“Look at Life” Lyrics
Album: MTV Unplugged Julieta Venegas, 2008
Style: Optimistic upbeat song, a bit hypnotic, about life saying yes to you and you saying yes to life, about looking forward to the future, about celebrating a birth.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube
Translation:
Chorus:
————————————–
Mira la vida abriéndose camino.
Mira la vida diciendo que sí.
Look at life opening a way for itself.
Look at life saying yes.
————————————–
(x2)
Otra historia entera a una persona
Con todo lo que trae.
Otro principio que se forma y late
Y se ve venir.
Another story catches a person up
With everything that it brings.
Another beginning that forms and beats
And is seen arriving.
Vámonos ya a despertar al campo,
Decirle lo que hay.
Entrar por ti a un mundo nuevo,
Nunca lo vi venir.
Let us go now to wake the field,
Tell it what exists.
Entering a new world for your sake,
Never saw it coming.
[Chorus]
Vámonos ya a levantar la tierra,
Sembrando donde hay.
Busquemos todo lo que puede
Cuidar a quien viene atrás.
Let us go now to raise the earth,
Sowing where we can.
Let us search for everything that can
Take care of those who come behind.
Por ti todo parece nuevo,
Lo que había y lo que hay.
Lo que me falla y lo que tengo,
Lo veo todo cambiar.
Because of you everything appears new,
What was and what is.
What fails me and what I have,
I see it all change.
Es el futuro, todo es futuro,
Todo lo que quiero apenas va a llegar.
Es el futuro, todo es futuro,
Todo lo que quiero apenas va a empezar.
It is the future, everything is future,
Everything that I want is just barely going to arrive.
It is the future, everything is future,
Everything that I want is just barely going to start.
Es el futuro, todo es futuro,
Todo lo que quiero apenas va a llegar.
Es el futuro, todo es futuro,
Todo lo que quiero apenas va a llegar.
Todo lo que quiero apenas va a llegar.
Todo lo que quiero apenas va a llegar.
It is the future, everything is future,
Everything that I want is just barely going to arrive.
It is the future, everything is future,
Everything that I want is just barely going to start.
Everything that I want is just barely going to start.
Everything that I want is just barely going to start.
[Chorus x4]
Mira la vida abriéndose camino.
Es la vida diciendo que sí.
Mira la vida abriéndose camino.
Es la vida y contigo dice sí.
Look at life opening a way for itself.
It is life saying yes.
Look at life opening a way for itself
It is life and with you it says yes.
Translation Notes:
Translation and notes updated 4/2025. Originally posted at the Songlations LiveJournal.
I think this song is time-traveling Julieta Venegas singing about her daughter’s birth. It fits so well, except for the timeline. This song was released in 2008 and two years later (in August 2010), Julieta Venegas gave birth to her first-born child, a daughter. Julieta is a single mother and famous singer, so obviously all the paparazzi wanted to know the father’s name, but she kept it secret at the time. It must have been a difficult time for her. This song is about accepting the unexpected joys of life, and rejoicing in new life and new opportunities. It is like she received a vision of her future somehow, and knew to expect her daughter.
Mira la vida abriéndose camino.
Mira la vida diciendo que sí.
Look at life opening a way for itself.
Look at life saying yes.
The chorus is celebrating a birth. The baby (the life) is pushing its way through the birth canal, making a passage for itself because it wants to be born. This is life saying “yes” to living. The chorus repetition throughout the song and the beat of the drums is that baby fighting its way out of the womb, to a joyous reception.
Otra historia entera a una persona
Con todo lo que trae.
Another story catches a person up
With everything that it brings.
The first part is a bit awkward to translate. Enterarse means “to catch up” (to news, gossip), “to get to know, to find out”. Enterar means to impart that sort of information to another person, to update someone.
This is about time-traveling Julieta Venegas telling her past self about her future daughter. I am joking but… kind of not? The lyrics are mysterious. One entity (another story/history) is relaying information to another person (una persona), and I don’t think the second person is the baby. We don’t usually use una persona to refer to babies, not in Spanish nor English. It is fun to imagine that Julieta Venegas is the person here, and someone is telling her what to expect in the future.
More seriously and poetically, this is about life begetting life. The next lines support the poetic meaning, talking about the coming of a new life and its new heartbeat:
Otro principio que se forma y late
Y se ve venir.
Another beginning that forms and beats
And is seen arriving.
Vámonos ya a despertar al campo,
Decirle lo que hay.
Let us go now to wake the field,
Tell it what exists.
Imagine the sunrise coming up over the horizon and the rays of light passing over a field, until all of it is illuminated by the sunlight. Poetically, “waking the field” can mean planting and farming in land that was previously barren. It may also mean waking up the community (of people) and sharing news.
Entrar por ti a un mundo nuevo,
Nunca lo vi venir.
Entering a new world for your sake,
Never saw it coming.
This is a new parent telling their child, “I am embarking on this new adventure with you. I didn’t expect this, but I will do it for your sake.”
Vámonos ya a levantar la tierra,
Sembrando donde hay.
Let us go now to raise the earth,
Sowing where we can.
Let us go now to wake up the earth,
Sowing where there is (earth).
levantar (verb) = to raise, to wake up
I prefer “raise” because the previous stanza had despertar (to wake up), so “raise” is less repetitive. Also, it makes more sense with “sowing.”
Por ti todo parece nuevo
Because of you everything appears new
This is a feeling that you can experience if you spend time with babies and young children. Even if something is old news and boring to you normally, you can enjoy it with new eyes when you see someone else experience it for the first time. For example: flying a kite for the first time, trying ice cream for the first time, going to a petting zoo.
Es el futuro, todo es futuro,
Todo lo que quiero apenas va a llegar.
It is the future, everything is future,
Everything that I want is just barely going to arrive.
Julieta Venegas is a time traveler and she is telling all of us! Look at the lyrics!
More seriously, I think this is about someone looking forward to parenthood. The future holds joy.
Mira la vida abriéndose camino.
Es la vida y contigo dice sí.
Look at life opening a way for itself
It is life and with you it says yes.
The last lyrics are directed at the new life itself. It is a parent looking at their new child and feeling an overwhelming sense of “yes” and love.
Discover more from Songlations
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Songlations 