Listen #
Intro #
I don’t know when exactly this song came into my ears and bounced off my eardrums, but if I’m to believe what’s written on Wikipedia then I must have heard it after October 2008.
An interesting fact about the artist Carlos Baute and the song is that the first version he recorded has essentially been forgotten because the version that he recorded after with Marta Sánchez was superior in almost all ways. This is apparent from the fame and acclaim that the duo with the Spanish singer song-writer received.
Isn’t that something? That some ideas are great in and of themselves but with two people the idea, or the song, can become a world touring phenomenon.
How did I discover it? #
This song isn’t like all the other songs that have come to me through the randomness of the algorithms on Youtube, Amazon Music, or Spotify. If it had been that way the significance of this song would be easier to ascertain. This song came from a time where I still had not discovered the effect that music can have on my heart. Maybe I was afraid to discover it or maybe I just ignored it.
If I recall correctly, and it’s likely that I can’t remember it even if I did check some old messages, it wasn’t until after my love for someone had degraded and nearly disappeared that I sent them a musical timeline. A musical timeline being a list of songs that I felt represented different times in our relationship, a long relationship that I thought was going to be everlasting. This is the response I got back:
It’s funny (ironic) because I’ve had a playlist on Spotify called 8. I never told you because it was just for me, but they’re the songs of our relationship also. Here are some I’ll share:
Yes that’s right, it is rather funny now that I live in the future of that past. It’s funny because I don’t remember what held us back from openly sharing these songs about our feelings for one another. I know for me it was a certain fear of having to reveal myself and be more vulnerable than I had seen the other person be. Now I know better, I’ll be better next time.
In fact, I checked my old messages and I can verify that I first heard the song in 2015, that’s to say 9 years after the song came out.
Part of the playlist #
As she said the song was part of a playlist, 8, that I’ll never completely know but that’s something I’m ok with. I think that not having the full playlist represents the impossibility of ever knowing someone 100% even if it seems like the two people are synchronized.
How does one give away a heart? #
It’s been at least 2 years since I’ve started thinking about how it is that one should give away their heart away or if it’s better to hold onto it, protect it, and shield it from all harm. More precisely the question for me has been: How do I give away my heart, and how to protect it while doing so?
What is my way of giving it away to someone without having them cause me any undue harm? I think I have an answer to that question that my past self would not accept because for him answers need to be either yes or no. Either Happiness or sadness, but never a mix of the two or any emotions that are more…complex.
An answer for another me #
You give your heart away each time you dress yourself with a smile, with each laugh that comes out of your deepest insides, with each letter you write, and each note of music that you share. With each minute of time you share you’re spreading your heart dust. Don’t be afraid to give it away because a worse thing would be that someone steals your heart without you knowing it, and then how will you recover it?
No, it’s better to give it away in a way you’ve chosen instead of having it ransacked. That way, if things don’t go well it’ll be easier to recover those filaments, those pieces, those threads, and the heart dust you gave away voluntarily. A stolen heart is much harder to take back and recover because first you have to think about when it was that it was stolen. Was it done swiftly in one swipe? Or was it a slow draining theft that you didn’t even notice was happening?
So that’s why you should be careful about what’s next.
Firstly, don’t give it away in one go because there isn’t a song in the world that has only one note in it. Pay attention and make sure your audience is listening and appreciates your music. And if they’re not listening then stop playing. You won’t get to finish the song you started playing, you won’t give away your heart completely, and even though stopping in the middle of a song when you’ve barely played the first section or before you’ve played even half of it will hurt, it’s better to find another audience to play for that is actually interested.
Secondly, it doesn’t matter what you do, pieces of your heart will be stolen anyway; it’s inevitable because that’s the way love is; there’s always a pleasantly hidden surprise in there.
Let yourself be surprised by the pieces that are stolen, sometimes those are the most precious parts of your heart and that’s why it hurts to get them back.
Favorite Lyrics #
It wasn’t a coincidence bumping into you
Maybe this is what destiny wrote
I don’t believe in coincidence or destiny in the traditional sense, in the sense that they’re some form of serendipity or some invisible universal force that directs our lives without us knowing it.
For me coincidence and destiny are the favorable or unfavorable vantage points that we choose when interpreting an event, and many times without being aware of our own decision for which vantage point we chose or that we let ourselves be convinced of.
I’ve been practicing seeing an event from two different vantage paints, a favorable one and an unfavorable one. It’s not easy but I’m learning to house two different polarities in the same place, inside of me, because living in equilibrium is better than how I lived before.
[Chorus: Carlos Baute, Marta Sanchez, Ambos]
I’m sending you poems from my pen and paper
I’m sending you songs in four hundred forty
It wasn’t common for me to send anyone songs, not to mention poems, but now I’m another me. Now I share to see who is listening and reading.
I’m sending you pictures dining sandy beaches
And when we were down there in Cartagena
I’ve never been in Marbella but I have been in Cartagena. The original says ‘dining in Marbella’ and ‘in Venezuela’ but so that the song has more of an effect someone gave me a suggestion to swap out Venezuela and use Cartagena instead because we had been in Cartagena. I’m the one that swapped in ‘sandy beaches’ for Marbella. Any easy but effective substitution.
Yes, it’s true, I like that more. It makes me smile and feel sadness at the same time. How bizarre.
So that you remember me and keep in mind
That my heart hangs from a string on your finger
Be careful, so careful, because my heart hangs from a string on your finger
In the memories that are shared, and in everything else like the songs and poems, that’s how pieces of my heart leak out and start to beat inside the other person to remind them that I exist. If they want they can take care of those pieces and protect them or they can throw them to the wind and watch them fly away. That decision, for better or worse, is theirs to make. I can’t do more than wait and hope.
Lyrics #
[Letra de “Colgando En Tus Manos” ft. Marta Sánchez]
[Lyrics for “Colgando En Tus Manos” ft. Marta Sánchez]
[Verso 1: Carlos Baute, Marta Sanchez]
Quizá no fue coincidencia encontrarme contigo
Tal vez esto lo hizo el destino
[Chorus 1: Carlos Baute, Marta Sanchez]
It wasn’t just a coincidence bumping into you
Maybe this is what destiny wrote
Quiero dormirme de nuevo en tu pecho
Y después me despierten tus besos
I wanna fall asleep again in your arms
And come morning wake up with your kisses
Tu sexto sentido sueña conmigo
Sé que pronto estaremos unidos
Your sixth sense is pulling me into your dream
I know soon we’ll end up reunited
Esa sonrisa traviesa que vive conmigo
Sé que pronto estaré en tu camino
Your playful smile that I’ve got living in my head
I know soon I’ll be within your reach
[Pre-Estribillo: Carlos Baute, Marta Sanchez, Ambos]
Sabes que estoy colgando en tus manos
Hmm, así que no me dejes caer
Sabes que estoy colgando en tus manos
[Pre-Chorus: Carlos Baute, Marta Sanchez, Ambos]
You know I hang from a string on your finger
Hmm, so don’t go letting me take a fall
You know I hang from a string on your finger
[Estribillo: Carlos Baute, Marta Sanchez, Ambos]
Te envío poemas de mi puño y letra
Te envío canciones de cuatro cuarenta
Te envío las fotos cenando en Marbella
Y cuando estuvimos por Venezuela
[Chorus: Carlos Baute, Marta Sanchez, Ambos]
I’m sending you poems from my pen and paper
I’m sending you songs in four hundred forty
I’m sending you pictures dining in Marbella
And when we were down there in Venezuela
Y así me recuerdes y tengas presente
Que mi corazón está colgando en tus manos
Cuidado, cuidado que mi corazón esta colgando en tus manos
So that you remember me and keep in mind
That my heart hangs from a string on your finger
Be careful, so careful, because my heart hangs from a string on your finger
[Verso 2: Carlos Baute, Marta Sanchez]
No perderé la esperanza de hablar contigo
Hmm, no me importa qué dice el destino
Quiero tener tu fragancia conmigo
Y beberme de ti lo prohibido
[Verse 2: Carlos Baute, Marta Sanchez]
I won’t lose my hope of finally talking to you
Hmm, I don’t care in what destiny says
I want your perfume here by my side
And drink all that’s forbidden of you
[Pre-Estribillo: Carlos Baute, Marta Sanchez, Ambos]
Sabes que estoy colgando en tus manos
Hmm, así que no me dejes caer
Sabes que estoy colgando en tus manos
[Pre-Chorus: Carlos Baute, Marta Sanchez, Ambos]
You know I hang from a string on your finger
Hmm, so don’t go letting me take a fall
You know I hang from a string on your finger
[Estribillo: Carlos Baute, Marta Sanchez, Ambos]
Te envío poemas de mi puño y letra
Te envío canciones de cuatro cuarenta
Te envío las fotos cenando en Marbella
[Chorus: Carlos Baute, Marta Sanchez, Ambos]
I’m sending you poems from my pen and paper
I’m sending you songs in four hundred forty
I’m sending you pictures dining in Marbella
And when we were down there in Venezuela
Y cuando estuvimos por Venezuela
Y así me recuerdes y tengas presente
Que mi corazón está colgando en tus manos
So that you remember me and keep in mind
That my heart hangs from a string on your finger
Be careful, so careful, because my heart hangs from a string on your finger
[Puente: Carlos Baute, Marta Sanchez, Ambos]
(Cuidado), cuidado (mucho cuidado), cuidado
Marta, yo te digo, me tienes en tus manos
(Cuidado, mucho cuidado)
No importa qué diga el destino, quédate conmigo
(Cuidado, mucho cuidado)
Lo quiero todo de ti: tu’ labio’, tu cariño no prohibido; ay\
[Bridge: Carlos Baute, Marta Sanchez, Ambos]
(Be careful), be careful (be really careful), be careful
Marta, let me tell you, I’m hanging from you finger
(Be careful, be really careful)
What destiny says doesn’t matter, stay with me right here
(Be careful, be really careful)
I want every bit of you: your lips, your care and what’s forbidden; ay
[Estribillo: Carlos Baute, Marta Sanchez, Ambos]
Te envío poemas de mi puño y letra
Te envío canciones de cuatro cuarenta
Te envío las fotos cenando en Marbella
Y cuando estuvimos por Venezuela
[Chorus: Carlos Baute, Marta Sanchez, Ambos]
I’m sending you poems from my pen and paper
I’m sending you songs in four hundred forty
I’m sending you pictures dining in Marbella
And when we were down there in Venezuela
Y así me recuerdes y tengas presente
Que mi corazón está colgando en tus manos
Cuidado, cuidado que mi corazón esta colgando en tus manos
Que mi corazón está colgando en tus manos
Que mi corazón está colgando en tus manos
So that you remember me and keep in mind
That my heart hangs from a string on your finger
Be careful, so careful, because my heart hangs from a string on your finger
Because my heart hangs from a string on your finger
Because my heart hangs from a string on your finger