Sentía (J.M. Cano)

 To discover and then cover... This long, meandering preamble reminds me of a saying. "Never explain - your friends don't need it, and your enemies won't believe you anyway". Oh well. You may decide to scroll down to the lyrics and play the song, then read it. Your choice!

This adaptation is a hard sell. The original lyrics have so much wordplay that even a literal, unsingable version of the song could not do it justice. A couple of examples: 

que me ibas dando cuerda/ para que yo me ahorcara

Cuerda is what makes a wind-up toy work, but it also means rope. Instead of “winding up”, you might string someone along, but would a string be strong enough for hanging? The Spanish word cuerda lets you have your cake and eat it too; I could not find a solution in English.

soy un diente sin encía

It would also be hard to carry this priceless metaphor over unless you can establish a whole buccal lexicon in advance, by moving from smiles to jaws then teeth then gums... as the original does.

One might see these images as too precious, too outlandish, darlings Hemingway might have killed. But they worked for me. So I took the challenge, uncertain as to whether the end result would pass muster. 

Since many metaphors would be lost in translation, I tried to compensate by attempting to evoke the vowel sounds of the original (especially the recurring sound ía), something I had rarely prioritized in other adaptations. 

I also sought to match the cleverness of the original by using a stricter rhyming pattern and even adding internal rhymes. Then I figured the consistent use of marine imagery would give the English version some internal coherence. All these efforts made the meaning lose course (pun intended). Almost at the end, I realized singing the ía sound in English makes for a more UK  /ɪə(r)/ than US /ɪ(r)/ pronunciation.

I took some time off and decided to try again. In the second attempt I decided to release myself from some of the constraints I had  set up and do my best to return to what I thought was the intended meaning of the lyrics, favouring natural English speech and monosyllables.

A Bridge Too Far? You tell me. I can only hope that the quality of the melody itself (and the interesting key change), if nothing else, will draw you to the music and lyrics of Mecano and arouse your curiosity about the wondrous poetry of this talented (former?) songwriter, who gave Spain's most popular pop band ever half (if not more) of its hits.

Sentía  mucho por ti  Y ahora,  que siento igual de mucho  No lo sé dividir  Sentía  que no perdía nada  Buceando entre tus piernas  Sin medir la brazada  Se siente,  Ahora juego de suplente  Que el que siente no presiente  Y de tanto que sentía  No sentí que te perdía  Yo sentía   Sentía  por tu carril  Sentía  la incauta miopía  De no ver tu perfil  Te dabas  para no dar la cara  Que me ibas dando cuerda  para que yo me ahorcara  Se siente,  Ahora juego de suplente  Que el que siente no presiente  Y de tanto que sentía  No sentí que te perdía Yo sentía que  Sentía  Se siente  Tu sonrisa disidente  Coqueteando con la mía  A mandíbula batiente  Soy un diente  Sin encía  No me pidas  que sonría  Que estoy triste, ay Vida mía

It’s clear I was plan B Still, here  I am, it would appear You mean that much to me Too near To count the cost or doubt you I fell hook, line and sinker Now I can’t do without you How twisted  Thought you were the catch, persisted Swam against the tide and drifted I believed you were sincere, then Your excuses drowned my fears Now it’s clear  Oh dear I had no clue For years  I just had no idea That I was number two You loved me With your eyes closed, gaslighting me slyly into hoping The battle was worth fighting How twisted  Thought you were the catch, persisted Swam against the tide and drifted I believed you were sincere, then Your excuses drowned my fears Now it’s clear And it’s real You smile and Strand me on a desert island Pack and simply disappear You’re just steering back to dry land That’s your style and One thing’s clear I’m not smiling Through my tears Woe is me, for I still do Love you dear

These feelings I had for you They’re still true Now I no longer thrill you I don’t know what to do You liked me  What could go wrong? I liked you I failed to count the cost, now I cannot do without you Don’t spin it Hard to see it when you’re in it Sidelined to the bench, don’t sweat it Lost the game, too bad, I get it Was I ever meant to win it For a minute? Shortsighted But who’s to blame? Gaslighted Naive and too excited To see you look away So-called love Just going through the motions, Eyes closed, you made me need you And played with my devotion Don’t spin it Hard to see it when you’re in it Sidelined to the bench, don’t sweat it Lost the game, too bad, I get it Was I ever meant to win it For the minute You were in it? You’re smiling I must say you look beguiling We can do polite and charming You’re so casual it’s disarming This fake nonchalance About you I can’t take it Don’t know how to Can’t you see, my love, I am Lost without you?