“Chaotic Beauty” Lyrics
Album: Caótica Belleza (Chaotic Beauty), 2015
Style: Alternative pop. A love song to the beauty of nature and rural landscapes, and their chaotic charm.
Countries: Colombia, Mexico
Listen: YouTube
Translation:
Un lugar para estar
Y vivir lo que se hereda,
Una canción sin condición
Para sonar lo que nos queda.
A place to be
And live what one inherits,
A song without condition
To sound out what we have left.
Hoy puedo ver lo que yo fuí,
De donde soy, de donde vengo.
No es protestar, no es una guerra,
Es lo que soy y lo que tengo.
Today I can see what I was,
Where I come from, where I hail from.
It is not protests and it is not war,
It is what I am and what I have.
Hay cosas en la vida que no se pueden cambiar,
Intentos de ordenar a la naturaleza,
Pero yo prefiero estar en un lugar donde se da
Un ritmo natural, caótica belleza.
There are things in life that can’t be changed,
Attempts to order nature,
But I prefer to be in a place where there is
A natural rhythm, chaotic beauty.
Uh, oh, oh, uh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, uh, oh, oh~
Uh, oh, oh, uh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, uh, oh, oh~
Por un fluir, por lo esencial,
Por lo que nace, por lo que muere,
Por lo sentido y lo sinsentido,
Por lo que hay y nunca hubo.
For a flow, for the essential,
For what is born, for what dies,
For that with sense, and that which makes no sense.
For what there is, and what never was.
Por una historia, por mil historias,
Que sean contadas, pero sin huecos.
Por lo diverso, por este caos
Desordenado con mil encantos.
For a history, for a thousand histories,
Let them be told, but without holes.
For the diverse, for this chaos,
Disordered with a thousand enchantments.
Hay cosas en la vida que no se pueden cambiar,
Intentos de ordenar a la naturaleza,
Pero yo prefiero estar en un lugar donde se da
Un ritmo natural, caótica belleza.
There are things in life that can’t be changed,
Attempts to order nature,
But I prefer to be in a place where there is
A natural rhythm, chaotic beauty.
Uh, oh, oh, uh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, uh, oh, oh~
Uh, oh, oh, uh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, uh, oh, oh~
Por un fluir, por lo esencial,
Por lo que nace, por lo que muere,
Por lo sentido y lo sinsentido,
Por lo que hay y nunca hubo.
For a flow, for the essential,
For what is born, for what dies,
For what is felt, and what has no logic,
For what there is, and what never existed.
Por una historia, por este ritmo,
Por nuestro espacio, por una esencia,
Por lo que soy, por lo que tengo,
Por el lugar en el que vivo.
For a history, for this rhythm,
For our space, for an essense,
For what I am, for what I have,
For the place in which I live.
Hay cosas en la vida que no se pueden cambiar,
Intentos de ordenar a la naturaleza,
Pero yo prefiero estar en un lugar donde se da
Un ritmo natural, caótica belleza.
There are things in life that can’t be changed,
Attempts to order nature,
But I prefer to be in a place where there is
A natural rhythm, chaotic beauty.
Uh, oh, oh, uh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, uh, oh, oh~
Uh, oh, oh, uh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, uh, oh, oh~
(x2)
Translation Notes:
I am not very familiar with Esteman yet, but Natalia Lafourcade enjoys singing about nature and her connection to it. This is a good companion song to “Hasta La Raíz” (Down to the Roots), where she sang about her Mexican roots.
Un lugar para estar
Y vivir lo que se hereda
A place to be
And live what one inherits
This song celebrates our agricultural and rural roots (our inheritance, figuratively or literally). It is common throughout human history for farm families to be large, and for population flow to move from rural areas to cities. Here, Esteman and Natalia are praising the charm of those natural landscapes that many of us leave behind, or that our ancestors left behind.
Una canción sin condición
Para sonar lo que nos queda.
A song without condition
To sound out what we have left.
This song is not meant to be limited to anyone in particular. It isn’t only for rural people to enjoy. It is to sing about what we have left, meaning the areas of nature that still exist in this world.
Hoy puedo ver lo que yo fuí,
De donde soy, de donde vengo.
Today I can see what I was,
Where I come from, where I hail from.
Standing in those rural fields, looking outward like Simba and Mufasa in The Lion King, they can see their history, their ancestral lands, and where they themselves came from.
No es protestar, no es una guerra,
Es lo que soy y lo que tengo.
It is not protests and it is not war,
It is what I am and what I have.
They don’t want to define their identity by mass protests or wars or strife, things which do alter human history as well, but which are external factors and include negative emotions. They find their sense of belonging in their individual history and their connection to nature.
Hay cosas en la vida que no se pueden cambiar,
Intentos de ordenar a la naturaleza
There are things in life that can’t be changed,
Attempts to order nature
It is human nature to alter landscapes and attempt to bring control to our environment. It is part of our collective history and evolutionary drive, and not something that we can really 100% change. We can’t alter the past but we can decide what to value in the present and attempt to preserve current caótica belleza (chaotic beauty).
Pero yo prefiero estar en un lugar donde se da
Un ritmo natural, caótica belleza.
But I prefer to be in a place where there is
A natural rhythm, chaotic beauty.
They love the wilderness and disorder in natural areas, rural landscapes, and wild lands.
Por lo sentido y lo sinsentido,
Por lo que hay y nunca hubo.
For that with sense, and that which makes no sense,
For what there is, and what never was.
For what is felt, and what has no logic,
For what there is, and what never existed.
Either translation is correct, so pick the one you like best.
The verb sentir means “to feel, to sense”. The noun phrase “lo sentido” means “that which is felt, understood, which makes sense”.
The noun sinsentido means “without sense, without logic, without rationale”.
Por una historia, por mil historias,
Que sean contadas, pero sin huecos.
For a history, for a thousand histories,
Let them be told, but without holes.
Holes here refers to missing portions of history and missing perspectives, often erased or forgotten due to colonialism or assimilation. Mexico and the whole American continent has a lot of missing native history, which is what the lyrics allude to here.
Por lo diverso, por este caos
Desordenado con mil encantos.
For the diverse, for this chaos,
Disordered with a thousand enchantments.
This song celebrates the beauty of diversity and history. Mil enchantos can also mean “a thousand charms” or charming things.
“Caotica Belleza” by Esteman, ft. Natalia Lafourcade, English translation of Spanish lyrics.
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