SODA STEREO – EN LA CIUDAD DE LA FURIA (TRANSLATION)

Time for another song translation.  Soda Stereo are rock en español royalty.  I lived in Patagonian Chile in 1997 as an exchange student and Soda Stereo along with the Chilean band Los Tres quickly became favourites.  Sadly, the lead singer Gustavo Cerati has been in a coma for over three years since suffering a stroke in 2010.

 I never had the opportunity to see the band live but if I were able to travel back in time and see them, I think I would go to their 1996 MTV Unplugged performance in Miami.  A stadium gig with 100,000 screaming Argentines would be incredible as well but for intimacy and the spacey ethereal tones of the version of this Soda Stereo Classic I’d choose the MTV gig.  Andrea Echeverri of Colombian band Aterciopelados accompanies Cerati in vocal duties.  Spanish lyrics here.   

 

IN THE CITY OF FURY

 

You will see me fly

across the city of fury

where no one knows of me

and I am part of everything

Nothing will change

with a warning curve

In your faces I see fear

There are no more fables

In the city of fury

You will see me fall

like a bird of prey

You will see me fall

over desert terraces

I will disrobe

on the blue streets

I will take refuge

before everyone awakes

You will leave me to sleep until dawn

between your legs, between your legs

you will know how to hide me well and disappear

amidst the fog, amidst the fog

A winged man

longs for the earth

From the sunlight

my wings melt

Only in the darkness do I find

what bonds me

to the city of fury

You will see me fall

like a wild arrow

You will see me fall

between fleeting flights

Buenos Aires appears

so susceptible

It is the fate of the furies

that remains in your faces

Peter W Davies's avatar
Peter W Davies

5 thoughts on “SODA STEREO – EN LA CIUDAD DE LA FURIA (TRANSLATION)

  1. Here is my translation, if I may . . . trying to capture his poetry instead of just words:

    You’ll witness my flight
    Above the city ablaze
    Where no one’s privy to my tale
    Yet I’m woven into every gaze

    Immutable, the city’s face
    Turns with a curve’s embrace
    Fear etched on every countenance
    No more fables to trace
    In the city of relentless expanse

    Behold my descent
    As a bird of prey, unrestrained
    Descend upon vacant terraces
    In the solitude, unchained

    I shall unveil you
    Through streets of azure hue
    Seek refuge ere the world awakens
    In the quietude before dawn’s debut

    Chorus
    Allow me to repose at sunrise
    Within the sanctuary of your limbs, your embrace
    A skillful clandestine, veiled in the mist
    Disappear within the fog’s grace

    “A winged man… yearns for the earth.”

    Witness my flight
    Across the city of relentless ardor
    Where anonymity befalls me
    Yet I’m an integral part of all ardor

    With the sun’s luminance
    My wings dissolve, a transient dance
    Only in obscurity I find
    That which binds me to the city, refined

    Watch me fall
    As an untamed arrow’s flight
    Amid fleeting, flickering fires
    Buenos Aires, a portrait of fragility in sight
    A destiny of fury
    In every visage, endures, undenied

    Allow me to slumber at daybreak
    Within the cradle of your form, your embrace
    Adeptly shroud me, dissolve in the haze
    Disappear within the enigmatic mist, within its grace

    A winged soul
    Favors the embrace of night

    Witness my return
    Witness my return

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