I listen to a lot of music that isn’t in a language I speak. That’s okay, because music is expressive enough to transcend language. Where I stumble is when encountering songs that have been “translated” into English. We are left with either a soulless transcription, or a retelling of the song in English, wherein the translator mostly adapts the song’s essence to its music.

Shouldn’t we care more about the feeling of the song than the words?

For example, take the refrain from the lamentation, “Quizás, Quizás, Quizás.”

The Spanish version goes:

“Y así pasan los días

Y yo voy desesperando

Y tú, tú, tú contestando:

Quizás… quizás… quizás…”

If you directly translate it, you get:

“And so the days go by,

And I grow more and more desperate,

And you—you, you—keep answering:

Perhaps… perhaps… perhaps…”

Now, that’s an accurate meaning, but what I lose when I have to rely on translations is the experience a Spanish speaker gets from the song. If it’s enough of a standard, then someone might write an English version. Honestly, though, not only is that a rare occurrence, the English version reads like a completely different song. It’s not usually that similar to the mood of the original.

Now, were I attempting to translate this passage, I might get something like:

“And days just find me waiting,

Always, anticipating,

and you, equivocating,

Perhaps … Perhaps … Perhaps.”

Maybe I have the skill and inclination to do it, but I don’t have the language skills. Sigh. Where my songwriters at? I’ve got a long list of songs I’d love to have someone do justice to.