In the last part of “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes”, Stephen Stills sings some lyrics that sound like Spanish, but I can’t quite make them out. This has bothered me for many years, and I can’t take it any more! Please, someone, HELP ME!
According to a site I found:
Que linda me la traiga Cuba,
la reina de la Mar Caribe.
Cielo sol no tiene sangreahi,
y que triste que no puedo vaya,
Oh va, oh va, va.
Loosely translated that is:
How happy it makes me to think of Cuba,
the smiles of the Caribbean Sea,
Sunny sky has no blood,
and how sad that I’m not able to go
Oh go, oh go go
Which site did you get this from? I haven’t had time to check it yet, but it sounds plausible. Thanks.
Actually, wouldn’t the second line read more like “The Queen of the Carribean Sea”? And the third should end with “…there”.
Que linda me la traiga Cuba,
la reina de la Mar Caribe.
Cielo sol no tiene sangreahi, Quiero sol lo visitarme alli
y que triste que no puedo vaya,
Oh va, oh va, va.
Loosely translated that is:
How happy it makes me to think of Cuba,
the smiles of the Caribbean Sea,
Sunny sky has no blood,
and how sad that I’m not able to go
Oh go, oh go go
The above interpretation I was given here helped me to hear the words better, but now that I’ve heard them more clearly, I am not completely satisfied with the above words, or their interpretation.
To me, now, it sounds more like Stills is singing this:
(the words in CAPS are the words I cannot clearly hear, but don’t sound like what is given above.)
Que linda ME LA TRAIGA Cuba
La reina de la Mar Caribe.
Quiero sol a VISITARME ALLI (?)
Y que triste que no puedo vaya.
Oh va, Oh va.
The translation of this newly postulated version would be:
How nice that she brings me to Cuba,
The Queen of the Caribbean Sea.
I want sun to visit me there.
And how sad that I can’t go.
Oh go, oh go.
Of course this makes no sense. It would make more sense if “Que linda me la traiga Cuba” meant “How happy it makes me to think of Cuba”, but my knowledge of espanol tells me that this is not an accurate interpretation, unless Cuba has a different way of saying things (which is highly possible).
In any case, I don’t think Stills is saying “Que linda me la traiga Cuba”. I’m not sure WHAT he is saying here, but the “me la traiga” part doesn’t sound right. The “Que linda” and the “Cuba” part sounds right, though.
In the 2nd line it clearly sounds to me like Quiero sol, not “Cielo sol”, and I hear him saying “Visitarme” or something like this, not “no tiene sangre”…
Also “puedo vaya” isn’t correct espanol. It would be “puedo ir”, so this makes me wonder about this line as well…
I know this is a somewhat boring and mundane topic, but does anyone else out there have any ideas on this?
This Site lists the following:
Thanks for all the feedback, but I think some of you are not listening to the song, only repeating what has been written, on various websites, which is clearly inaccurate).
For example, the person who originally wrote these lyrics must have something in their ears:
Que lindo sera traerla a Cuba
'How nice will it be taking her with me to Cuba'
-La reina de la patria libre
'The queen of the free country'
-Quiero sólo que se encamine allí
'The only thing I want is her to go there'
-Y que triste que no puedo, vaya
'And what a pity that I am not able, blast (or: damn)!'
(NOTE: I AM USING CAPITALS BELOW ONLY TO MAKE MY COMMENTS STAND-OUT FROM WHAT I AM COMMENTING ON.)
WHERE DO YOU GET THAT HE IS SINGING “sera traerla a Cuba”? It doesn’t sound anything like that! Admittedly, this is the one line I cannot hear well and am skeptical that he is saying “Que linda me la traiga Cuba” either. But he CLEARLY is NOT saying “Que llindo sera traerla a Cuba”.
A2 other - unknown - source:
-Qué lindo será traerla a Cuba
Stills could be saying 'sería' ('it would be') as well, it's not clear...
HE “COULD BE”, BUT HE CLEARLY ISN’T…
'How nice it will (or 'would') be taking YOU to Cuba'
-La reina de la Mar Caribe
'The queen of the Caribbean Sea'
-Quiero sólo visitarla allí
He could be saying 'visitarle', but this is only a matter of grammatical correction.
IF YOU LISTEN CAREFULLY, HE IS CLEARLY SAYING “VISITARME” NOT “VISITARLE” OR “VISITARLA”.
So to summarize, the only line I am not sure about is the first line. It doesn’t sound like he is singing
“Que lindo me la traiga Cuba”. I can hear the “Que lindo” or linda, and I can hear the “Cuba”, but it does not sound like he is saying “me la triaga” to me…
If someone could listen to it and tell me what he is saying here, maybe I could let this rest…
Also, Where do you get that “Vaya!” means “Blast!” or some kind of cursing? I have never heard this. I’m not doubting that it COULD mean that, but I’ve never heard it and can’t find it in any of my Spanish books. The only meaning I have ever heard for “Vaya” is “Go!” and that doesn’t fit here. If he were saying “I can’t go” it would have to be “…no puedo IR”, not “no puedo vaya”. So IF “Vaya” does mean “Blast!” or something, this makes sense. If not, then the only other explanation may be that Stills just isn’t speaking correct Spanish…
To summarize, this is what I’ve determined he is singing, SO FAR, on the ORIGINAL version of the song:
“Que lindo me la traiga Cuba,(???)[not satisfied with this line]
la reina de la Mar Caribe.
Quiero solo a visitarme alli.
Y que triste que no puedo! Vaya!
O va, o va!”
This translates to:
How nice that she brings me to Cuba,
or
How nice that I bring her to Cuba,
or
How nice when I think of Cuba…
[I don’t think any of these are accurate, though, because I don’t think he is saying “me la traiga”]
The Queen of the Carribean Sea;
I want only to visit there,
And how sad that I can’t. Blast! [not sure what “Vaya” means in this context. It may be just Stills’ bad espanol.]
Oh go, go!
Thanks for all the replies to my original post. I just wish we could solve the problem of the first line, and why he uses “vaya” here in this context.
He uses “vaya” because it’s correct grammar. “Vaya” is the first person present subjunctive of “ir,” and you’d normally use the subjunctive in a subordinate clause expressing emotion – for instance, “how sad that I am not able to go.” (“I can’t go” is simply a statement of fact, so it’s correct to use the infinitive there.)
I am hearing this:
Que linda me recuerdo a Cuba.
La reina de la Mar Caribe.
Quiero solo ‘visitarte’ ahí.
Y que triste que no puedo, vaya!
It does sound like Visitarme, but that doesn’t make grammatical sense. If it is visitarme, then it’s just incorrect Spanish, and it wouldn’t be the first time Spanish got messed up by a foreigner. He’s not going to visit himself to Cuba. Keep mind that as a US citizen, he was prohibited by the US government from visiting Cuba when the song was written.
Guys! If you don’t know, don’t copy and paste others’ mistakes.
It’s beautiful when I remember Cuba,
The queen of the Caribbean Sea,
I want to go visit you (Cuba) alone,
And I am sad that I can’t.
Go!
He sings other verses in concert, but this is on the album best I can tell. The other ones here are definitely not correct. There is no blood, sangre. Put on some headphones, and see if you agree!
If not, reply. He drags out the second word in each line… like Ray-eeh-na for queen.
[Moderating]
A thread asking about the lyrics of a song is a better fit for our Cafe Society category, which didn’t exist when this thread was started, but does now. I’ll move this there.
Oh, and welcome, @MikeZ77 .
Cool. Thanks.