Guerra, guerra, guerra
Con esa bata de cola
tú vienes pidiendo guerra
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Viewing entries tagged
sounds way better in Spanish
Soleá por Bulerías
Traditional
Será o no será
pa mi unos tormentos dobles
verte y no poderte hablar
Here watch a video of David Lagos on fire por alegrías.
You’ll also find the words to one of the letras he sings, which he also wrote.
I cannot remember where I first came across this letra, but I was moved by it and scribbled it down. I recently came across it going through my notes…
Here it is along with a recording of Manuel Torre singing it.
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Are you ready to be captivated?
Here’s a bulerías letra for you to enjoy and a video of Miguel Poveda and María Terremoto.
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Here’s another LOVE letra, a fandangos.
Quiero estar siempre a tu vera
ver a tus ojos bonitos
y yo decirte Morena
que tú me tienes loquito
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Want to make somebody’s day?
Share this sweet letra with them, and start February off with some LOVE.
Here’s a letra for you followed by a video of Cristina Hall, that you’re going to love just as much as the words to this song.
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This was one of those difficult translations. It's a juguetillo (coletilla por cantiñas) and a video of Estrella Morente live:
Cantiñas/Alegrías
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Qué mandilón, mandilón
Que de cabeza a cabeza
Me meto yo en el pilón
A facebook follower from Cádiz told me that this basically means:
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Today, to wrap up love month, a song that falls on the tragic side of love.
Following the words you'll find a collection of videos of live interpretations from Pepe de Lucía to La Macanita.
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Today I share with you a video of Manuel Lombo doing his thing at a juerga in Spain. Manuel begins singing letras then moves to cuplés, with plenty of dancing in-between. He is backed by a chorus of jaleos and palmas that help us to feel the energy in the room.
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Today's letra(s) comes from Cuatro Soneto de Amor by Rafael de León. This is the second part, which you can see Mayte Martín sing live (Ten Cuidao) in the video below.
Me avisaron a tiempo: ten cuidado,
mira que miente más que parpadea,
que no le va a tu modo su ralea,
que es de lo peorcito del mercado.
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Here's a caña followed by a video of Carmen Mora accompanied by Carmen Linares. (A couple of years ago we studied this dance with Mercedes Ruíz on the Flamenco Tour to Jerez. I can't wait to go back and learn more from her in a couple of weeks on the next tour!)
Caña
Popular
Aquél que tiene tres viñas
y el tiempo le quita dos,
que se conforme con una
y le dé gracias a Dios
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Last week we watched Paloma Fantova get into it, so this week I want to show you a video of Belén López (who always goes all out) along with an alegrías letra.
From Sin Ti Yo No Sé Vivir (Alegrías)
La Nitra
Yo sé que ya no volverás
No quiero recordar
Que te fuiste pa siempre
Sin ti yo ya no sé vivir
Me he acostumbrado a ti
Y no quiero perderte
Y no te tengo primo
Y no te tengo
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Today, a beautiful letra and a difficult translation ...
From Tonás y livianas
by Manuel Machado
Quita una pena otra pena…
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Yesterday I received an email from a reader, Max Herzog, a guitarist based in San Diego, who came across today's letra on my blog. (I originally posted it about four years ago. I struggled with the translation then, and I'm still struggling with it today.) Max had some great insights along with a smoother translation which I wanted to share with you. You'll find his translation below (with just a couple of small changes from me).
Fandangos
Popular
Los ojos como las moras
y los dientes de marfil
y tu boca es una fuente
donde una noche bebí
agua con ansias de muerte
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Today another one that I got from Zorri. He is full of letras.
Literally.
This one is kind of fuerte.
Bulerías
Popular
Contigo bajé la cuesta
y ahora que quiero subirla
que trabajito me cuesta
I went down the hill with you
and now that I want to go back up,
Oh how much work it is
We all know a lot of the sentido gets lost in translation. The letras just don't have the same feeling in English. And then at times there are specific things that really cannot be translated within the verse itself.
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Melinda brought me a little book of letras from Spain. In it I came across an abbreviated version of the first letra written below. When I researched it online, I found some additional letras in a version by Juan Cantero.
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Here is a letra por bulerías and a video of Paco de Lucía & Camarón de la Isla.
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There was a request for the words to the song in this post...
They're rather fuerte.
You can hear Camarón singing it here and again here.
Tientos
Popular
Tienes que derramar más sangre
que un torito bravo en su muerte
no sé como tienes valor
pá hablar de mi malamente.
You have to shed more blood
than a fighting bull at his death
I don't know how you have the courage
to speak badly of me.