"Amores Platónico" by Julieta Venegas, English translation of lyrics
"Platonic Loves", alt. "Platonic Lovers"
Album: Otra Cosa (Another Thing), 2010
Style: Alternative pop; cautious song about preferring "impossible love" to risking it all; bittersweet, some background whistling instruments
Country: Mexico
Listen:
At YouTube here.
[Expand embedded video]
Translation:
No, no me acercaré a tu jardín;
Nunca tocaré tu flor.
Es mejor la fantasía que me dio tu leve cercanía y su color.
No, I won’t draw near your garden;
I will never touch your flower.
The fantasy from your easy proximity and its (rose) tint is better.
Nunca sospechaste la metáfora,
Y lo que puede lograr.
Nunca entenderás de la suavidad
De lo que no sabe adonde va.
You never suspected the metaphor
And what it can accomplish.
You will never understand the gentleness [*alt. softness]
Of that which doesn’t know where it is going.
Chorus:
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Prefiero amores platónicos,
Consuelo de tontos solitarios,
Prefiero amores imposibles,
Consuelo de haber perdido demasiado.
I prefer platonic loves,
The consolation of solitary dummies,
I prefer impossible loves,
The consolation (prize) for having lost so much.
----------------------------------------
Y así,
Con tu imagen me iré de la mano
De haberte deseado tanto,
Mejor, desenvaino una melodía
Para hacerle los honores a tu fantasía.
And so,
With your image I will go hand in hand
After having desired you so much,
Better yet, I will unleash a melody
To honor your fantasy. [*lit. To do the honors for your fantasy.]
[Chorus: "Prefiero amores platónicos..."]
Qué revolución hay en mi corazón,
Y eso sin haberme acercado a tu balcón,
Si que maravilla es el desencanto,
Si hace que todo se vea mejor imaginado.
What a revolution is waging in my heart,
And that is without even having drawn near your balcony, [*Romeo and Juliet reference]
For what a wonder is disenchantment,
For it makes everything look better imagined.
[Chorus: "Prefiero amores platónicos..."]
Translation Notes:
Es mejor la fantasía que me dio tu leve cercanía y su color.
The fantasy from your easy proximity and its (rose) tint is better.
The fantasy that your easy proximity and its color gave me is better. [*lit.]
The color (color) of something usually refers to literally the color (red, blue, green, etc.), but sometimes it refers to the tone, mood, tint, feel of something. I translated color as tint (or rose tint) to call back to the English idiom of rose-tinted glasses.
---
Mejor, desenvaino una melodía
Better yet, I will unleash a melody
I like this line because desenvainar (draw, unsheath) is a verb that is often used to refer to drawing out a sword. The imagery is great.
Album: Otra Cosa (Another Thing), 2010
Style: Alternative pop; cautious song about preferring "impossible love" to risking it all; bittersweet, some background whistling instruments
Country: Mexico
Listen:
At YouTube here.
[Expand embedded video]
Translation:
No, no me acercaré a tu jardín;
Nunca tocaré tu flor.
Es mejor la fantasía que me dio tu leve cercanía y su color.
No, I won’t draw near your garden;
I will never touch your flower.
The fantasy from your easy proximity and its (rose) tint is better.
Nunca sospechaste la metáfora,
Y lo que puede lograr.
Nunca entenderás de la suavidad
De lo que no sabe adonde va.
You never suspected the metaphor
And what it can accomplish.
You will never understand the gentleness [*alt. softness]
Of that which doesn’t know where it is going.
Chorus:
----------------------------------------
Prefiero amores platónicos,
Consuelo de tontos solitarios,
Prefiero amores imposibles,
Consuelo de haber perdido demasiado.
I prefer platonic loves,
The consolation of solitary dummies,
I prefer impossible loves,
The consolation (prize) for having lost so much.
----------------------------------------
Y así,
Con tu imagen me iré de la mano
De haberte deseado tanto,
Mejor, desenvaino una melodía
Para hacerle los honores a tu fantasía.
And so,
With your image I will go hand in hand
After having desired you so much,
Better yet, I will unleash a melody
To honor your fantasy. [*lit. To do the honors for your fantasy.]
[Chorus: "Prefiero amores platónicos..."]
Qué revolución hay en mi corazón,
Y eso sin haberme acercado a tu balcón,
Si que maravilla es el desencanto,
Si hace que todo se vea mejor imaginado.
What a revolution is waging in my heart,
And that is without even having drawn near your balcony, [*Romeo and Juliet reference]
For what a wonder is disenchantment,
For it makes everything look better imagined.
[Chorus: "Prefiero amores platónicos..."]
Translation Notes:
Es mejor la fantasía que me dio tu leve cercanía y su color.
The fantasy from your easy proximity and its (rose) tint is better.
The fantasy that your easy proximity and its color gave me is better. [*lit.]
The color (color) of something usually refers to literally the color (red, blue, green, etc.), but sometimes it refers to the tone, mood, tint, feel of something. I translated color as tint (or rose tint) to call back to the English idiom of rose-tinted glasses.
---
Mejor, desenvaino una melodía
Better yet, I will unleash a melody
I like this line because desenvainar (draw, unsheath) is a verb that is often used to refer to drawing out a sword. The imagery is great.