In depth song translation from Spanish to English.So before you say "NOT ANOTHER TRANSLATION!!" allow me to make some things clear first. I'm from Puerto Rico, and it happens that 2 band members from The Mars Volta are Puerto Rican descendants. If you have ever wondered why the CD is both in English and Spanish, you probably didn't know that both languages are the official in the island. I can guarantee you that among all the translations posted in this forum, this is the most accurate one, because both English and Spanish ARE my primary languages, and from what I've read here, when you know both languages, reading other people's translations is just plain hilarious... I stated my point, now let's get started.
For starters, let's make clear that the "salsa" part isn't really salsa. It is closer to being "Danzón" althought it really isn't danzón either. It does too has a little of "Cha-cha-cha" into it.
Secondly, "L'via L'viaquez" is a phonetics game. L'via kind of sounds like "Ilvia or Elvia or " which are common names in spanish. And "L'viaquez" sound pretty much like Vázquez which is another common last name here on the Island. Also, L'viaquez looks and sounds pretty much like Vieques, which is a Puerto Rican city off the southeast coast of the main island.
And thirdly, apparently this guys haven't practiced their spanish in a while, since there are like a million errors on the spanish lyrics, which I don't think were done in purpose because of the fact that the english lyrics are very well written.
So here goes:
L'via L'viaquez
L’ Via hija de Miranda (L'via, daughter of Miranda)Tu apellido se cambió (if translated directly, Your last name changed itself, should say "Tu apellido cambió" so it would mean Your last name changed.)L’ Via sin ojos me quieres dar (without eyes you want to give me)Una historia sin mi madre (A history without my mother)Solo tengo que decirte (I only have to tell you)El dolor de noche dice (The pain of the night says)Solo se quedó el vestido (Another grammar error, should say Sólo quedó el vestido. Means only the dress was left behind. Should mean Only the dress remained.)Le lave la sangre (That the blood is washed. Should say Le lavé la sangre ("lave" and "lavé" mean two different things) obviously they tried to say I washed the blood)
L’ Via no dejes de descansar (In spanish, when you say "No dejes" and you then add an action could mean to not to forget to do the followed action, or to not to do the action. For what I can interpret, I say they meant "L'via, don't forget to rest")En la calle caminas (In the street you walk)¿Quién te va a perseguir? (Who's going to follow you?)L’ Via te quieren matar (they want to kill you)Dientes de machete (teeth of hatchet. Following Puerto Rican history, which influences a lot in this CD, people in the country, before Puerto Rico came to be an industrialized country, were usually murdered with hatchets, since people were too poor to buy guns and you had to import them. In order to comprehend this line fully, you'd need some historical background on the lifestyle in the Antilles back in the 20's to the 40's when Americans had just started their industries on the islands.)cabezas de gallo (Obviously when you read this line it comes back down to times when people in Puerto Rico and the Antilles were extremely poor and had farm animals. Chickens and roosters were the most abundant of them all since they multiply fast enough and could provide eggs and meat for some sundays. Translation means Heads of roosters, which was the usual way to kill a rooster (to chop their heads off with a hatchet.)L’ Via durmiendo en paz (L'via, sleeping in peace)Abre los ojos, todo cambiará (Open your eyes, everything will change)L’ Via soñado de venganza (dreaming of revenge)Y yo te juro lo van a pagar (And I swear to you they’re going to pay)
Solo tengo una hora (I only have one hour)Y me duermo terminado (This doesn't make any sense in spanish, but roughly translated says "And I fall asleep finished", obviusly they tried to say And my sleep finished)Por veinticinco años pasaron (This too, doesn't make any sense, roughly translated "By passed by twentyfive years". They meant Through 25 passed years)Siguen los cuerpos aquí temblando (The bodies are still here, trembling)
Tomé la sangre (I drank the blood)Comí el cuerpo (I ate the body)Mis lágrimas (My cries)Quiebra el espejo (She shatters the mirror)
These last four lines are ambiguos between the deep devotion to catholicism people had at that time in Puerto Rico and of course, representing the sin of murder. She cries for eating the body of Christ and drinking his Blood in sin. Breaking a mirror would represent bad luck.
So first time I heard the song I laughed my ass off as I listened to all that nonesense, but if you look closer at it, you may find it has some historical meaning on the way of life Puerto Rico had back in the early 1900's. Now I hope the song makes a little more sense to you now. I love the song, but it isn't as magical as it probably it is to someone who just has no idea of what the hell they're saying. I could translate the other songs and explain their meaning if requested. I only did this one because I really like it.
