I received an inquiry about the words to the following sevillanas this week. It's one of the first sevillanas I learned.

Faly used to sing it, and we would dance to it. And dance to it. And dance to it. And then we would dance to it. Ever been there?

So, here you go.

Sevillanas “El Adiós”
Manuel Garrido

La Primera
Algo se muere en el alma,
cuando un amigo se va,
Y va dejando una huella
que no se puede borrar.

La Segunda
Un pañuelo de silencio
a la hora de partir,
Porque hay palabras que hieren
y no se deben decir.

La Tercera
El barco se hace pequeño
cuando se aleja en el mar,
Y cuando se va perdiendo
que grande es la soledad.

La Cuarta
Ese vacío que deja
el amigo que se va
Es como un pozo sin fondo
que no se vuelve a llenar.

Estribillo*
No te vayas todavía,
no te vayas por favor
no te vayas todavía que hasta la guitarra mía
llora cuando dice adiós.

First Verse
Something in the soul dies,
when a friend leaves,
And it leaves a footprint
that cannot be erased.

Second Verse
A handkerchief of silence
when it's time to part,
Because there are words that hurt
that one should not say.

Third Verse
The boat becomes small
when it sails away in the ocean,
And when it gets lost
how big the loneliness is.

The Fourth
The emptiness left behind
by the friend who leaves
It's like a well with no bottom
that can never be refilled.

Chorus*
Don't leave yet,
Please don't leave
Don't leave, even my guitar
cries when saying goodbye.

*The estribillo goes at the end of each verse.

You can listen to a typical sevillanas version here and another version here.

By the way, this is one of my favorite sevillanas ever.

Comments

I felt especially challenged by translating the poetry of this song. Have any thoughts on that? And what do you think of the song? Have you heard this one a million times too? What's one of your favorite sevillanas verses? You can leave a comment here.)

(And speaking of translation, I'm currently working on translating a video interview I did with David Romero in Barcelona about his life as a flamenco dancer. You'll be able to see it soon here.