El Ego de un Fantasma – Bilingual Lyrics Spanish/English

• By: PORTER

Lyrics & Translation

Dive into the poetic side of Spanish through Porter's 'El Ego de un Fantasma'. This song is perfect for learners who want to explore abstract vocabulary, metaphors regarding the psyche, and the rhythmic flow of contemporary Mexican alternative music.

[English]

A transparent object

Through biotechnology

Contaminated my blood

The ego of a ghost

Created this cold war

A silent virus

It's not going to explode

It was a nightmare

The effect of Tafil

It's not going to explode

There's no turning back

Distant beings

We learned how to suffer

And how to walk

I didn't want to look back at you

Bleeding and wounded

I couldn't avoid it anymore

Get over the fantasy

And with a broken soul

The day was coming to an end

It's not going to explode

It was a nightmare

The effect of Tafil

It's not going to explode

All the stars aligned against me

There's no turning back

Distant beings

We learned how to suffer

And how to walk

And how to walk

And how to walk

And how to walk

Thank you very much, Monterrey

[Spanish]

Un objeto transparente

Con biotecnología

Contaminó mi sangre

El ego de un fantasma

Creo esta guerra fría

Un virus silencioso

No va a estallar

Fue una pesadilla

El efecto del Tafil

No va a estallar

No hay vuelta atrás

Seres lejanos

Aprendimos a sufrir

Y a caminar

No quise voltear a verte

Sangrada y con heridas

Ya no pude evitarlo

Supera la fantasía

Y con el alma rota

Se terminaba el día

No va a estallar

Fue una pesadilla

El efecto del Tafil

No va a estallar

Todos los astros se alinearon contra mí

No hay vuelta atrás

Seres lejanos

Aprendimos a sufrir

Y a caminar

Y a caminar

Y a caminar

Y a caminar

Muchas gracias, Monterrey

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
Objeto ob-he-to A2	noun - Object / item
Transparente trans-pa-ren-te B1	adjective - Transparent
Biotecnología bio-tek-no-lo-hi-a C1	noun - Biotechnology
Contaminó kon-ta-mi-no B2	verb - Contaminated
Sangre san-gre A2	noun - Blood
Ego e-go B2	noun - Ego
Fantasma fan-tas-ma A2	noun - Ghost
Guerra gwe-rra A2	noun - War
Virus bi-rus A2	noun - Virus
Silencioso si-len-syo-so B1	adjective - Silent
Pesadilla pe-sa-di-lla B1	noun - Nightmare
Efecto e-fek-to A2	noun - Effect
Lejanos le-ha-nos A2	adjective - Distant
Sufrir su-frir A2	verb - To suffer
Heridas e-ri-das B1	noun - Wounds
Fantasía fan-ta-si-a B1	noun - Fantasy
Astros as-tros B1	noun - Stars / celestial bodies

Key Grammar Structures

• Contaminó mi sangre

  ➔ Preterite tense (Pretérito indefinido)

  ➔ The verb "contaminó" is in the preterite, indicating a completed action in the past.

• No va a estallar

  ➔ Periphrastic future (Ir + a + infinitive)

  ➔ The structure "va a" + "estallar" is used to express a future intention or prediction.

• Aprendimos a sufrir

  ➔ Verb + preposition + infinitive

  ➔ Some verbs like "aprender" require the preposition "a" before an infinitive.

• No quise voltear a verte

  ➔ Direct Object Pronoun (DOP) attached to infinitive

  ➔ The pronoun "te" is attached to the infinitive "ver" to indicate the person being seen.

• Ya no pude evitarlo

  ➔ Preterite of "poder" + attached pronoun

  ➔ The suffix "lo" in "evitarlo" represents the direct object (the situation).

• Se terminaba el día

  ➔ Passive/Reflexive construction (Imperfect tense)

  ➔ The imperfect tense "terminaba" describes a continuous state in the past.

• Todos los astros se alinearon

  ➔ Reflexive verb (Preterite tense)

  ➔ "Alinearse" is a reflexive verb meaning "to align oneself".

• Aprendimos a sufrir

  ➔ First-person plural past tense

  ➔ The verb "aprendimos" is the preterite form for "nosotros".