La chispa adecuada – Bilingual Lyrics Spanish/English

• By: Héroes del Silencio

Lyrics & Translation

Learning Spanish through music is a fantastic way to connect with the culture, and Héroes del Silencio's "La chispa adecuada" is a perfect song to start with. Its poetic and metaphorical lyrics, sung with Enrique Bunbury's passionate delivery, offer a rich vocabulary to explore the nuances of love, pain, and memory. The song's powerful chorus is not only catchy but also a great phrase to learn, encapsulating a profound idea about transformation and catalysts in life. Dive into this classic of rock en español and let the music ignite your passion for the Spanish language.

[English]

Words were like wasps

And the streets like dunes

When I still wait for you to arrive

In a coffin

I keep your touch and a crown

With your tangled hair

Trying to find a rainbow

Infinite

My hands still are made of bones

And your belly tastes like bread

The cathedral is your body

You were summer and a thousand storms

And I the lion

That smiles at the walls I’ve repainted the same color

Color

I can't tell apart kisses and roots

I can't distinguish between the complicated and the simple

And now you're on my list of promises to forget

Everything burns if you strike it with the right spark

The fire that was sometimes my own

The ashes always foreign

...

White sperm slipping

Along the spine

We are older and more sincere now, and what does it matter?

If we look at the lagoon they call eternity

Of absence

I can't tell apart kisses and roots

I can't distinguish between the complicated and the simple

And now you're on my list of promises to forget

Everything burns if you strike it with the right spark

The right spark

The right spark

The right spark

...

[Spanish]

Las palabras fueron avispas

Y las calles como dunas

Cuando aún te espero llegar

En un ataúd

Guardo tu tacto y una corona

Con tu pelo enmarañado

Queriendo encontrar un arcoíris

Infinito

Mis manos que aún son de hueso

Y tu vientre sabe a pan

La catedral es tu cuerpo

Eras verano y mil tormentas

Y yo el león

Que sonríe a las paredes que he vuelto a pintar del mismo

Color

No sé distinguir entre besos y raíces

No sé distinguir lo complicado de lo simple

Y ahora estás en mi lista de promesas a olvidar

Todo arde si le aplicas la chispa adecuada

El fuego que era a veces propio

La ceniza siempre ajena

Blanca esperma resbalando

Por la espina dorsal

Ya somos más viejos y sinceros, y, ¿qué más da?

Si miramos la laguna como llaman a la eternidad

De la ausencia

No sé distinguir entre besos y raíces

No sé distinguir lo complicado de lo simple

Y ahora estás en mi lista de promesas a olvidar

Todo arde si le aplicas la chispa adecuada

La chispa adecuada

La chispa adecuada

La chispa adecuada

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
palabras /paˈlaɾβɾas/ A2	noun - words
calles /ˈkaʎes/ A2	noun - streets
ataúd /ataˈuð/ B2	noun - coffin
tacto /ˈtakto/ B1	noun - touch
corona /koˈɾona/ B1	noun - crown
arcoíris /aɾkoˈiɾis/ B2	noun - rainbow
manos /ˈmanos/ A1	noun - hands
vientre /ˈbjen.tɾe/ B1	noun - belly
cuerpo /ˈkweɾpo/ A2	noun - body
tormentas /toɾˈmen.tas/ B2	noun - storms
sonrisa /sonˈɾisa/ A2	noun - smile
color /koˈloɾ/ A1	noun - color
besos /ˈbesos/ A2	noun - kisses
raíz /raˈiθ/ B1	noun - root
promesas /pɾoˈmesas/ B1	noun - promises
fuego /ˈfweɣo/ A2	noun - fire
ceniza /θeˈnisa/ B2	noun - ash
esperma /espeɾˈma/ C1	noun - sperm
espina /esˈpina/ B2	noun - thorn

Key Grammar Structures

• Las palabras fueron avispas

  ➔ Preterite tense of 'ser' (fueron)

  ➔ 'Fueron' is the past tense (preterite) form of the verb 'ser' (to be) used to describe a completed action or state in the past.

• Creo en un arcoíris infinito

  ➔ Preposition 'en' used before a noun phrase

  ➔ 'En' is a preposition used to indicate means, location, or a state, here meaning 'believe in' or 'faith in'.

• Todo arde si le aplicas la chispa adecuada

  ➔ Use of the present tense in 'aplicas' (you apply)

  ➔ 'Aplicar' is a verb in the present tense (tú form), indicating an action done in the present.

• Y las calles como dunas

  ➔ Comparison using 'como' (like/as)

  ➔ 'Como' is a conjunction used to compare two things, indicating similarity.

• Las palabras fueron avispas

  ➔ Preterite tense of 'ser' (fueron)

  ➔ 'Fueron' is the past tense (preterite) form of the verb 'ser' (to be) used to describe a completed action or state in the past.