Sunday, September 27, 2009

En la que el Bernat se’t Troba; Manel

Hola amigos! Before the end of the month, I’m gonna update some Spanish songs I’ve found here and there. And there’s a lot of them! So let’s go to the first song because this week is looking to get pretty busy for me!

 Arriba! Andale! Andale!

And in that ludic mood that Speedy Gonzales inspired me I will start with a very enjoyable song, so playful, so burlesque. “En la que el Bernat se’t Troba” is a song by Manel, a pop group from Barcelona which has, in its debut album, a lot of influence of Catalan folk music. “Els Millors Professors Europeus” (The Best European Teachers), 2008, was well received by critics and it was considered by the Catalan Enderrock Magazine the best album of pop-rock of last year. It was also well-ranked by others publications.

The song talks about a casual dating in Barcelona, a night of love between a man and a woman. Both the videoclip was recorded on the Barcelona streets — the members of the band acting like street performers, singing and whistling while they saunter through this beautiful city. The band makes a choir of whistlings with some simple and contagious notes (only the guy who plays sax doesn’t whistle. By the way, what a amusing sax solo!)

Ah, Manel sings its songs in Catalan, the frenchified cousin of Spanish. In Catalan, “whistling” is “xiulet”.

I ahir a la nit vam conèixer tres dones altes i elegants
i amb una em vaig posar d’acord
vam conversar, vam riure i hem fet l’amor.
I m’ha parlat del seu país i de les coses que fa aquí
amb un castellà força estrany, sorprenentment fluïd.

“Quin nas més gros que tens!”, m’ha dit, la dona alta des del llit,
i a la paret ha assenyalat
un quadre verd que de nena havia pintat.
I “Que bonic! Que bonic! Que bonic!” m’he dit,
quina nena més dolça devia ser,
quin plaer haver-la pogut conèixer en aquell temps

“Si tanques els dos ulls”, m’ha dit,
“si et quedes quiet a dins del llit,
t’ensenyaré una cançó que a casa
em cantaven per anar a dormir.
Parla d’un bosc i d’un senyor
que hi viu aïllat entre oms i flors
i es protegeix dels mals humans
amb un exèrcit d’animals”.
I “Que bonic! Que Bonic! Que bonic!” m’he dit
i quina veu més fina que té,
quin plaer haver-la pogut conèixer fa molt de temps.

Però el Bernat m’ha dit que t’ha vist per Barcelona,
que t’acompanyava un home molt alt,
que li has preguntat si encara ens freqüentàvem
i que m’envies molts records.





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