"Estoy Aqu" by Shakira, English translation of lyrics

"I Am Here"
Album: Dond Estn Los Ladrones? (Where Are The Thieves?), 1998
Style: Rock, brunette Shakira, nostalgia about a past love with touches of obsession and sadness
Country: Colombia
Listen:
At YouTube here. The music video shows brunette Shakira!
[Expand embedded video]
Translation:
Ya s que no vendrs.
Todo lo que fue,
El tiempo lo dejo atras.
I already know you won't come.
Everything that was,
Time has left behind.
S que no regresars.
Lo que nos paso
No repetira jams.
I know you won't return.
What happened to us
Will never again repeat.
Mil aos no me alcanzarn
Para borrarte y olvidar.
A thousand years won't catch me up
To erase you and forget.
Y ahora estoy aqu,
Quierendo convertir
Los campos en ciudad,
Mezclando cielo con el mar.
And now I am here,
Wanting to turn
The open fields into cities,
Mixing sky with sea.
S que te dej escapar.
S que te perdi.
Nada podr ser igual.
I know I let you escape.
I know that I lost you.
Nothing will ever be the same.
Mil aos pueden alcanzar
Para que pueda perdonar.
A thousand years can catch me up
So I can forgive.

Chorus:
-----------------------------------------------Estoy aqu, quierendote, ahogandome
Entre fotas y cuandernos,
Entre cosas y recuerdos
Que no puedo comprender.
I am here, loving you, drowning myself
Between photos and notebooks,
Between things and memories
That I can't understand.
Estoy enloqueciendome,
Cambiando un pie por la cara ma,
Esta noche por el da que
Nada le puedo yo hacer.
I am driving myself mad,
Exchanging a foot for this face of mine, [*alt. Exchanging a foot for my face]
This night for the day that
I can't do anything about it.
-----------------------------------------------Las cartas que escribi
Nunca las envi.
No querrs saber de m.
The letters that I wrote,
I never sent them.
You won't want to know about me.
No puedo entender
Lo tonta que fui.
Es cuestion de tiempo y fe.
I can't understand
How stupid I was.
It's a matter of time and faith.
Mil aos con otros mil ms
Son suficientes para amar.
A thousand years with a thousand more
Are enough to love.
[Chorus: "Estoy aqu, quierendote, ahogandome..."]
Si an piensas algo en m,
Sabes que sigo esperandote...
If even now you think of me (sometimes),
You know that I continue waiting for you...
[Chorus: "Estoy aqu, quierendote, ahogandome..."]
Translation Notes:
Lyrics originally translated 2004 (posted to Geocities website). Edited 2010 (posted to Songlations).
--Quierendo convertir / Los campos en ciudad

Wanting to turn / The open fields into cities [lit. city (singular)]
--Si an piensas algo en m, / Sabes que sigo esperandote...
If even now you think of me (sometimes), / You know that I continue waiting for you...
(Si) (an) {piensas} [algo en m], {sabes} (que) {sigo} (esperandote)
(If) (still) {you think} [something of/about/regarding me], {you know} (that) {I continue} (waiting for you)
algo = lit. something
But in context, "sometimes" fits better (because it says "en m" rather than "de m").
Tags: shakira
Posted on Jul. 23rd, 2010 at 08:03 pm | Link | Leave a comment | 2 comments | Share

Comments
(Anonymous)

Sorry it's such a long question!

I have four questions:
First,
Mil aos no me alcanzaran
Para borrarte y olvidar.
Wouldn't it be alcanzarn?
Second,
Mil aos pueden alcanzar
Para que pueda perdonar.
Why does she sing pueda perdonar? Is it because she might forgive and might not?
Third,
Las cartas que escribi
Nunca las envie.
No querrs saber de m.
Is it enve or envi, because you translated it as I never sent them but in the song it sounds like the
empthasis is on the last letter, so it would be envi and should be I won't send them. I'm really confused
about that so can you explain why its I never sent them, please?
Fourth,
Are you from Spain? Because I have a question about their pronunciation...
Posted on Aug. 27th, 2010 09:13 pm (UTC) | Link | Thread | Reply

cairaguas

Re: Sorry it's such a long question!

Mil aos no me alcanzaran ... Wouldn't it be alcanzarn?
Yes! Thanks!
Why does she sing pueda perdonar? Is it because she might forgive and might not?
I think maybe it is because he left her and she is not sure if she forgives him? I am not sure.
Is it enve or envi

It's envi (simple past tense, "sent" in English). I missed the accent again. This was one of my old translations
and when I started out, I didn't pay much attention to fixing the accents that the lyrics websites left out.
Thanks for your sharp eye. I added a lot of the accents before I re-posted here, but I still missed a few.
Are you from Spain? Because I have a question about their pronunciation...
I am Mexican-American, so I don't think I can help you much there. You could try
linguaphiles orWordReference forums. Those places are both good sources of information. If you want to ask
the general public, Yahoo! Answers in Spanish could work, too. If it's a simple questions, the English Yahoo!
Answers might work, too.
Posted on Aug. 28th, 2010 09:41 pm (UTC) | Link | Parent | Thread | R