
Silvio Rodríguez
Canción del elegido lyrics with English translation
- Language
- Spanish
- Level
- Intermediate
- Released
- 1978
- Length
- 2:55
Siempre que se hace una historia
Whenever a story is told
Se habla de un viejo, de un niño o de sí
It's about an old man, a child, or oneself
Pero mi historia es difícil
But my story is a tough one
No voy a hablarles de un hombre común
I won't tell you about an ordinary man
Haré la historia de un ser de otro mundo
I'll tell the tale of a being from another world
De un animal de galaxia
Of an animal from a galaxy
Es una historia que tiene que ver con el curso de la Vía Láctea
It's a story tied to the path of the Milky Way
Es una historia enterrada, es sobre un ser de la nada
It's a buried tale, it's about a being from nothingness
Nació de una tormenta
Born from a storm
En el sol de una noche
In the sun of a night
El penúltimo mes
The penultimate month
Fue de planeta en planeta
Was from planet to planet
Buscando agua potable
Searching for drinking water
Quizás buscando la vida
Perhaps searching for life
O buscando la muerte eso nunca se sabe
Or searching for death, that’s never known
Quizás buscando siluetas
Perhaps searching for silhouettes
O algo semejante
Or something similar
Que fuera adorable
That would be adorable
O por lo menos querible, besable, amable
Or at least lovable, kissable, kind
Él descubrió que las minas
He discovered that the girls
Del rey Salomón
From King Solomon
Se hallaban en el cielo
They were found in the sky
Y no en el África ardiente como pensaba la gente
And not in burning Africa as people thought
Pero las piedras son frías
But the stones are cold
Y le interesaban calor y alegrías
And he was interested in warmth and joy
Las joyas no tenían alma
The jewels had no soul
Sólo eran espejos, colores brillantes
They were just mirrors, bright colors
Y al fin bajo hacia la guerra
And at last, he descended into war
¡Perdón! quise decir a la tierra
Sorry! I meant to say to the earth
Supo la historia de un golpe
He learned the story in a blow
Sintió en su cabeza cristales molidos y comprendió que la guerra
He felt ground crystals in his head and understood that war
Era la paz del futuro
Was the peace of the future
Lo más terrible se aprende enseguida y lo hermoso nos cuesta la vida
The most terrible things are learned quickly and the beautiful costs us our lives
La última vez lo vi irse entre el humo y metralla
The last time I saw him leave amidst smoke and shrapnel
Contento y desnudo
Happy and naked
Iba matando canallas con su cañón de futuro
He was killing scoundrels with his cannon of the future
Iba matando canallas con su cañón de futuro
He was killing scoundrels with his cannon of the future
Lyrics powered by www.musixmatch.com
Key vocabulary
- vez
- timeA2
- galaxia
- galaxyB2
- láctea
- milky
- enterrada
- buried
- penúltimo
- penultimateC1
- buscando
- seeking
- potable
- drinkableB2
- siluetas
- silhouettesC1
- semejante
- similarC1
- querible
- lovable
About this song
Silvio Rodríguez is a Cuban singer-songwriter associated with nueva trova and nueva canción. He is known for politically charged, lyric-driven protest songs set against tender folk balladry, and for helping define the style that emerged in the late 1960s and early 1970s.