La China – Bilingual Lyrics Spanish/English

• By: Porter
• Album: Moctezuma

Lyrics & Translation

Dive into the rich, poetic world of Spanish indie rock with 'La China.' This song is a perfect gateway to learning Spanish through its evocative imagery and rhythmic flow, allowing you to master expressive vocabulary and the nuances of emotional storytelling in a modern musical context.

[English]

They say she went searching in the Navel of the Moon

That it was going to last thirteen times twenty

That when they see the bird on the cactus

Everyone should shout, "We have finally reached the land of Aztlán!"

Everyone should shout, "We have finally reached the land of Aztlán!"

They only wait to see each other there

...

To embrace the dream and return

Mexhi, mexhi, mexhi, Mexican

Mexhi, mexhi, mexhi, Mexican

She taught me how to wait

...

To let go of ourselves at night

Mexhi, mexhi, mexhi, Mexican

Mexhi, mexhi, mexhi, Mexican

...

And every night, she will be flying

Talking to you without speaking a word

Without speaking a word

Without speaking a word

...

Mexhi, mexhi, mexhi, Mexican

Mexhi, mexhi, mexhi, Mexican

Mexhi, mexhi, mexhi, Mexican

Mexhi, mexhi, mexhi, Mexican

...

Astral beings

United to one another

Only the sky saw it

And the planets

And every night

You sang to me

Your beautiful melodies

Your beautiful melodies, ah

Ah, ah, ah

Ah, ah, ah

Ah, ah, ah

Ah, ah, ah

...

[Spanish]

Dicen que se fue a buscar en el Ombligo de la Luna

Que trece veces veinte iba a durar

Que cuando vean el ave en el nopal

Que griten todos, "¡Ya llegamos a la tierra de Aztlán!"

Que griten todos, "¡Ya llegamos a la tierra de Aztlán!"

Solo esperan verse en el lugar

Abrazar el sueño y regresar

Mexhi, mexhi, mexhi, mexhicana

Mexhi, mexhi, mexhi, mexhicana

Me enseñó a esperar

Desprendernos de noche

Mexhi, mexhi, mexhi, mexhicana

Mexhi, mexhi, mexhi, mexhicana

Y cada noche, volando estará

Hablar contigo sin emitir palabra

Sin emitir palabra

Sin emitir palabra

Mexhi, mexhi, mexhi, mexhicana

Mexhi, mexhi, mexhi, mexhicana

Mexhi, mexhi, mexhi, mexhicana

Mexhi, mexhi, mexhi, mexhicana

Seres astrales

Unidos uno al otro

Solo lo vio el cielo

Y los planetas

Y cada noche

Tú me cantabas

Tus bellas melodías

Tus bellas melodías, ah

Ah, ah, ah

Ah, ah, ah

Ah, ah, ah

Ah, ah, ah

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
buscar bus-kar A1	verb - to look for, to seek
ombligo om-bli-go B2	noun - navel, belly button
luna lu-na A1	noun - moon
ave a-ve B1	noun - bird
nopal no-pal C2	noun - prickly pear cactus
tierra tye-rra A1	noun - land, earth
abrazar a-bra-sar A2	verb - to embrace, to hug
sueño swe-nyo A1	noun - dream
regresar re-gre-sar A1	verb - to return
enseñar en-se-nyar A1	verb - to teach, to show
volar vo-lar A2	verb - to fly
hablar a-blar A1	verb - to speak
emitir e-mi-tir B2	verb - to emit, to utter
palabra pa-la-bra A1	noun - word
astral as-tral C1	adjective - astral
cielo cye-lo A1	noun - sky, heaven
planeta pla-ne-ta A2	noun - planet
cantar can-tar A1	verb - to sing
bella be-ya A1	adjective - beautiful
melodía me-lo-di-a B1	noun - melody

Key Grammar Structures

• Dicen que se fue a buscar

  ➔ Impersonal 'se' / Reported speech

  ➔ The "se" here is used as an impersonal pronoun, and the clause introduced by "que" acts as the direct object of the verb "dicen".

• Que trece veces veinte iba a durar

  ➔ Periphrastic future in the past (ir a + infinitive in imperfect)

  ➔ The construction "iba a durar" expresses a future intention or prediction viewed from a past perspective.

• Que cuando vean el ave en el nopal

  ➔ Subjunctive in temporal clauses (cuando + subjunctive)

  ➔ The verb "vean" is in the present subjunctive because it refers to a future, hypothetical, or anticipated event.

• Solo esperan verse en el lugar

  ➔ Reflexive verb with reciprocal meaning

  ➔ The pronoun "se" in "verse" indicates that the subjects will see each other at that location.

• Me enseñó a esperar

  ➔ Verbs of influence (enseñar a + infinitive)

  ➔ The verb "enseñar" is followed by the preposition "a" and an infinitive to indicate the action that was taught.

• Hablar contigo sin emitir palabra

  ➔ Prepositional phrase with infinitive (sin + infinitive)

  ➔ The preposition "sin" followed by an infinitive expresses a lack of the action described by the infinitive.

• Solo lo vio el cielo

  ➔ Object pronoun placement (direct object 'lo')

  ➔ The pronoun "lo" serves as the direct object, replacing a masculine noun mentioned previously, and is placed before the conjugated verb.

• Tú me cantabas

  ➔ Imperfect tense (habitual action in the past)

  ➔ The imperfect "cantabas" is used to describe a recurring or continuous action in the past.