"Geografía" by La Oreja de Van Gogh, English translation of lyrics
"Geography"
Style: World/island music influence, flutes, wooden wind instruments, string instruments
Country: Spain
Listen:
At YouTube here.
[Expand embedded video]
Translation:
Me gustaría inventar un país contigo
Para que las palabras como patria o porvenir,
Bandera, nación, frontera, raza o destino
Tuvieran algún sentido para mí.
I would like to invent a country with you
So that words like native land or future,
Flag, nation, border, race or destiny
Would have some meaning for me.
Y que limite al este con mil amigos,
Al sur con tus pasiones,
Y al oeste con el mar.
And so I could draw a line at the east with a thousand friends,
The south with your passions,
And the west with the sea.
Al norte con los secretos que nunca te digo
Para gobernarlos de cerca si los quieres conquistar.
(And) the north with the secrets that I never tell you
To govern them from nearby in case you want to conquer them.
Chorus:
----------------------------------------
Si tú también lo sientes,
Si a ti también te apetece,
No lo pienses, vámonos,
Ya somos dos.
If you feel it, too,
If it appeals to you, too, [*alt. If it wets your appetite, too]
Do not think about it, let’s go,
We are already two.
Por qué no me das la mano
Y nos cogemos este barco,
Celebrando con un beso que hoy es hoy.
Why don’t you give me your hand
And we take this boat,
Celebrating with a kiss that today is today.
Porque nuestra patria existe donde estemos tú y yo,
Que todo estará cerca
Si cerca estamos los dos.
Because our country exists wherever you and I stand [*lit. wherever you and I are; estar = to be],
So everything will be close
If you and I are close. [*lit. If the two of us are close.]
Porque nuestra patria existe donde estemos tú y yo,
Que todo estará cerca,
(No lo pienses),
Vámonos.
Because our country exists wherever you and I stand,
So everything will be close,
(Do not think about it),
Let’s go.
----------------------------------------
Me encantaría que nuestro país tuviera
Un arsenal inmenso de caricias bajo el mar
Para que al caer la noche yo encienda dos velas
Para invadirte por sorpresa en la intimidad.
I would love it if our country had
An immense arsenal of caresses under the sea
So that when night falls, I (can) light two candles
To invade you by surprise in privacy.
Con dos habitantes será el más pequeño del mundo
Y sin embargo el más grande de todos los que yo vi.
De veras te digo que el himno que escribo es sincero,
Habla de que hay tantos países como gente en cada país.
With two inhabitants it will be the smallest in the world
And yet still the greatest of all I have seen.
Truly, I tell you that the hymn I write is sincere,
It speaks about how there are as many countries as people in every country.
[Chorus: "Si tú también lo sientes..."]
Porque nuestra patria existe donde estemos tú y yo,
Que todo estará cerca si cerca estamos los dos,
Que todo estará cerca,
Vámonos... tú y yo.
Because our country exists wherever you and I stand,
So everything will be close if we two are close,
So everything will be close,
Let’s go... you and me.
Translation Notes:
(And border) the north with the secrets that I never tell you... [previous line for context]
Para gobernarlos de cerca si los quieres conquistar.
To govern them from nearby in case you want to conquer them.
(Para) (gobernarlos de cerca) {si} (los quieres) (conquistar)
(In order to) (govern them from nearby) {if} (you want to ___ them) (to conquer)
---
Habla de que hay tantos países como gente en cada país.
It speaks about how there are as many countries as people in every country.
(Habla) (de que) {hay} (tantos países) {como} (gente) (en cada país)
(It speaks) (about how) {there are} (so/as many countries) {like/as} (people) (in every country)
This line is a reference to the proverb, cada cabeza es un mundo, every mind is a world.
---
Con dos habitantes será el más pequeño del mundo
Y sin embargo el más grande de todos los que yo vi.
With two inhabitants it will be the smallest in the world
And yet still the greatest of all I have seen. [*lit.]
An alternative literal translation would say "the largest," but this limits the meaning to only size and she obviously intends the double meaning: "largest" (in contrast to "smallest") and "best" (her opinion).
Style: World/island music influence, flutes, wooden wind instruments, string instruments
Country: Spain
Listen:
At YouTube here.
[Expand embedded video]
Translation:
Me gustaría inventar un país contigo
Para que las palabras como patria o porvenir,
Bandera, nación, frontera, raza o destino
Tuvieran algún sentido para mí.
I would like to invent a country with you
So that words like native land or future,
Flag, nation, border, race or destiny
Would have some meaning for me.
Y que limite al este con mil amigos,
Al sur con tus pasiones,
Y al oeste con el mar.
And so I could draw a line at the east with a thousand friends,
The south with your passions,
And the west with the sea.
Al norte con los secretos que nunca te digo
Para gobernarlos de cerca si los quieres conquistar.
(And) the north with the secrets that I never tell you
To govern them from nearby in case you want to conquer them.
Chorus:
----------------------------------------
Si tú también lo sientes,
Si a ti también te apetece,
No lo pienses, vámonos,
Ya somos dos.
If you feel it, too,
If it appeals to you, too, [*alt. If it wets your appetite, too]
Do not think about it, let’s go,
We are already two.
Por qué no me das la mano
Y nos cogemos este barco,
Celebrando con un beso que hoy es hoy.
Why don’t you give me your hand
And we take this boat,
Celebrating with a kiss that today is today.
Porque nuestra patria existe donde estemos tú y yo,
Que todo estará cerca
Si cerca estamos los dos.
Because our country exists wherever you and I stand [*lit. wherever you and I are; estar = to be],
So everything will be close
If you and I are close. [*lit. If the two of us are close.]
Porque nuestra patria existe donde estemos tú y yo,
Que todo estará cerca,
(No lo pienses),
Vámonos.
Because our country exists wherever you and I stand,
So everything will be close,
(Do not think about it),
Let’s go.
----------------------------------------
Me encantaría que nuestro país tuviera
Un arsenal inmenso de caricias bajo el mar
Para que al caer la noche yo encienda dos velas
Para invadirte por sorpresa en la intimidad.
I would love it if our country had
An immense arsenal of caresses under the sea
So that when night falls, I (can) light two candles
To invade you by surprise in privacy.
Con dos habitantes será el más pequeño del mundo
Y sin embargo el más grande de todos los que yo vi.
De veras te digo que el himno que escribo es sincero,
Habla de que hay tantos países como gente en cada país.
With two inhabitants it will be the smallest in the world
And yet still the greatest of all I have seen.
Truly, I tell you that the hymn I write is sincere,
It speaks about how there are as many countries as people in every country.
[Chorus: "Si tú también lo sientes..."]
Porque nuestra patria existe donde estemos tú y yo,
Que todo estará cerca si cerca estamos los dos,
Que todo estará cerca,
Vámonos... tú y yo.
Because our country exists wherever you and I stand,
So everything will be close if we two are close,
So everything will be close,
Let’s go... you and me.
Translation Notes:
(And border) the north with the secrets that I never tell you... [previous line for context]
Para gobernarlos de cerca si los quieres conquistar.
To govern them from nearby in case you want to conquer them.
(Para) (gobernarlos de cerca) {si} (los quieres) (conquistar)
(In order to) (govern them from nearby) {if} (you want to ___ them) (to conquer)
---
Habla de que hay tantos países como gente en cada país.
It speaks about how there are as many countries as people in every country.
(Habla) (de que) {hay} (tantos países) {como} (gente) (en cada país)
(It speaks) (about how) {there are} (so/as many countries) {like/as} (people) (in every country)
This line is a reference to the proverb, cada cabeza es un mundo, every mind is a world.
---
Con dos habitantes será el más pequeño del mundo
Y sin embargo el más grande de todos los que yo vi.
With two inhabitants it will be the smallest in the world
And yet still the greatest of all I have seen. [*lit.]
An alternative literal translation would say "the largest," but this limits the meaning to only size and she obviously intends the double meaning: "largest" (in contrast to "smallest") and "best" (her opinion).