translation exercise: Hasta la Raíz by Natalia Lafourcade
As a Spanish practice exercise, I’ve been translating songs into English.
Today I’ll share with you my translation of Hasta la Raíz (Down to the Root) by Natalia Lafourcade.
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| Sigo cruzando ríos, andando selvas, amando el sol. | I keep crossing rivers, walking through jungles, loving the sun. |
| Cada día sigo sacando espinas de lo profundo del corazón. | Each day I keep plucking thorns from the depths of my heart. |
| En la noche sigo encendiendo sueños para limpiar con el humo sagrado cada recuerdo. | In the night I keep lighting my dreams to clean each memory with the sacred smoke. |
| Cuando escriba tu nombre en la arena blanca con fondo azul, cuando mire el cielo, en la forma cruel de una nube gris aparezcas tú. | If I write your name in the white sand with blue underneath, if I look at the sky, in the cruel form of a cloud you appear. |
| Una tarde suba una alta loma, mire el pasado, sabrás que no te he olvidado. | If one evening I climb a tall hill, look at the past, you will know I have not forgotten you. |
| Yo te llevo dentro, hasta la raíz, y por más que crezca, vas a estar aquí. | I carry you within, down to the root, and no matter how much I grow, you will be here. |
| Aunque yo me oculte tras la montaña, encuentre un campo lleno de caña, no habrá manera, mi rayo de luna, que tú te vayas. | Even if I hide behind the mountain, find a field full of sugar cane, there will be no way, my moonbeam, for you to go away. |
| Que tú te vayas. | May you go away. |
| Pienso que cada instante sobrevivido al caminar y cada segundo de incertidumbre, cada momento de no saber, son la clave exacta de este tejido que ando cargando bajo la piel. | I think that every instant survived along the way and every second of uncertainty, each moment of not knowing, are the exact key to this tissue I carry around under my skin. |
| Así te protejo. | That is how I protect you. |
| Aquí sigues dentro. | You go on here, inside. |