“As Long As I Have You”
Album: Laundry Service, 2001
Style: Pop/rock, love song bargain in an apocalypse scenario. She is willing to let a lot fall to ruin “as long as I have you.”
Country: Colombia
Listen: YouTube, Amazon
Translation:
Que se arruinen los canales de noticias,
Con lo mucho que odio la televisión.
Que se vuelvan anticuadas las sonrisas,
Y se extingan todas las puestas de sol.
Let the news station channels fall to ruins,
I hate television anyway.
Let smiles become ancient relics,
And let all the rays of sunlight be extinguished.
Que se supriman las doctrinas y deberes,
Que se terminen las películas de acción,
Que se destruyan en el mundo los placeres,
Y que se escriba hoy una última canción.
Let doctrines and obligations rise over us,
Let all action movies come to an end,
Let in the world, pleasures be destroyed,
And let today, the last song be written.
Chorus:
——————————————-
Pero que me quedes tú, (que) me quede tu abrazo
Y el beso que inventas cada día,
Y que me quede aquí después del ocaso,
Para siempre tu melancolía.
But let me have you, let me have your hug
And the kiss you invent every day,
And let me stay here after the fall,
Forever your melancholy.
Porque yo (yo) sí (sí) que dependo de ti
Y si me quedas tú,
Me queda la vida.
Because I (I) do (do) depend on you [*sí = yes; used for emphasis]
And if I still have you,
I still have life left.
——————————————
Que desaparezcan todos los vecinos
Y se coman las sobras de mi inocencia.
Que se vayan uno a uno los amigos
Y acribillen mi pedazo de conciencia.
Let all neighbors disappear
And let them eat the leftovers of my innocence.
Let friends leave, one by one
And (let them) kill my share of conscience.
Que se consuman las palabras en los labios,
Que contaminen todo el agua del planeta,
O que renuncien los filántropos y sabios,
Y que se muera hoy hasta el último poeta.
Let words die on lips,
Let them contaminate all the water on the planet,
Or let all philanthropists and wise men resign,
And let the last poet die today.
[Chorus x2, “Pero que me quedes tú…”]
Translation Notes:
The title, “Que Me Quedes Tú,” loses something in the translation. It is a conditional phrase and implies that she is bargaining with someone. It means something between “let me keep you” and “as long as I have you.”
Also… “Que Me Quedes Tu” (no accents) for the WordPress search engine. Otherwise I can’t find this post later!
—
Y se extingan todas las puestas de sol.
And let all the rays of sunlight be extinguished.
“Puestas de sol” are the colorful streaks in the sky at sunset.
—
Que se arruinen los canales de noticias,
{Con lo mucho [que]} <odio> la televisión.
Let the news station channels fall to ruins,
I <hate> television {anyway}.
Let the news station channels fall to ruins,
{With how much [that]} I <hate> television.
She means that she does not like television anyway, so it does not matter to her if the news channels fall to ruin. She is not saying that her hate for them will causally make them fall to ruin. She is saying that she is willing to let that happen in this song where she bargains a lot for what she wants (“as long as I have you”).
—
Y que se escriba hoy una última canción
And let today, the last song be written
And let today, one last song be written [lit.]
—
Y acribillen mi pedazo de conciencia.
And (let them) kill my share of conscience.
To “acribillar” something means to injure or to mob something (e.g. hit with rocks). Sometimes it just means to pester a lot, but I think she means it more strongly here.
—
Que se consuman las palabras en los labios
Let words die on lips
Let words be consumed on lips [lit.]
—
O que renuncien los filántropos y sabios
Or let all philanthropists and wise men resign
Or let them renounce all philanthropists and wise men [alt.]
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