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Sunday, September 30

Colombian band Bomba Estéreo's "El Alma Y El Cuerpo" (Soul and Body)



UPDATE
I took heat from a reader about this post, first because I implied that the song was new. The reader sent a YouTube version of the group singing the song on a street in Bogota in March 2011, and which was uploaded to YouTube in Aug. 2011.

Second, the reader told me that my Spanish sucked if I got from the lyrics what the group's vocalist, Liliana Saumet, told the Beeb about the song. (See below.)

It's just a song, folks. Let's not make a federal case out of it. But this is a lesson to Pundita to stick to simple topics, like war.

As near as I can gather, and please don't quote me on this, I think the song has only been released a few weeks ago under a record label. And the 'official' video of the song is a new release. (See below.)

As to the lyrics, I'll grant that the ideas Saumet explained to the BBC are only implied in the song -- at least, if the English at Google Translation is somewhat accurate (See below.) So I will cop to that error. Yes, it's very clear from the translation that the song doesn't start by saying, 'You know, Colombians and Latin Americans in general worry a lot about things, about what other people are doing, but aren't looking inside for the answers.' But these observations are implied in the song's opening, "Know that I will mourn; I'm going to complain." 

And the 'official' video (above), released more than a year after the group first brought it to the public, makes the themes that Saumet explained very explicit. The imagery -- introspection, purification, regeneration -- can be universally understood even without lyrics and carries forward Saumet's explanation of the song.

Unless the reader wants to tell me that the video is just about a sexy chick lounging in a hammock then taking a stroll on the beach and a swim in the ocean. 

Here's the Google translation of the lyrics:
know that I will mourn
que me voy a quejar I'm going to complain
que me voy a reir I'm going to laugh
se que en la oscuridad is that in the dark
no se puede ver nada si tu no estas aqui(bis) can not see anything if you're not here (bis)

duro dos segundos el atardecer lasted two seconds the sunset
me quemo por dentro I burn inside
el alma y el cuerpo the soul and body
la sangre esta hirviendo(bis) blood is boiling (bis)

me quemo por dentro I burn inside
el alma y el cuerpo the soul and body
me quemo por dentro I burn inside
y yo...no puede estar mas asi and ... I can not be more so
y yo...no puedo estar mas asi ahhh and I ... I can not be more so ahhh

sin alma en el cuerpo no soul in the body
me quemo por dentro I burn inside
me quemo por dentro I burn inside
sin alma en el cuerpo no soul in the body
me quemo por dentro I burn inside
me quemo por dentro... I'm burning inside ...

ya se que no vendra I know they will not come
nadie te va a enseñar nobody will teach
lo que es estar asi what is to be so
que en esta soledad in this solitude
enfrenta la verdad Face the truth
es casi como huir(bis) is almost as escape (bis)

duro dos segundos el atardecer lasted two seconds the sunset
me quemo por dentro I burn inside
el alma y el cuerpo the soul and body
la sangre esta hirviendo blood is boiling

me quemo por dentro I burn inside
el alma y el cuerpo the soul and body

Fuente: musica.com Source: musica.com
Letra añadida por edanbece Lyrics added by edanbece
Now to return to my original post.
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Is this is a revolutionary song? I don't know; is it revolutionary for a Colombian to say that people in Colombia and Latin America worry a lot about things, about what other people are doing, but aren't looking inside for the answers? To say this in a country where politics is considered the alpha and omega?

The song is from the quartet's third album, "Elegancia Tropical." It's the first single to be released from the album, which is being debuted internationally in October.

Here is a version that seems to have been made for the BBC; the performance is interspersed with vocalist Liliana Saumet's explanation of the meaning of the song.

The official version has slightly different orchestration than the BBC one. (H/T The Latin Americanist.)

March 2011 version



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