Friday, August 5, 2011

A Translation

I've been wanting to try my hand at translating for a while, and I couldn't pass this one up. 

This is a song, from sort of a rap-reggaeton group called Calle-13, is about being Latin American, and I love some of the imagery.  It still sounds better in Spanish, but I like the way it came out in English too.

Latinoamerica

I am
I am what was dropped
I am what’s leftover after you were robbed
A village hidden in the mountains
my skin is like leather 
for whatever the weather
I’m a smoke factory
the hand of a field worker
for your consumption.
A mid summer cold front
like “Love in the Time of Cholera” brother.
The sun that gives birth as the day dies
to the best of sunsets.
I’m development live in the flesh
I’m dry-mouthed political discourse.
The prettiest faces that you’ve ever looked at
I’m a photo of someone who’s been kidnapped.
I’m the blood in your veins
that piece of earth that’s worth the work
I’m a basket of beans.
I’m Maradona chalking up two goals against England.
My mountain range is the backbone of the Planet.
I’m what my father taught me
if you don’t love your country
you don’t love your mother
I am Latin America
a people with no legs but still walking
You can’t buy the wind
You can’t buy the sun
You can’t buy the rain
You can’t buy the heat
You can’t buy the clouds
You can’t buy the colors
You can’t buy my happiness
You can’t buy my pain