Archive for April 24th, 2009

I was coming into the bedroom one morning to get the little kids up and I heard this song on my daughter’s Ipod  — I do speak Spanish but I couldn’t quite make out the words. Yet the song was so beautiful, and expressed such a deep kind of feeling, I decided to listen more carefully, study it, and make my own translation.

The group which performed it hailed from Basque Spain in the late 60′s and took the name Mocedades, “Youth.”  Citing the Beatles as well as folk and spiritual music as their influences, Eres Tu was the group’s biggest hit although they performed and recorded for over a decade, with music releases mostly in Europe.

The group got its big break when it performed Eres Tu in the Eurovision Song Contest, and won second place.  Much later it was used in Chris Farley’s movie “Tommy Boy” and interest in the song was rekindled.  Thus it showed up on my daughter’s playlist.

So, I sat down and translated. What is the theme? If I had to say, I would reply, it’s that true love exists. If you’ve experienced it, you know I am right, and if not, you can listen to the song and from the emotion expressed in the music, approximate what it is like.

Eres Tu words, with my translation

Como una promesa, eres tu, eres tu (you are like a promise, you are, yes you are
Como una manana de verano (like a summer morning)
Como una sonrisa, eres tu, eres tu (like a smile, you are, yes you are )

Toda mi esperanza, eres tu, eres tu (All my hope is in you, tied up in you,
Como lluvia fresca en mis manos (Like fresh rain falling into my hands
Como fuerte brisa, eres tu, eres tu (Like a strong breeze, you are to me
Asi, asi, eres tu (This, exactly this, is the way you are)

Chorus: Eres tu como el agua de mi fuente (You are like the water in my fountain)
Algo asi eres tu (Or something just like that
Eres tu el fuego de mi hogar (you are the fire in my home)
Eres tu como el fuego de mi hoguera* (the fire of my brazier)
Eres tu el trigo de mi pan (you are the grain in my bread)

Como mi poema, eres tu, eres tu (You are like a poem, yes you are, you are)
Como una guitarra en la noche (Like a guitar playing in the night)
Todo mi horizonte eres tu, eres tu (All my horizons are you, they are you)
Asi, asi, eres tu (This is the way you are)

Chorus
Eres tu…

*” hoguera” has the sense of celebratory bonfire or the fire with which you are burned at the stake … very difficult to render in English in one word, and even in the Spanish, it doesn’t seem clear to me what is actually meant. Even in English, songs are somewhat enigmatic at times, and I can’t tell whether the translation, or the primary sense, of the lyrics is problematic here. Anyone who wants to comment is welcome.