Más o Menos Antes – Bilingual Lyrics Spanish/English

• By: Silvana Estrada
• Album: Marchita

Lyrics & Translation

Dive into the deep emotion and exquisite poetry of Silvana Estrada's "Más o Menos Antes." This intimate track is a masterclass in Spanish vocabulary related to introspection, melancholy, and the contrast between 'before' and 'after' in love. Listen for the raw, yet controlled vulnerability in Estrada's voice, accompanied only by her Venezuelan cuatro, which will help you learn Spanish through powerful, carefully constructed lyrical imagery.

[English]

More or less before

There wasn’t much to defend

A cat by the window

And some rain falling over paper

...

More or less before

Before I met you

There was no mystery about who brings the dawn

Without the habit of cold winters

But now I must get used to

You being my quiet Sunday at home

...

And understand that sadness

After so long became my ally

That the sickness of our time

Shakes inside me, through this haze

Now that we are castaways

On the moon

...

[Spanish]

Más o menos antes

No había mucho que defender

Un gato en la ventana

Y algunas lluvias sobre papel

Más o menos antes

De conocerte

No había misterio de quién renueva auroras

Sin la costumbre de fríos inviernos

Pero tengo que acostumbrarme

A que seas tú mi domingo en casa

Y entiende que la tristeza

Después de tanto, se hizo mi aliada

Que la enfermedad del siglo

Se me estremece, con esta bruma

Ahora que somos náufragos

En la Luna

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
defender /deˈfender/ B1	verb - to protect or support something
gato /ˈɡato/ A1	noun - cat
lluvias /ˈʝuβjas/ A2	noun - rains
misterio /misˈteɾjo/ B1	noun - mystery
renueva /reˈnweβa/ B2	verb - renews
auroras /auˈɾoras/ B2	noun - dawns
costumbre /kosˈtumbre/ B1	noun - custom
inviernos /imˈbjerños/ A2	noun - winters
acostumbrarme /akostumˈbrarme/ B2	verb - to get used to
domingo /doˈmiŋɡo/ A1	noun - Sunday
tristeza /trisˈteθa/ A2	noun - sadness
aliada /aliˈaða/ B1	noun - ally
enfermedad /eŋfeɾmeˈðað/ B1	noun - illness
estremece /esˈtɾemeθe/ C1	verb - shudders
náufragos /ˈnaɣfɾaɡos/ C1	noun - castaways
Luna /ˈluna/ A1	noun - Moon

Key Grammar Structures

• Más o menos antes, no había mucho que defender

  ➔ Imperfect tense + relative clause with 'que + infinitive'

  ➔ The verb "había" is in the imperfect, indicating a past state. "que defender" is a relative clause meaning “something to defend”.

• Un gato en la ventana

  ➔ Noun phrase with prepositional complement (location)

  ➔ "Un gato" is the subject noun, and "en la ventana" is a prepositional phrase indicating where the cat is.

• Y algunas lluvias sobre papel

  ➔ Prepositional phrase "sobre" indicating surface/location

  ➔ "sobre papel" uses the preposition "sobre" (on/over) to show that the rain is metaphorically falling onto paper.

• De conocerte

  ➔ Infinitive preceded by preposition "de" with clitic pronoun "te"

  ➔ "De" introduces the infinitive "conocerte" (to meet you). The clitic "te" is attached to the infinitive.

• No había misterio de quién renueva auroras

  ➔ Relative clause with interrogative pronoun "quién" after a noun

  ➔ "quién" functions as a relative pronoun meaning “who”. The clause "quién renueva auroras" describes the missing mystery.

• Sin la costumbre de fríos inviernos

  ➔ Preposition "sin" + definite article + noun phrase (absence of something)

  ➔ "Sin" means “without”. The phrase "sin la costumbre de fríos inviernos" translates to “without the habit of cold winters”.

• Tengo que acostumbrarme a que seas tú mi domingo en casa

  ➔ "tener que" + infinitive (obligation) + reflexive infinitive + subjunctive clause after "a que"

  ➔ "Tengo que" expresses necessity. "acostumbrarme" is a reflexive infinitive (to get used). The clause "a que seas tú…" uses the subjunctive "seas" after "a que".

• Se hizo mi aliada

  ➔ Passive/impersonal "se" + preterite verb (se hizo) indicating a change of state

  ➔ "Se" is used as an impersonal pronoun. "hizo" (made) in the preterite shows that sadness became an ally.

• Ahora que somos náufragos en la Luna

  ➔ "Ahora que" + present indicative (causal temporal clause)

  ➔ "Ahora que" introduces a reason: "now that we are castaways on the Moon". The verb "somos" is in the present indicative.