Llegaremos a Tiempo (2009) – Rosana

Posted on April 30, 2023 by observationblogger — Leave a comment

On April 14, 2009 Rosana Arbelo Gopar released her seventh album, ‘A las Buenas y a las Malas‘ (The Good and the Bad). In the words of the Canary Islander, it is her work “more electric, more direct, more pop-rock from top to bottom, more uniform and less Latin.” For the cover of this new work, the singer appears with a large peace symbol painted on her face along with two red stripes (seen above), the pre-war symbol of the Comanches. An aesthetic that she maintains in the video of today’s featured track Llegaremos a Tiempo (We’ll Arrive on Time).

A crude English translation follows:

[Verse 1]
If they tear off you the child we carry inside
If they take your breast and change your story
Do not swallow it because we’re not dead
We’ll be on time, we’ll be on time

[Verse 2]
If your wings were anchored in the dock of the wind
I wait for you a second on the edge of time
Got here when you go beyond the attempt
We’ll be on time, we’ll be on time

[Pre-Chorus 2]
Better slow than standing, unzip the heart
Don’t let your imagination get tied up
Do not stay waiting for the occasion to paint
That life is two strokes and a blur

[Chorus]
I’m afraid that hope is broken
Let freedom run out of wings
I’m afraid you have a day without morning
I’m afraid that fear gave you a pulse and could more
Don’t give up, don’t sit back and wait

The first three minutes of Llegaremos a Tiempo contain some of my favourite ballad-music in Spanish although it’s clearly an ‘activist’ message. It gets a bit muddled and lost after that, but the first 3 minutes alone deserve a place in the Music Library Project. Rosana began composing music after moving to Madrid in the early 1980s. She won first place in the Benidorm International Song Festival in 1996 with her song “Fuego y Miel” (“Fire and Honey” in English), which led her winning a recording contract with MCA Records.

References:
1. Rosana – Wikipedia
2. A Las Buenas y las Malas – Wikpedia