María Villalón - Cosas Que No Sé De Ti [A song]

[jeffy8]

I couldn't find a translation for this song and so I attempted it myself. I'd appreciate any help/feedback.

It's a cluster of crazy ideas
An obstacle of the soul
That makes me imagine you
Before I lose my temper
A perfect mystery
Without pictures nor words

It's a principle of irony
Having you here so close
Like a bucket of secrets
Like someone opens a door
And knows every step
It'll be a step to an open grave...

*Why does she say 'El tenerte' rather than just 'Tenerte'? Is it like saying 'It's a principle or irony, [the emotions that come with] having you here so close'?


CHORUS
How many things I know about you?
How much time for being friends?
How many things that I carry with me on my journey with me?


It's a principle of happiness
Controlled explosions
Giving impetus to the new day
Of a dull life
Laziness and sadness
Converted into hope ...

Chorus

Without knowing what you will know about me*
Not knowing if I will return to the ground
Many things to tell you cutting through the sky

* Why future tense? Why not sabes?

It's a principle or energy
And gambling it/risking it (?) on/with (?) a drink*
What I say and what I do
Rarely to they go hand-in-hand
If it were not for jumping
Obstacles of the soul

* This last verse has me most confused.

Chorus

Chorus

[Rusty]

Welcome to the forums. You have produced a better translation than the one site I found with an English translation. It was absolutely horrific.

Unfortunately, you're not allowed to post lyrics in their entirety on this site, as lyrics are copyrighted material. Your translation of the lyrics is allowed, however. Members can find the lyrics using the corrected thread title, but even some of the Spanish lyrics I've seen contain flaws. Even the native speaker made at least one mistake.

Translation of songs/poetry is the most difficult of tasks. You'll need to understand and translate the feelings of the song instead of its words.
Most members avoid translating songs because so much gets lost in the translation (quite often we have no idea what feelings were penned by the author).

None of the stanzas in your chorus have been translated correctly.
My attempt:
"How many things don't I know about you?"
"How long will it take to be friends?"
"How many things shall I take on my journey with you?"

The word 'principio' means 'beginning' in every instance.
The set phrase 'a tumba abierta' means 'at full speed'.
The set phrase 'en un trago' means 'all at once' or 'in one shot'.

'El tenerte' and 'Tenerte' have the same translation. Song meter was probably the factor behind the choice of wording.
The future tense is sometimes used where we would say 'wonder'. Does that help?

[jeffy8]

Thank-you Rusty for such a complete response. I'm left with only one question:

If the word 'principio' means 'beginning' in every instance, how do you translate lines like: "Es un principio de ironía"?

I would've thought it meant "It's an ironic beginning", but wouldn't that be "Es un principio irónico"?

"Es un principio de ironía" seems to translate as "It's a beginning of irony" which doesn't sound correct in English (at least to me)...

[wrholt]

"de + noun" is a very common translation equivalent for English adjectives, especially where you want to say what something consists of. "Es un principio de ironía" = "It's an ironic beginning" is quite normal, although "It's a beginning of irony" is also a possible interpretation depending on context.

Similarly, "un vaso de oro" is usually "a gold cup" = (a cup made of gold) and not "a cup of gold" (an amount of gold measuring one cup in volumn), unless the context makes clear that you are talking about how much gold rather than the material from which a cup is made.

[jeffy8]

Thanks for your reply wrholt.

So you're saying that although 'un principio irónico' would be correct and more similar to 'an ironic beginning', it is less common in Spanish than 'un principio de ironía'?

[wrholt]

Originally Posted by jeffy8

Thanks for your reply wrholt.

So you're saying that although 'un principio irónico' would be correct and more similar to 'an ironic beginning', it is less common in Spanish than 'un principio de ironía'?

I don't know whether one is more common in Spanish than the other; it may be that both of them sound equally normal to native speakers.

The important thing to notice is that native speakes of Engish hear "an ironic beginning" and "a beginning of irony" (as well as other phrase pairs with similar structures) as having distinct meanings in most contexts, while native speakers of Spanish may hear "un prinicipo irónico" and "un principio de ironía" (as well as other phrase pairs with similar structures) as having identical meanings = "an ironic beginning" in many contexts, even though "un principio de ironía" can also easily mean "a beginning of irony" in some contexts.

Noticing where our expectations from English sometimes lead us astray when trying to understand Spanish (or vice versa) is one of the ways we can improve our competence in our second langauge.

[jeffy8]

Very insightful. Thanks again!

[jeffy8]

Originally Posted by Rusty

The future tense is sometimes used where we would say 'wonder'.

I have just read on studyspanish.com that the future indicative can be used to express both wonder or probability in the present state. Link

Sin saber lo que sabrás de mí

So would I be correct in thinking the above line could mean either:

1) Not knowing what you wonder about me
2) Not knowing what you probably know about me

Any help appriciated.

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by jeffy8

Sin saber lo que sabrás de mí

So would I be correct in thinking the above line could mean either:

1) Not knowing what you wonder about me
2) Not knowing what you probably know about me

Any help appreciated.

Either translation works.

We don't know what was floating around in the author's head when the phrase was penned.

[jeffy8]

Thanks again.