"Bandera de Manos" by Juanes, English translation of lyrics
"Flag of Hands"
Album: La Vida... Es Un Ratico (Life Is... A Brief Moment), 2007
Style: Rock, anthem for peace and tolerance
Country: Colombia
Listen:
This Juanes song is about solidarity and peace. Listen to it at YouTube here.
Also, happy upcoming Cesar Chavez Day (March 31)! Go watch the Cesar Chavez movie which premiered today in the Untied States and premieres April 4 worldwide! The cast is good and it's supposed to be a really great movie. I am watching it tomorrow or Sunday. Here are trailer #1 and trailer #2. The movie is about Cesar Chavez, a Mexican-American civil rights leader who fought to better the working conditions for farm workers in the United States. Seriously, it was about safety and human dignity, not slightly higher wages. They were routinely getting sprayed by pesticides known to be toxic to humans from planes flying over the fields, resulting in birth defects and miscarriages, higher cancer rates, respiratory illnesses, and other symptoms of acute pesticide poisoning. Cesar Chavez organized boycotts to bring these issues to the public light, gathered the support of average Americans, and changed agriculture in the United States for the better.
The movie is also notable because it has a large Latino cast. Latinos make up 17% of the US population and buy a disproportionately high percentage of movie tickets, yet are poorly represented in films. The latest study of 2012 films showed that Latinos only had 4.2% of the speaking roles.
[Expand embedded music video]
[Expand embedded trailer for Cesar Chavez movie]
Translation:
Hagamos todos
Una bandera con manos negras,
Una bandera con manos blancas
Por un mundo mejor.
Let us all make
A flag with black hands,
A flag with white hands,
For a better world.
En este momento, hagamos todos
Una bandera con manos mestizas,
Una bandera con manos inmigrantes
Por un mundo mejor.
At this moment, let us all make
A flag with mestizo hands,
A flag with immigrant hands
For a better world.
Chorus:
----------------------------------------
Ya que estamos cansados
De tantas historias vencidas,
Tantas promesas nunca cumplidas,
Alcemos el alma y la voz.
We are tired already
Of so many old expired stories,
So many promises never fulfilled,
Let us raise our spirits and our voice.
Y hagamos el amor
Como una manifestación
Que la guerra no da explicación
A seguir así, quemando la piel...
And let us make love
Like a manifestation
That war cannot explain [*alt. Because war does not offer an explanation]
Continuing like this, burning skin...
...De tus manos, que son las manos mías,
De tu alma, que es como el alma mía,
Que ironías, las que nos da la vida.
...Of your hands, which are also my hands,
Of your soul, which is like my soul,
What ironies that life gives us.
Mientras miles se mueren de hambre
Los lideres compran arsenales
Y asi, siembran dolor.
While thousands die from hunger
The leaders buy arsenals
And like that, they sow pain.
----------------------------------------
[Musical interlude]
Hagamos todos una sola bandera, todos.
Derribemos fronteras, todos...
Por un mundo mejor.
Let us all make a single flag, everyone.
Let us tear down borders, everyone...
For a better world.
En este momento sembremos paz,
Más justicia, más dignidad,
Libertad con más igualdad...
Por un mundo mejor.
At this time let us sow peace,
More justice, more dignity,
Liberty with more equality
For a better world.
[Chorus: "Ya que estamos cansados..."]
Translation Notes:
The call to make a flag with manos blancas, negras, y mestizas (black, white, mestizo hands) is particularly relevant for Latin America since the populations racial makeup is largely a mix of African, European, Indigenous ancestors. If you are not familiar with the term, mestizo/mestiza refers to a person with mixed indigenous Latin American and European ancestry.
Album: La Vida... Es Un Ratico (Life Is... A Brief Moment), 2007
Style: Rock, anthem for peace and tolerance
Country: Colombia
Listen:
This Juanes song is about solidarity and peace. Listen to it at YouTube here.
Also, happy upcoming Cesar Chavez Day (March 31)! Go watch the Cesar Chavez movie which premiered today in the Untied States and premieres April 4 worldwide! The cast is good and it's supposed to be a really great movie. I am watching it tomorrow or Sunday. Here are trailer #1 and trailer #2. The movie is about Cesar Chavez, a Mexican-American civil rights leader who fought to better the working conditions for farm workers in the United States. Seriously, it was about safety and human dignity, not slightly higher wages. They were routinely getting sprayed by pesticides known to be toxic to humans from planes flying over the fields, resulting in birth defects and miscarriages, higher cancer rates, respiratory illnesses, and other symptoms of acute pesticide poisoning. Cesar Chavez organized boycotts to bring these issues to the public light, gathered the support of average Americans, and changed agriculture in the United States for the better.
The movie is also notable because it has a large Latino cast. Latinos make up 17% of the US population and buy a disproportionately high percentage of movie tickets, yet are poorly represented in films. The latest study of 2012 films showed that Latinos only had 4.2% of the speaking roles.
[Expand embedded music video]
[Expand embedded trailer for Cesar Chavez movie]
Translation:
Hagamos todos
Una bandera con manos negras,
Una bandera con manos blancas
Por un mundo mejor.
Let us all make
A flag with black hands,
A flag with white hands,
For a better world.
En este momento, hagamos todos
Una bandera con manos mestizas,
Una bandera con manos inmigrantes
Por un mundo mejor.
At this moment, let us all make
A flag with mestizo hands,
A flag with immigrant hands
For a better world.
Chorus:
----------------------------------------
Ya que estamos cansados
De tantas historias vencidas,
Tantas promesas nunca cumplidas,
Alcemos el alma y la voz.
We are tired already
Of so many old expired stories,
So many promises never fulfilled,
Let us raise our spirits and our voice.
Y hagamos el amor
Como una manifestación
Que la guerra no da explicación
A seguir así, quemando la piel...
And let us make love
Like a manifestation
That war cannot explain [*alt. Because war does not offer an explanation]
Continuing like this, burning skin...
...De tus manos, que son las manos mías,
De tu alma, que es como el alma mía,
Que ironías, las que nos da la vida.
...Of your hands, which are also my hands,
Of your soul, which is like my soul,
What ironies that life gives us.
Mientras miles se mueren de hambre
Los lideres compran arsenales
Y asi, siembran dolor.
While thousands die from hunger
The leaders buy arsenals
And like that, they sow pain.
----------------------------------------
[Musical interlude]
Hagamos todos una sola bandera, todos.
Derribemos fronteras, todos...
Por un mundo mejor.
Let us all make a single flag, everyone.
Let us tear down borders, everyone...
For a better world.
En este momento sembremos paz,
Más justicia, más dignidad,
Libertad con más igualdad...
Por un mundo mejor.
At this time let us sow peace,
More justice, more dignity,
Liberty with more equality
For a better world.
[Chorus: "Ya que estamos cansados..."]
Translation Notes:
The call to make a flag with manos blancas, negras, y mestizas (black, white, mestizo hands) is particularly relevant for Latin America since the populations racial makeup is largely a mix of African, European, Indigenous ancestors. If you are not familiar with the term, mestizo/mestiza refers to a person with mixed indigenous Latin American and European ancestry.