voy a construir
Una vida a todo color
Donde vivamos juntos los dos.
When sleep comes for me,
I will quietly build [*lit. In silence I will build]
A life of full color
Where the two of us live together.
[Chorus A: "Y sólo quedarán..."]
[Chorus B: "Que recordarás las tardes de invierno por Madrid..."]
[Last line modified:]
...Que puedes contar conmigo para siempre.
That you can count on me forever.
Y no puedo evitar echarte de menos
Mientras das la mano a mi tiempo y te vas.
Yo siento que quiero verte y verte y pienso...
I cannot avoid missing you
While you shake hands with my time and you leave.
I feel that I want to see you and see you and I think...
[Chorus B: "Que recordarás las tardes de invierno por Madrid..."]
Que recordarás
Las tardes de invierno por Madrid,
Las noches enteras sin dormir.
La vida se pasa y yo me muero,
Me muero por ti.
That you will remember
The winter afternoon around Madrid,
The whole nights without sleeping.
Life passes and I am dying,
I am dying for you.
Translation Notes:
Y sólo quedarán / Los buenos momentos de ayer [with line break]
And only they will be left, / The good moments of yesterday
Y sólo quedarán los buenos momentos de ayer [without line break, better]
And only the good moments of yesterday will be left
---
This was the last part I translated:
Y no puedo evitar echarte de menos / Mientras das la mano a mi tiempo y te vas.
I cannot avoid missing you / While you shake hands with my time and you leave.
The "das la mano a mi tiempo" phrase does not make much sense to me except as a way of anthropomorphizing her time by talking about her time's hands. She did it to "excuses" earlier, so it is not out of the realm of possibility. I searched around anyway and found that other people were discussing this phrase on the Word Reference forums.
Apparently other people had translated this song already. I did not find the translation quoted,* but I unfortunately found another that is very similar to mine. Woe accidental redundancy! At least it is confirmation.
*This seems like a good opportunity to remind people to cite quoted translations with a link back to the full translation. We translators appreciate it. Thanks! :-)
Album: Lo Que Te Conté Mientras Te Hacías La Dormida (What I Told You While You Pretended to Sleep), 2003
Style: Pop/rock, a bit nostalgic
Country: Spain
Listen:
At YouTube here.
[Expand embedded video]
Translation:
Un café con sal.
Ganas de llorar.
Mi mundo empezando a temblar,
Presiento que se acerca el final.
A coffee with salt.
Wanting to cry.
My world starting to tremble,
I feel that the end draws near.
No quiero ganar.
¿Ahora eso qué más da?
Estoy cansada ya de inventar
Excusas que no saben andar.
I do not want to win.
What does that matter now?
I am tired, now, of inventing
Excuses that do not stand up. [*lit. Excuses that do not know how to walk.]
Chorus A:
-------------------
Y sólo quedarán
Los buenos momentos de ayer
Que fueron de los dos.
Y hoy sólo quiero creer...
And only they will be left,
The good moments of yesterday
That belonged to the two of us.
And today I only want to believe...
Chorus B:
--------------------
Que recordarás
Las tardes de invierno por Madrid,
Las noches enteras sin dormir.
That you will remember
The winter afternoons around Madrid,
The whole nights without sleeping.
La vida pasaba y yo sentía
Que me iba a morir de amor
Al verte esperando en mi portal,
Sentado en el suelo sin pensar
Que puedes contar conmigo.
Life was passing and I felt
That I was going to die of love
(On) seeing you waiting at my doorstep,
Sitting on the ground without thinking
That you can count on me.
-----------------------
No...
Nunca hubo maldad,
Sólo ingenuidad,
Pretendiendo hacernos creer
Que el mundo estaba a nuestros pies.
There was never malice,
Only naivety,
Trying to make us believe
That the world was at our feet.
Cuando el sueño venga por mí,
En silencio voy a construir
Una vida a todo color
Donde vivamos juntos los dos.
When sleep comes for me,
I will quietly build [*lit. In silence I will build]
A life of full color
Where the two of us live together.
[Chorus A: "Y sólo quedarán..."]
[Chorus B: "Que recordarás las tardes de invierno por Madrid..."]
[Last line modified:]
...Que puedes contar conmigo para siempre.
That you can count on me forever.
Y no puedo evitar echarte de menos
Mientras das la mano a mi tiempo y te vas.
Yo siento que quiero verte y verte y pienso...
I cannot avoid missing you
While you shake hands with my time and you leave.
I feel that I want to see you and see you and I think...
[Chorus B: "Que recordarás las tardes de invierno por Madrid..."]
Que recordarás
Las tardes de invierno por Madrid,
Las noches enteras sin dormir.
La vida se pasa y yo me muero,
Me muero por ti.
That you will remember
The winter afternoon around Madrid,
The whole nights without sleeping.
Life passes and I am dying,
I am dying for you.
Translation Notes:
Y sólo quedarán / Los buenos momentos de ayer [with line break]
And only they will be left, / The good moments of yesterday
Y sólo quedarán los buenos momentos de ayer [without line break, better]
And only the good moments of yesterday will be left
---
This was the last part I translated:
Y no puedo evitar echarte de menos / Mientras das la mano a mi tiempo y te vas.
I cannot avoid missing you / While you shake hands with my time and you leave.
The "das la mano a mi tiempo" phrase does not make much sense to me except as a way of anthropomorphizing her time by talking about her time's hands. She did it to "excuses" earlier, so it is not out of the realm of possibility. I searched around anyway and found that other people were discussing this phrase on the Word Reference forums.
Apparently other people had translated this song already. I did not find the translation quoted,* but I unfortunately found another that is very similar to mine. Woe accidental redundancy! At least it is confirmation.
*This seems like a good opportunity to remind people to cite quoted translations with a link back to the full translation. We translators appreciate it. Thanks! :-)