Agustin Lara
In this song Lara pays homage to the Spanish side of Mexican identity, specifically the beauty and rich history of the ancient city of Granada in Andalusia. From verse seven on he uses a kind of impressionistic technique or collage to convey his view of the city’s complexity. It is not surprising to find allusions to Spanish ladies throughout. Lara was ever a lady’s man. Generalissimo Franco appreciated Lara and in 1965 gave him a house in Granada. The Spanish erected a statue to Lara in Madrid.
INTRODUCTION
1. Granada, tierra soñada por mí,
Granada, land dreamt of by me,
2. mi cantar se vuelve gitano
My song turns into a gypsy
3. cuando es para ti.
when it is for you
4. Mi cantar, hecho de fantasía.
My song, (which is) made of fantasy.
5. Mi cantar, flor de la melancolía
My song, a flower of melancholy
6. que yo te vengo a dar.
That I come to give to you.
VERSE ONE
7. Granada, tierra ensangrentada
Granada, land steeped in blood
8. en tardes de toros,
in afternoons of the corrida,
9. mujer que conserva el embrujo
(Granada is also) a woman who still has the witchcraft
10. de los ojos moros,
of Moorish eyes,
11. te sueño rebelde y gitana,
I dream of you as a rebel and (a) gypsy,
12. cubierta de flores,
covered with flowers,
13 y beso tu boca de grana,
And I kiss your pomegranate-colored mouth,
14. jugosa manzana
a juicy apple
15. que me habla de amores.
that speaks to me of loves.
VERSE TWO
16. Granada, manola cantada
Granada, a Manola girl sung
17. en coplas preciosas,
In beautiful couplets,
18. no tengo otra cosa que darte
I have nothing else to give you
19. que un ramo de rosas,
than a bouquet of roses,
20. de rosas de suave fragrancia
of roses of sweet fragrance
21. que le dieran marco a la Virgen Morena.
that they could serve as a (picture) frame for the dark-skinned Virgin.
22. Granada, tu tierra está llena
Granada, your land is full
23. de lindas mujeres, de sangre y de sol.
Of pretty women, blood, and sun.
Repeat: 20-23
General Notes
In this song Lara pays homage to the Spanish side of Mexican identity, specifically the beauty and rich history of the ancient city of Granada in Andalusia.From verse seven on he uses a kind of impressionistic technique or collage to convey his view of the city’s complexity. It is not surprising to find allusions to Spanish ladies throughout. Lara was
ever a lady’s man.
Generalissimo Franco appreciated Lara and in 1965 gave him a house in Granada. The Spanish erected a statue to Lara in Madrid.Note the stellar job done by the trumpets
in the accompaniment (e.g. in lines 8 and 10). Such flair! They suggest the grandeur of what the city once was; the musical embellishments—appoggiaturas, etc.
– are in harmony with the ornate complexity of Moorish architecture. Musical
instruments add their own special color to enhance the beauty of a song.
74 Robert Stuart Thomson
Language Points
• line 2: Cantar here is a noun meaning “song”.
• lines 7-8: In addition to bullfights ensangrentada (steeped in blood) brings to mind certain blood-stained events in Spanish history, e.g. the invasion of Napoleon (the horrors of which Goya depicted with such power) and the appalling carnage of the Spanish Civil War (1936-39). Certain words in songs (as in poetry) are rich in associations and allusions of this kind.
• lines 9-10: Going from Spanish idiom to English idiom these two lines would be: “A woman who still has the witchcraft of Moorish eyes.”
• line 13: suave. The meaning is agradable a los sentidos: agreeable to the senses.
• line 16-17: Manola cantada in coplas preciosas: This is apparently an allusion
to the late nineteenth century and the working class women of Madrid who dressed in a flamboyant zarzuela-type costume and had plenty of haughty insolence.
• line 19-21: It is the custom to put flowers around the frames of paintings of
the Madonna found in churches. The Virgin “Morena” probably alludes to the Virgin of Guadalupe, patron saint of Mexico.
Version in English
1. Granada, I’m falling under your spell,
2. And if you could speak, what a fascinating tale you would tell.
3. Of an age the world has long forgotten.
4. Of an age that weaves a silent magic in Granada today.
5. The dawn in the sky greets the day with a sigh for Granada,
6. For she can remember the splendor that once was Granada.
7. It still can be found in the hills all around as I wander along.
8. Entranced by the beauty before me,
9. Entranced by a land full of sunshine and flowers and song.
10. And when day is done and the sun starts to set in Granada,
11. I envy the blush of the snow-clad Sierra Nevada.
12. For soon it will welcome the stars while a thousand guitars,
13. Play a soft habanera.
14. Then moonlit Granada will live again: the
glory of yesterday,
15. Romantic and gay.
A few of the lines (e.g. 5, 10) are trite, in my opinion, but overall this is an imaginative rendering of the song in English and manages to capture much of the spirit of the original Spanish.
These comments are taken from my 2016 book, “Love songs in Spanish for Enjoyment and Learning.” Read about it on my website: http://www.godwinbooks.com It can be ordered from amazon. The songs you can get by looking them up on Youtube.
Love Songs In Spanish for Enjoyment and Learning 