"Me Fui" by Bebe, English translation of lyrics
"I Left"
Album: Y (And), 2009
Style: Soul-searching folk with flamenco influence and emphasis on acoustic instruments
Country: Spain
Listen:
The New York Times listed the album Y as a Critic’s Choice with a nice review. The album was nominated for a Grammy in the category of "Best Latin Rock, Alternative or Urban Album." The song "Me Fui" was nominated for "Song of the Year" in the 2009 Latin Grammy Awards. The song has a conversational style as the singer questions a former lover about their relationship and explains why she left. I expect to get traffic from people looking up the translation after they receive the song in a breakup. Sorry you had to find me this way, new visitors. Listen to the song at YouTube here.
[Expand embedded video]
Translation:
Me fui - pa’ [para] echarte de menos.
Me fui - pa’ volver de nuevo.
Me fui - pa’ estar sola.
Me fui...
I left - to miss you.
I left - to return again.
I left - to be alone.
I left...
Porque estaba tan cerca, casi tan cerca
Que no pude ver
Lo que tengo cerca de mis ojos.
Because I was so close, almost so close
That I couldn't see
What is right in front of me. [*lit. What I have near my eyes.]
Mis manos que ya no son manos,
Mis pies son manos
Que un día vuelven a darme la vida.
My hands are no longer hands,
My feet are hands
That one day give me life again.
Me estoy echando a correr a los ojos
De otro muchacho
Que al menos cuando me mira,
Me hace reírme un rato.
I am catching the eyes
Of another guy
Who at least when he looks at me,
Makes me laugh a bit.
Porque los tuyos
Están tan lejos de mí
Que casi no puedo mirarlos.
Because your eyes [*lit. Because yours]
Are so far away from me
That I almost can’t see them.
Mientras, ¿dónde estaba’ [estabas] cuando te llamaba?
¿Dónde estaba’ cuando te llamaba?
Meanwhile, where were you when I called you?
Where were you when I called you?
¿Dónde estabas cuando mi voz se hacia tan pequeña
Que no salía y se ahogaba en mi habitación
O dentro de mí?
Where were you when my voice was becoming so small
That it wouldn’t come out, and it drowned in my bedroom
Or inside me?
¿Dónde estabas cuando dormías a mi lado
Y yo no podía dormir?
¿Dónde estabas cuando te escuchaba palabras
Que no creías ni tú?
Where were you when you slept by my side
And I couldn’t sleep?
Where were you when I was listening to your words
That not even you believed?
Entre tanta mierda, dime,
¿Dónde estabas tú?
Among so much sh*t, tell me,
Where were you?
Chorus:
-------------------------------------------------------------
¿Dónde estabas cuando te llamaba? (x4)
Where were you when I called you? (x4)
Por eso me fui - pa’ echarte de menos.
Me fui - por eso me fui - pa’ volver de nuevo.
Me fui - pa’ estar sola.
Me fui...
(x2)
That’s why I left - to miss you.
I left - that’s why I left - to return again.
I left - to be alone.
I left...
(x2)
-------------------------------------------------------------
(x2)
Me fui - pa’ volver a hacerlo de nuevo otra vez...
I left - to do it again once more...
Translation Notes:
Me estoy echando a correr a los ojos de otro muchacho.
I am catching the eyes of another guy.
I am making another guy’s eyes run to me. [*alt.]
The bolded phrase is a mix of two other phrases:
echar un ojo = to have a look; lit. to throw an eye
and
echar a correr = to start running; to break into a run
---
Me fui - pa’ volver de nuevo.
I left - to return again.
I left - to go back again. [*alt.]
I left - to return (to myself) again. [*alt.]
It is slightly ambiguous what she means in this line. The first two translations are the primary meaning of the line. The third translation is a possible secondary meaning. I think the ambiguity is intended because the previous line says that she left "to miss" her lover and the following line says that she left "to be alone."
This is starting to become less about the Spanish and more about song interpretation. I think she was in a dysfunctional relationship with an emotionally distant lover, and she left, but she worries that she will end up returning because she misses him. Alternatively, the line means that she is returning to a clean slate and thus, "returning to herself." Being alone isn't necessarily a bad thing.
There is a proverb in Spanish: mejor sola que mala acompañada* (better to be alone than in bad company). It is said to console people who break up, or lose friendships, or don’t have friendships. It is like saying in English, "you’re better off without them."
*That was the feminine form. The masculine form of the saying is mejor solo que mal acompañado.
The proverb does not seem to be original to Spanish. It also made it into George Washington’s Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation:
56. Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for 'tis better to be alone than in bad company.
---
Me fui pa’ [para] volver a hacerlo de nuevo otra vez.
I left to do it again once more.
Word for word:
(Me fui) [para] {volver a hacerlo} [de nuevo] {otra vez}
(I left) [in order to] {again to do it} [anew] {another time}
Album: Y (And), 2009
Style: Soul-searching folk with flamenco influence and emphasis on acoustic instruments
Country: Spain
Listen:
The New York Times listed the album Y as a Critic’s Choice with a nice review. The album was nominated for a Grammy in the category of "Best Latin Rock, Alternative or Urban Album." The song "Me Fui" was nominated for "Song of the Year" in the 2009 Latin Grammy Awards. The song has a conversational style as the singer questions a former lover about their relationship and explains why she left. I expect to get traffic from people looking up the translation after they receive the song in a breakup. Sorry you had to find me this way, new visitors. Listen to the song at YouTube here.
[Expand embedded video]
Click to viewTranslation:
Me fui - pa’ [para] echarte de menos.
Me fui - pa’ volver de nuevo.
Me fui - pa’ estar sola.
Me fui...
I left - to miss you.
I left - to return again.
I left - to be alone.
I left...
Porque estaba tan cerca, casi tan cerca
Que no pude ver
Lo que tengo cerca de mis ojos.
Because I was so close, almost so close
That I couldn't see
What is right in front of me. [*lit. What I have near my eyes.]
Mis manos que ya no son manos,
Mis pies son manos
Que un día vuelven a darme la vida.
My hands are no longer hands,
My feet are hands
That one day give me life again.
Me estoy echando a correr a los ojos
De otro muchacho
Que al menos cuando me mira,
Me hace reírme un rato.
I am catching the eyes
Of another guy
Who at least when he looks at me,
Makes me laugh a bit.
Porque los tuyos
Están tan lejos de mí
Que casi no puedo mirarlos.
Because your eyes [*lit. Because yours]
Are so far away from me
That I almost can’t see them.
Mientras, ¿dónde estaba’ [estabas] cuando te llamaba?
¿Dónde estaba’ cuando te llamaba?
Meanwhile, where were you when I called you?
Where were you when I called you?
¿Dónde estabas cuando mi voz se hacia tan pequeña
Que no salía y se ahogaba en mi habitación
O dentro de mí?
Where were you when my voice was becoming so small
That it wouldn’t come out, and it drowned in my bedroom
Or inside me?
¿Dónde estabas cuando dormías a mi lado
Y yo no podía dormir?
¿Dónde estabas cuando te escuchaba palabras
Que no creías ni tú?
Where were you when you slept by my side
And I couldn’t sleep?
Where were you when I was listening to your words
That not even you believed?
Entre tanta mierda, dime,
¿Dónde estabas tú?
Among so much sh*t, tell me,
Where were you?
Chorus:
-------------------------------------------------------------
¿Dónde estabas cuando te llamaba? (x4)
Where were you when I called you? (x4)
Por eso me fui - pa’ echarte de menos.
Me fui - por eso me fui - pa’ volver de nuevo.
Me fui - pa’ estar sola.
Me fui...
(x2)
That’s why I left - to miss you.
I left - that’s why I left - to return again.
I left - to be alone.
I left...
(x2)
-------------------------------------------------------------
(x2)
Me fui - pa’ volver a hacerlo de nuevo otra vez...
I left - to do it again once more...
Translation Notes:
Me estoy echando a correr a los ojos de otro muchacho.
I am catching the eyes of another guy.
I am making another guy’s eyes run to me. [*alt.]
The bolded phrase is a mix of two other phrases:
echar un ojo = to have a look; lit. to throw an eye
and
echar a correr = to start running; to break into a run
---
Me fui - pa’ volver de nuevo.
I left - to return again.
I left - to go back again. [*alt.]
I left - to return (to myself) again. [*alt.]
It is slightly ambiguous what she means in this line. The first two translations are the primary meaning of the line. The third translation is a possible secondary meaning. I think the ambiguity is intended because the previous line says that she left "to miss" her lover and the following line says that she left "to be alone."
This is starting to become less about the Spanish and more about song interpretation. I think she was in a dysfunctional relationship with an emotionally distant lover, and she left, but she worries that she will end up returning because she misses him. Alternatively, the line means that she is returning to a clean slate and thus, "returning to herself." Being alone isn't necessarily a bad thing.
There is a proverb in Spanish: mejor sola que mala acompañada* (better to be alone than in bad company). It is said to console people who break up, or lose friendships, or don’t have friendships. It is like saying in English, "you’re better off without them."
*That was the feminine form. The masculine form of the saying is mejor solo que mal acompañado.
The proverb does not seem to be original to Spanish. It also made it into George Washington’s Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation:
56. Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for 'tis better to be alone than in bad company.
---
Me fui pa’ [para] volver a hacerlo de nuevo otra vez.
I left to do it again once more.
Word for word:
(Me fui) [para] {volver a hacerlo} [de nuevo] {otra vez}
(I left) [in order to] {again to do it} [anew] {another time}