"Confusion" by Natalia Clavier, English translation of lyrics
"Confusion"
Album: Nectar (Nectar), 2008
Style: Soft voice, piano, melancholy
Country: Argentina
Listen:
A song about confessing love and finding it to be unrequited, and the ensuing dismay and sadness. Listen to a live performance at YouTube here (begin 0:54).
[Expand embedded video]
Translation:
Vuelvo a tu casa llorando
A pedirte que no digas,
Que no sueltes las palabras
Que desataron mi llanto.
I return to your house crying
To ask you not to say,
To not let loose the words
That unleashed my weeping.
Vuelvo a tu casa temblando
A exigirte que te calles,
Que te guardes el suspiro
Y el "no quiero que me ames."
I return to your house trembling
To beg of you to keep quiet,
For you to keep to yourself your sigh
And your "I do not want you to love me."
Chorus:
----------------------------------------
Me quedé sin respiración
Al caer en la cuenta.
I was left without breath
Upon finding out.
Todo fue una gran confusión
Y yo amando estaba sola,
Dando a la nada mi amor,
Como el mar a sus olas.
Everything was a great confusion
And I, loving, was alone,
Giving my love to the nothing,
Like the sea gives its waves.
----------------------------------------
Vuelvo a tu casa penando
A rogarte que te pierdas,
Que te trague la memoria
Antes de que yo me muera.
I return to your house in torment
To beg you to disappear,
For memory to swallow you whole
Before I die. [*lit. Before that I die]
[Chorus: "Me quedé sin respiración al caer en la cuenta..."]
Translation Notes:
Me quedé sin respiración al caer en la cuenta.
I was left without breath upon finding out.
Literal word-for-word:
{Me quedé} (sin respiración) [al caer] (en la cuenta)
{I was left} (without respiration) [upon falling] (on the calculation)
The idiom caer en (la) cuenta (also darse cuenta) means "to notice" and "to realize." It is when everything adds up and you figure something out.
---
Vuelvo a tu casa penando
I return to your house in torment
I return to your house suffering/hurting [*alt.]
penar (verb) = to suffer; to agonize; to be in torment, to be tormented
---
Dando a la nada mi amor, / como el mar a sus olas.
Giving my love to the nothing, / like the sea gives its waves.
Giving my love to the nothing, / like the sea gives it to its waves. [*lit.]
The verb "to give" is not in the second part, but it is implied. The imagery in the second part has two interpretations: The first is that the sea gives its waves out into the world; the second is that the sea gives out love to its waves and its waves are moving away from it.
---
...A rogarte que te pierdas
...To beg you to disappear
...To beg you to get lost [*alt.]
perder (verb) = to lose
perderse (verb) = to get lost
A Little Unrelated Piece: On Cultural Sensitivity and Celebrating Día de Los Muertos
Halloween is coming up on October 31, then Día de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) on November 1 and 2. I love the memento mori spirit, the stories of departed loved ones, and the art of Day of the Dead. When I first noticed sugar skulls and Day of the Dead imagery increasing in popularity in my area, I thought, "yay, Latino culture is becoming more visible" and I was happy, but then as momentum grew, I realized that the popularity was all about fashion. That put a damper on my happy mood. If you're planning to wear skull face paint and you weren't raised to celebrate Día de Los Muertos, think about the context, read up on the holiday and make sure you aren't doing it as a joke, ironically, or in an otherwise offensive way. I won't say don't do it; you can decide on your own. Personally, I like it when non-Latinos attend our cultural festivals, because it shows curiosity and appreciation of our culture. I don't like it when images are taken and the cultural aspect is ignored or trivialized, though.
Also, if your school or workplace has few Mexicans, don't bug the token Mexican about why they aren't going all out with the face paint and the costumes and the public altars. I am often that token minority! My family celebrates Día de Los Muertos in a more toned-down way, but it doesn't mean I'm any less Mexican. Mexican culture isn't homogenous; traditions vary.
Finally, while I'm on the topic of cultural manners and avoiding offenses, if you are organizing a Day of the Dead or Cinco de Mayo (or etc.) party, don't invite the local Latino student group specifically to serve food and drinks and then clean up, without also inviting them to have any input on the party planning or inviting them to attend it as general guests. A well-meaning, but culturally clueless guy sent such a volunteer invitation to a student group I'm in, and it was very annoying. We are not party decorations.
/End mini rant. Sometimes I need an outlet for this stuff and I think this fits within the broader cultural education goal of Songlations.
Album: Nectar (Nectar), 2008
Style: Soft voice, piano, melancholy
Country: Argentina
Listen:
A song about confessing love and finding it to be unrequited, and the ensuing dismay and sadness. Listen to a live performance at YouTube here (begin 0:54).
[Expand embedded video]
Translation:
Vuelvo a tu casa llorando
A pedirte que no digas,
Que no sueltes las palabras
Que desataron mi llanto.
I return to your house crying
To ask you not to say,
To not let loose the words
That unleashed my weeping.
Vuelvo a tu casa temblando
A exigirte que te calles,
Que te guardes el suspiro
Y el "no quiero que me ames."
I return to your house trembling
To beg of you to keep quiet,
For you to keep to yourself your sigh
And your "I do not want you to love me."
Chorus:
----------------------------------------
Me quedé sin respiración
Al caer en la cuenta.
I was left without breath
Upon finding out.
Todo fue una gran confusión
Y yo amando estaba sola,
Dando a la nada mi amor,
Como el mar a sus olas.
Everything was a great confusion
And I, loving, was alone,
Giving my love to the nothing,
Like the sea gives its waves.
----------------------------------------
Vuelvo a tu casa penando
A rogarte que te pierdas,
Que te trague la memoria
Antes de que yo me muera.
I return to your house in torment
To beg you to disappear,
For memory to swallow you whole
Before I die. [*lit. Before that I die]
[Chorus: "Me quedé sin respiración al caer en la cuenta..."]
Translation Notes:
Me quedé sin respiración al caer en la cuenta.
I was left without breath upon finding out.
Literal word-for-word:
{Me quedé} (sin respiración) [al caer] (en la cuenta)
{I was left} (without respiration) [upon falling] (on the calculation)
The idiom caer en (la) cuenta (also darse cuenta) means "to notice" and "to realize." It is when everything adds up and you figure something out.
---
Vuelvo a tu casa penando
I return to your house in torment
I return to your house suffering/hurting [*alt.]
penar (verb) = to suffer; to agonize; to be in torment, to be tormented
---
Dando a la nada mi amor, / como el mar a sus olas.
Giving my love to the nothing, / like the sea gives its waves.
Giving my love to the nothing, / like the sea gives it to its waves. [*lit.]
The verb "to give" is not in the second part, but it is implied. The imagery in the second part has two interpretations: The first is that the sea gives its waves out into the world; the second is that the sea gives out love to its waves and its waves are moving away from it.
---
...A rogarte que te pierdas
...To beg you to disappear
...To beg you to get lost [*alt.]
perder (verb) = to lose
perderse (verb) = to get lost
A Little Unrelated Piece: On Cultural Sensitivity and Celebrating Día de Los Muertos
Halloween is coming up on October 31, then Día de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) on November 1 and 2. I love the memento mori spirit, the stories of departed loved ones, and the art of Day of the Dead. When I first noticed sugar skulls and Day of the Dead imagery increasing in popularity in my area, I thought, "yay, Latino culture is becoming more visible" and I was happy, but then as momentum grew, I realized that the popularity was all about fashion. That put a damper on my happy mood. If you're planning to wear skull face paint and you weren't raised to celebrate Día de Los Muertos, think about the context, read up on the holiday and make sure you aren't doing it as a joke, ironically, or in an otherwise offensive way. I won't say don't do it; you can decide on your own. Personally, I like it when non-Latinos attend our cultural festivals, because it shows curiosity and appreciation of our culture. I don't like it when images are taken and the cultural aspect is ignored or trivialized, though.
Also, if your school or workplace has few Mexicans, don't bug the token Mexican about why they aren't going all out with the face paint and the costumes and the public altars. I am often that token minority! My family celebrates Día de Los Muertos in a more toned-down way, but it doesn't mean I'm any less Mexican. Mexican culture isn't homogenous; traditions vary.
Finally, while I'm on the topic of cultural manners and avoiding offenses, if you are organizing a Day of the Dead or Cinco de Mayo (or etc.) party, don't invite the local Latino student group specifically to serve food and drinks and then clean up, without also inviting them to have any input on the party planning or inviting them to attend it as general guests. A well-meaning, but culturally clueless guy sent such a volunteer invitation to a student group I'm in, and it was very annoying. We are not party decorations.
/End mini rant. Sometimes I need an outlet for this stuff and I think this fits within the broader cultural education goal of Songlations.