"Fjate Bien" by Juanes, English translation of lyrics

"Pay Attention", alt. "Look Closely"

Album: Fjate Bien, 2000
Style: Pop/rock, politically aware
Country: Colombia
Te han quitado lo que tienes,
Te han robado el pan del da,
Te han sacado de tus tierras
Y no parece que termina aqu.
They have taken away what you have,
They have stolen your daily bread,
They have taken you out of your lands
And it doesn't look like it stops here.
Despojado de tu casa
Vas sin rumbo a la ciudad.
Sos el hijo de la nada.
Sos la vida que se va.
Stripped of your home
You head without a path toward the city.
You are the son sprung from nothing.
You are the life that goes away.
Son los nios, son los viejos,
Son las madres, somos todos, caminando
Y no te olvides de esto, no no no.
They are the children, they are the elderly,
They are the mothers, it is all of us, walking
And don't forget about this, no no no.
Chorus:
Fjate bien donde pisas,
Fjate cuando caminas,
No vaya ser que una mina
Te desbarate los pies, (amor / por favor).
(x2)
Watch out where you step,
Pay attention when you walk,
Don't let it be that a mine
Destroys your feet, (love / please).
(x2)
Ya no s quien es el dueo
De tu vida y de la ma.
Slo s que hay un cuento
Que no parece que termina aqu.
I don't know who is the owner anymore
Of your life and of mine.
All I know is that there's a story
That doesn't seem to end here.
Y como dicen en los diarios,
Y como dicen en la tele,
Y como dicen en la radio

Que no parece que termina aqu.

And like they say in the newspapers,
And like they say on the television,
And like they say on the radio
That it doesn't seem to end here.
Son los nios, son los viejos,
Son las madres, somos todos, caminando
Y no te olvides de esto, no no no.
They are the children, they are the elderly,
They are the mothers, it is all of us, walking
And don't forget about this, no no no.
[Chorus x2, "Fjate bien donde pisas..."]
[Music bridge]
[Chorus x2, "Fjate bien donde pisas..."]
Porque ellos no van a buscarte.
Ellos no van a salvarte.
Ellos no van, ellos no van, no no,
Y t no lo vas a creer.
Because they are not going to look for you.
They are not going to save you.
They are not going to, not going to, no no,
And you are not going to believe it.
Translation Notes:
fijarse (bien) = to pay attention; to watch out; to notice (especially well), to look closely
bien - adds that not only should one pay attention, one should pay attention well!
--el pan del da = daily bread
From the Christian prayer, "Padre Nuestro" (Our Father)
--(vos) sos = (t) eres; looks like (vosotros) sois
Alternative conjugations of the verb ser (to be). See: Voseo.
--despojado de tu casa
stripped of your home
despojado (adj.) = bereft, denuded, stripped
--son las madres, somos todos, caminando
they are the mothers, it is all of us, walking
Alt. it is the mothers, it is all of us, walking
Notice the use of similar sounds to go from "they" to "us": son, somos

--(que) no vaya ser que una mina te desbarate los pies

don't let it be that a mine destroys your feet
Subjunctive tense makes it sound like a hope.
Also See:
"Untados" by Aterciopelados for more politically aware music.
Listen:
At YouTube here. This song won Best Rock Song at the 2001 Latin Grammy Awards.
Tags: grammy, juanes
Posted on Aug. 12th, 2008 at 09:31 pm | Link | Leave a comment | 4 comments | Share

Comments
(Anonymous)

Mini Mistake in English Translation

First, I would like to say that you are simply amazing! Haha I take Spanish in school (and have for the past
nine or so years) and I really appreciate you posting these songlations! I use them at least once a week and
my teacher loves them as well. We spend at least one class a month listening to a Juanes or Shakira (my
teacher is Colombian so she like them lol) song and she passes out your songlations! Okay, so I was reading
the translations and the first line dicen should be translated as they say (or if its in the preterit they said,
but dicen is in the present since dicieron would be preterit) so I am like 99% sure its just a typo but I felt I
should point it out. Hope it helps :D Sorry if I'm wrong haha!
Y como dicen en los diarios
Y como dicen en la tele
Y como dicen en la radio
Que no parece que termina aqu
And like they sat in the newspapers
And like they say on the television
And like they say on the radio
That it doesn't seem to end here
Posted on Mar. 30th, 2010 08:37 pm (UTC) | Link | Thread | Reply

cairaguas

Re: Mini Mistake in English Translation

Oops! Thanks for pointing it out. *Fixed*
Also, thanks for telling me that your teacher uses my songlations in class. That's an honor, wow. :-D
Posted on Mar. 30th, 2010 10:41 pm (UTC) | Link | Parent | Thread | Reply

(Anonymous)

Re: Mini Mistake in English Translation

Yea she is obsessed with having us translate songs from spanish to english (and sometimes italian....i know
its weird haha) and she uses yours as the answer key usually. Well, she used to I'm going into a different
grade so I don't know about now but she said she would continue to use them. Also, she asked if you did
translations for Enrique Iglesias because she wants to compare the Spanish pronunciation.
Posted on Aug. 27th, 2010 09:17 pm (UTC) | Link | Parent | Thread | Reply

cairaguas

Re: Mini Mistake in English Translation

I haven't had anyone request Enrique Iglesias songs, so I haven't lined any up to work on. I'll make a note and
start a few songs later when I have time. I just searched the music on my computer and half the Enrique
Iglesias songs I have are in English, so that won't work!
I don't understand what you mean by compare the Spanish pronunciation.
Oh wait! Do you mean that she wants to use Iglesias in her class when she talks about accents and she would
like translated songs as resources? That would make sense.
(P.S. I'm the answer key? That's crazy! I'm very flattered!)
Posted on Sep. 30th, 2010 04:17 am