Lyr Add: Abre la Ventana (Victor Jara)

Subject: Lyr Req: Maria (Victor Jara)
From: GUEST,JTT
Date: 11 Sep 13 - 12:34 PM

September 11, 1973, Pinochet's fascists overthrew the democratically elected government of Allende, ushering in a time of torture and disappearances. One of the victims was the folk singer Victor Jara. This blog features Jara singing one of his most beautiful songs.

Subject: Lyr Add: ABRE LA VENTANA (Victor Jara)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 20 Sep 13 - 12:45 PM

It's not really a "Lyr Add" unless you post lyrics. So I'll post them, from the above web site (which also has a recording of Victor Jara singing it):


ABRE LA VENTANA
Victor Jara

Maria,
abre la ventana
y deja que el sol alumbre
por todos los rincones
de tu casa.

Maria,
mira hacia fuera
nuestra vida no ha sido hecha
para rodearla de sombras
y tristezas.

Maria, ya ves
no basta nacer, crecer, amar,
para encontrar la felicidad.

Pasó lo mas cruel,
ahora tus ojos se llenan de luz
y tus manos de miel

Maria…

Tu risa brota como la mañana,
brota en el jardín
Maria…


I'm not fluent enough in Spanish to provide a good translation, at least, not without a lot of work and consulting of dictionaries, and I'm not sure the result would be worth the trouble. (If you don't mind a bad translation, there's always Google Translate.) But despite what the blogger says, this song conveys nothing to me of what Victor Jara was famous for, or lost his life for, in what was surely a shameful episode of western-hemisphere history.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Maria (Victor Jara)
From: Monique
Date: 20 Sep 13 - 03:12 PM

Here is what the song means. Now you guys are welcome to improve it!

Mary,
Open the window
And let the sun illuminate
All the corners
Of your house.

Mary,
Look outside.
Our life wasn't made
To surround it with shadows
And sadness.

Mary, you see,
To be born, to grow up, to love is not enough
To find happiness.

The most cruel part/time/events happened (= is in the past)
Now your eyes fill up with light
And your hands with honey

Mary…

Your laughter springs up like the morning
Springs up in the garden.
Mary…

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Maria (Victor Jara)
From: Phil Edwards
Date: 21 Sep 13 - 12:50 PM

Thanks for the link to my blog! I posted a slightly more idiomatic translation in comments; here it is. Incidentally the title of the song is 'Abre la ventana' ('Open the window'), not 'Maria'.



Open the window, Maria
Let the light shine in
To every corner of your house

Look around, Maria
Our life wasn't made to be eaten away
By shadows and sadness

You can see now, Maria,
There's more to finding happiness
Than just living, growing, loving
The worst times have gone
Now your eyes are filling with light
And your hands with honey

Maria…
Your laughter breaks as the day breaks over the garden