Desaparecido Lyrics

Lyric discussion by brain.damage 

Cover art for Desaparecido lyrics by Manu Chao

"They call me 'The Dissappeared' When he arrives, he's already gone Flying I come, flying I go Hurry, hurry on a lost path When they look for me I'm never there When the find me I am not The one who's out front because I went running over there

They call me 'The Disappeared' A ghost that's never here They say to me 'The Disgraced' But that's not the truth I carry in my body a pain That won't let me breath I carry in my body a chain That always makes me walk

They call me . . .

I carry in my body a motor That never stops turning I carry in my soul a path Destined to never arrive

They call me...

Lost in the century... The 20th century... Headed towards the 21st."

@brain.damage quite a good translation! but it's not 100% accurate. here, a correction from a native spanish speaker:

"They call me 'The Dissappeared' When he arrives, he's already gone Flying I come, flying I go Hurry, hurry on a lost path When they look for me I'm never there When the find me I am not The one who's out front because I ALREADY went running over there

They call me 'The Disappeared' A ghost that's never here They CALL me 'The UNGRATEFUL' But that's not the truth I carry in my body a pain That won't let me breath I carry in my body...

  • "Ya" means "already" in this context.
  • "Decir" usually means to say or to tell, but "me dicen..." is a coloquial expression that means "they call me...".
  • "Desagradecido" is opposite of "agradecido" (grateful, thankful).
  • "Condena" is the act or result of being condemned, so it's like a spiritual conviction in this case. If it was a chain, it would be "cadena".
  • At the end he keeps repeating "¿Cuándo llegaré?", which means something like "When will I arrive?"