Monday, March 11th, 2013...11:57 am
Un Día Especial – A Special Day
I am not sure how many people in the United States know about the significance of the date “March 11.” I know I wasn’t aware of its association for quite some time – until this year to be exact. On March 11, 2004, 191 innocent civilians were killed in the train bombings in Madrid. There is never any rational reason for terrorism, but there may have been a desire to foil the upcoming general elections in Spain. Though the terrible act of violence succeeded in switching the political parties in Spain, what we must take from the events is not the politics – but the people.
In high school, I had the same Spanish teacher for three years – Señora Krowne. It was a tradition in our class to listen to Spanish music every Friday towards the end of class to welcome in the weekend. We listened to artists such as Juanes, Beyonce (If I Were A Boy – we were studying a new verb tense), and Ricky Martin. Out of the myriad singers we had the pleasure of singing along to, it was La Oreja De Van Gogh that caught our hearts. One song in particular, Jueves (Thursday), became our theme song and we would sing it almost every week! This song stayed with us for two years, as we moved from Spanish 11 Honors to Advanced Placement Spanish Language.
I had always translated the song as a love song. A girl is on a train and sees a boy that catches her eye. They always take the same train in the morning. She dresses up nicely for him, but feels insecure and never is able to talk to him… until one day! That special day, March 11, when “te beso en los labios” (she kissed him) and had “el último soplo de mi corazón.” My interpretation of this last Spanish line was that her heart fluttered – the last breath of my heart. I never realized the larger implications of this essential line! The song takes on such a deeper meaning now, as does the music video. I assumed that they were featuring many different faces because the feeling of first love was universal, but it is really commemorating those who were killed in the terrorist attack! All this my teacher and I learned after the fact, after our class graduated and we took the song with us out of high school.
It’s amazing that songs can have such meaning. The song is so much more important to me now, even though I’ve moved on from my high school Spanish class. Thank you Señora for introducing me unknowingly, at the time, to such a moving piece.
En el colegio, tenía la misma profesora de español por tres años: La Señora Krowne. En su clase era una tradición escuchar música española cada viernes. Escuchábamos artistas como Juanes, Beyonce, y Ricky Martin, pero nuestra artista favorita era La Oreja de Van Gogh. Escuchábamos una canción en particular más que todas las demás, se llamaba Jueves. Por dos años, cantábamos esta canción en la clase.
Siempre la traducíamos y interpretábamos como una canción de amor. Se trata de una chica que viaja diariamente en tren y ella ve a un chico guapo. Ella se viste con ropa muy bonita para él, pero es demasiada tímida hablar con él… hasta un día especial! El 11 de marzo, cuando “te beso en los labios” y tiene “el último soplo de mi corazón.” Yo siempre pensaba que “el último soplo” era una expresión idiomática. ¡Nunca me daba cuenta de que esta línea de la canción era muy seria ni el hecho de que las caras que aparecen en el video representan la gente que perdió la vida en el ataque terrorista en un tren en Madrid.
Es asombroso que una canción pueda darle tal impacto a una persona que esta me ha dado a mí. Aunque ya no estoy en su clase, quiero darle las gracias a la Señora Krowne para introducirme a una canción tan emocional e importante.
March 11, 2013
Marina B. Nebro
