El Temblor – Bilingual Lyrics Spanish/English

• By: Dorian
• Album: La velocidad del vacío

Lyrics & Translation

Learning a language through music is a fantastic journey, and 'El Temblor' by Dorian is a perfect companion. The song's rich, poetic lyrics, born from real-life experiences in Mexico, offer a window into both the Spanish language and a culture that views life with a unique intensity. By exploring the song's narrative of love and resilience, you can learn evocative vocabulary and metaphors that will deepen your understanding of Spanish and the powerful emotions it can convey.

[English]

From where no one returns, I saw you come back

With sun on your lips, given by mezcal

I healed you in that house, right in front of the sea

And with a tired voice, I heard you whisper

Nothing will knock us down

When the tremor comes, when the tremor comes

No one will separate us

When the tremor comes, when the tremor comes

In a bar in Oaxaca, I caused a hurricane

I threw it into the North Pacific like a boomerang

A cold, devastating wind arose

That took you and me to the place where horror begins

Nothing will knock us down

When the tremor comes, when the tremor comes

No one will separate us

When the tremor comes, when the tremor comes

And you disappeared without an explanation

And I was left shouting at the sky: "You’ll carry your cross"

I felt chills, suffered loneliness

I mixed with the worst scoundrels of this society

Nothing will knock us down

When the tremor comes, when the tremor comes

No one will separate us

When the tremor comes, when the tremor comes

I looked for you in Buenos Aires, found you in Paris

Drawing fiery hopscotch under a gray sky

And we vanished sharing the emptiness

And no one came to rescue us, and the tremor overcame us

From where no one returns, I saw you come back

With sun on your lips, given by mezcal

...

[Spanish]

De donde nadie vuelve, yo te vi regresar

Con un sol en los labios, que te puso el mezcal

Te curé en esa casa, justo enfrente del mar

Y con la voz cansada te oí murmurar

Nada nos derribará

Cuando llegue el temblor, cuando llegue el temblor

Nadie nos separará

Cuando llegue el temblor, cuando llegue el temblor

En un bar de Guajaca, provoqué un huracán

Lo arrojé al Pacífico Norte como un boomerang

Se levantó un viento frío y devastador

Que se nos llevó a ti y a mí donde nace el horror

Nada nos derribará

Cuando llegue el temblor, cuando llegue el temblor

Nadie nos separará

Cuando llegue el temblor, cuando llegue el temblor

Y desapareciste sin dar explicación

Y yo me quedé gritando al cielo: "cargarás con tu cruz"

Sentí escalofríos, sufrí la soledad

Frecuenté a la peor calaña de esta sociedad

Nada nos derribará

Cuando llegue el temblor, cuando llegue el temblor

Nadie nos separará

Cuando llegue el temblor, cuando llegue el temblor

Te busqué en Buenos Aires, te encontré por París

Dibujando rayuelas de fuego bajo un cielo gris

Y nos desvanecimos compartiendo el vacío

Y nadie vino a rescatarnos, y nos pudo el temblor

De donde nadie vuelve, yo te vi regresar

Con un sol en los labios que te puso el mezcal

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
regresar /reɡreˈsaɾ/ B1	verb - to return
labios /laˈβjos/ A2	noun - lips
mezcal /mesˈkal/ A2	noun - a Mexican distilled alcoholic beverage made from agave
cansada /kanˈsaða/ A2	adjective - tired
temblor /temˈbɾoɾ/ B2	noun - earthquake or tremor
derribará /deʝiˈβɾaɾa/ B2	verb - will tear down or destroy
separará /sepaɾaˈɾa/ B2	verb - will separate or split
huracán /uɾaˈkan/ B2	noun - hurricane
viento /bjenˈto/ A2	noun - wind
devastador /deβastaˈðoɾ/ C1	adjective - devastating or destructive
horror /oˈɾoɾ/ B2	noun - horror or terror
escapofríos /eskaˈlofɾios/ C2	noun - chills, shivers
soledad /soˈleðað/ B2	noun - loneliness
rescatarnos /reskaˈtaɾnos/ C1	verb - to rescue us

Key Grammar Structures

• yo te vi regresar

  ➔ Preterite tense of 'ver' with indirect object pronoun

  ➔ 'Yo' indicates the subject 'I', and 'vi' is the past tense of 'to see'. 'Te' is the indirect object pronoun meaning 'you', and 'regresar' means 'to return'.

• Cuando llegue el temblor

  ➔ Subjunctive mood in the subordinate clause indicating future possibility

  ➔ 'Cuando' introduces a subordinate clause, and 'llegue' is the present subjunctive form of 'llegar' used to express a future event that is uncertain or hypothetical.

• Nada nos derribará

  ➔ Future tense of 'derribar' with the pronoun 'nos' indicating 'we' will not be brought down

  ➔ 'Nada' means 'nothing', and 'nos' is the object pronoun 'us'. 'Derribará' is the future tense of 'derribar' meaning 'will bring down' or 'knock down'.

• Y nos desvanecimos compartiendo el vacío

  ➔ Present tense of 'desvanecer' in the first person plural, with gerund 'compartiendo' indicating ongoing action

  ➔ 'Nos' is 'we', and 'desvanecimos' is the present indicative of 'desvanecer', meaning 'we fade away' or 'disappear'. 'Compartiendo' is the gerund of 'compartir', meaning 'sharing', indicating an ongoing action.

• La voz cansada te oí murmurar

  ➔ Preterite tense of 'oir' with direct object pronoun, indicating a completed action

  ➔ 'Oí' is the preterite tense of 'oír', meaning 'I heard'. 'Murmurar' means 'to murmur' or 'whisper', indicating the action performed by 'te', the person addressed.

• Y nadie vino a rescatarnos

  ➔ Preterite tense of 'venir' with infinitive 'a rescatar' indicating an action that did not happen

  ➔ 'Vino' is the preterite of 'venir', meaning 'came'. 'A rescatar' is an infinitive phrase meaning 'to rescue'. The phrase indicates that 'no one' arrived to rescue 'us'.