“Without the Moon” Lyrics
Artist: Alejandro Filio. Also sung by: Tania Libertad
Style: Hauntingly beautiful love song.
Country: Mexico
Listen at YouTube: Alejandro Filio live, Tania Libertad recorded
Translation:
Si repito tu nombre
Después de otra jornada
Y otra noche conmigo…
If I repeat your name
After another journey
And another night with me…
Si tu olor me recorre
Y entre pecho y guitarra
Se hace más el vacío…
If your scent runs through me
And between chest and guitar
There grows a void… [*lit. The void becomes more…]
Si estas manos entre acorde y acorde,
Acordándose van de tu pelo, (*)
No hace falta tanto cielo
Si la luna de tu piel no está.
If these hands from chord to chord,
Reminiscing, move through your hair, (*)
It isn’t necessary, so much heaven [lit. sky],
If the moon of your skin isn’t present.
Si entre verso y respiro
Se abre un azul profundo (*)
Que va tiñendo el tiempo…
If between verse and breath
A blue profound opens, (*)
That goes tinting the time…
Si a contraluz te miro (*)
Y se hace más agudo
El filo de tu cuerpo…
If against a light, I see you (*)
And it becomes sharper,
The profile of your body…
Si esta nota no alcanza a tu tono
Y entonándote, vuelo y respiro,
No estoy solo/sola, voy conmigo
Y la estela de este canto atrás…
If this note doesn’t reach your tone
And tuning you, I soar and breathe,
I am not alone, I go with myself
And the trail of this song, behind…
Puedo hablar de ti con mis amigos,
Con mi canto, mi silencio, mi conmigo. (*)
Puedo hallar tu rastro si lo quiero hoy
Sé perfectamente donde te dejé.
I can speak of you with my friends,
With my song, my silence, my being. (*)
I can find your traces if I want to today
I know perfectly well where I left you.
[Repeat]
Translation Notes:
Si estas manos entre acorde y acorde
Acordándose van de tu pelo
If these hands from chord to chord
Reminiscing, move through your hair
Literal translation:
If these hands between chord and chord
Remembering, go from your hair
—
Se abre un azul profundo / que va tiñendo el tiempo
This is easier to translate as one line:
A profound blue that goes tinting/shading/dyeing time, opens
—
Si a contraluz te miro
If against a light, I see you
contraluz = against the light
To see someone a contraluz means that you’re looking at them when they have a bright light behind them. Usually, you’ll only see their outline.
Y se hace más agudo / El filo de tu cuerpo
And the profile of your body becomes sharper
—
mi canto, mi silencio, mi conmigo
my song, my silence, my being
conmigo = with me, with myself
mi conmigo = my “with myself”
I’m guessing he means his “togetherness,” i.e. his being
Note that “my being” = mi ser (my to be) in Spanish.
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