“She Was Different” Lyrics
Album: Realidades (Deluxe), Realities (Deluxe), 2014
Style: Corrido norteño, regional Mexican. LGBTQ acceptance song about realizing a neighborhood girl is not interested in any of the boys, but rather her best friend (another girl).
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube
Translation:
Eras más linda,
Más bella que luna de octubre.
Su voz era tan dulce, trino de gorrión.
She was more lovely,
More beautiful than the October moon.
Her voice was so sweet, trill of a sparrow.
Era la chica más tierna de aquel viejo barrio.
Los hombres se peleaban su fiel corazón.
Ellos hacían su apuestas para conquistarla,
Pero ningún muchacho se ganó su amor.
She was the most tender girl of that old neighborhood.
The men fought each other for her loyal heart.
They made their bets to win her over,
But no guy ever won her heart.
Ella eran tan diferente a las otras muchachas,
Jamás le interesó el amor de algún varón.
She was so different from other girls,
Never interested in the love of any guy.
Ella era diferente
Y a su mejor amiga
Le regalaba flores.
Ella era diferente
Pero así es la vida
De algunos amores.
She was different
And to her best friend
She gifted flowers.
She was different
But that is the life
Of some loves.
Dicen que el vuelo ideal es paloma y palomo,
Y les parece rara otra forma de amor.
Yo solo pienso que existen corrientes de aire
Y cada quien que aspire su viento mejor.
Some say the ideal flight is a female dove and male dove,
And other types of love seem strange to them.
I only think that there exist air currents
And everyone should sail their best wind.
Ella era diferente
Y a su mejor amiga
Le regalaba flores.
Ella era diferente
Pero así es la vida
De algunos amores.
She was different
And to her best friend
She gifted flowers.
She was different
But that is the life
Of some loves.
Translation Notes:
Los Tigres Del Norte is one of the genre-defining bands for Mexican corrido and norteño music. Corridos are by definition “storytelling songs” and they are popular in Mexico as a way of passing on oral history about famous and important people in history as well common people and their everyday lives. Los Tigres Del Norte wrote this song in response to requests from their gay fans to write stories about them.
“Era Diferente” is reportedly the first song about gay love in the norteño music genre, or at least the first one to reach the mainstream. Los Tigres Del Norte was honored with a Special Recognition Award at the 26th annual GLAAD Media Awards for their song contributing to LGBTQ acceptance. In an article with People magazine, the author (a gay man) talks to the band about what this song meant to him personally, and the significance of the song in general.
At our chat, I thanked the group for what they had done for me and my dad. Although we had always had a close relationship, we had grown even closer since I came out.
The group talked to us about the significance of the song.
“In the ranchito where we grew up, gay people suffered tremendously,” said Hernán. “But now, it’s easier to talk and sing about these things. It must have been a relief for you to share with your family what you were feeling.”
“When we make songs, we try to bring a positive influence,” added Luis. “We had heard so many songs that referred to the gay community, but they would do so in a teasing way. We didn’t want that. We wanted to make a song that was sensitive and touched upon the realities of gay people.”
Tomás Mier, People magazine, June 17, 2021. “Los Tigres Del Norte Helped Me Come Out as Gay to My Mexican Dad — and We Got to Thank Them Years Later”
Era la chica más tierna de aquel viejo barrio.
She was the most tender girl of that old neighborhood.
In English, we don’t use “tender” as much, so I considered several synonyms (warm, gentle, affectionate, soft, sentimental) and connotation-related words (wholesome). I decided to leave “tender” since it’s the most direct translation that keeps all other meanings, but my second choice is “wholesome”. The lyrics mean that this girl is kind and gentle and sweet.
Ellos hacían su apuestas para conquistarla,
Pero {ningún muchacho} se ganó su amor.
They made their bets to win her over,
But {no guy ever} won her heart.
They made their bets to conquer her, [*literally]
But {not any guy} won her heart.
The Spanish verb conquistar (literally “to conquer”) is used in the dating/relationship context to mean “to win over, to charm, to win their heart”.
Ella era diferente
Y a su mejor amiga
Le regalaba flores.
She was different
And to her best friend
She gifted flowers.
The noun amiga is feminine here, meaning her best friend is another girl.
Yo solo pienso que existen corrientes de aire
Y [cada quien] {que} aspire su viento mejor.
I only think that there exist air currents
And [everyone] {should} sail their best wind.
I only think that there exist air currents
And [everyone] {should} take up the best wind for them.
I noticed this last line was awkward in other translations of this song (Translate Lyrics, Translateeasy, Lyrics Translate). The verb aspirar has different meanings and connotations. When related to air, aspirar can mean “to breathe in, to inhale, to aspirate”. However, aspirar also means “to aspire to, to aim for”. In the context of air currents as metaphors for life paths, I thought “to sail” was a better translation. People “take up” (not literally breathe in) currents when they sail.
Happy Pride month!
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