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Chapter 01

Before We Had Sides

They knew each other’s windows and the way to each other’s door. The first song remembers that closeness, before the words that taught them to separate.

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From the first verse · 00:04

Two children holding hands run across hopscotch on a wet street, seen from above. — Before they lowered their voices outside each other’s house. View full image ↗

THE LYRICS

Original lyrics and translation

Read the English original, the Spanish translation, or both texts stanza by stanza.

Verse 1You knew the crack beside my doorI knew which window was your roomWe heard the same old buses leaveThe same church bells at noon

Verse 1Tú conocías la grieta junto a mi puertaYo sabía qué ventana era la de tu cuartoOíamos partir los autobuses de siempreLas mismas campanas de la iglesia al mediodía

Your father waved across the roadMy mother knew your nameThere wasn't yoursThere wasn't mineThere was just this place

Tu padre saludaba desde el otro lado de la calleMi madre te conocía por tu nombreNo hablábamos de lo tuyoNi de lo míoEste era nuestro lugar

Pre-ChorusThen someone drew a lineWe couldn't seeAnd told us whatThat line should mean

Pre-ChorusEntonces alguien trazó una líneaQue no podíamos verY nos enseñóQué debía separarnos

ChorusBefore we had sidesYou were just youI was just meNothing to prove

ChorusAntes de tener bandosTú eras simplemente túYo era simplemente yoSin nada que demostrar

Before all the wordsThey taught us to useI knew your faceBefore I knewI was supposed to fear you

Antes de todas las palabrasQue nos enseñaron a usarYo conocía tu caraAntes de saberQue debía tenerte miedo

Verse 2They changed the names of simple thingsThe street, the school, the wallThey taught us who belonged whereAnd who belonged at all

Verse 2Cambiaron los nombres de las cosas sencillasLa calle, la escuela, el muroNos dijeron cuál era el lugar de cada unoY quién no tenía derecho a estar

You stopped coming through our gateI stopped asking whyWe learned to lower our voicesWhen your family walked by

Dejaste de cruzar nuestra puertaDejé de preguntar por quéAprendimos a bajar la vozCuando pasaba tu familia

Pre-ChorusNo wall went upNo siren criedBut something changedBehind our eyes

Pre-ChorusNo se levantó ningún muroNo sonó ninguna sirenaPero algo cambióEn nuestra forma de mirar

ChorusBefore we had sidesYou were just youI was just meNothing to prove

ChorusAntes de tener bandosTú eras simplemente túYo era simplemente yoSin nada que demostrar

Before all the wordsThey taught us to useI knew your faceBefore I knewI was supposed to fear you

Antes de todas las palabrasQue nos enseñaron a usarYo conocía tu caraAntes de saberQue debía tenerte miedo

BridgeDo you rememberThe summer rain?Running homeThrough the same street again

Bridge¿RecuerdasLa lluvia de verano?Volver corriendo a casaPor la misma calle una vez más

No flags between usNo reason to hideTell me whenDid we become sides?

Sin banderas entre nosotrosSin motivos para escondernosDime cuándoNos convertimos en bandos

BreakdownWho taught your nameTo sound wrong in my mouth?

Breakdown¿Quién hizo que decir tu nombreMe sonara tan extraño?

Who taught my houseTo mean something to you?

¿Quién hizo que mi casaSignificara otra cosa para ti?

And if we learned itCan we unlearn it too?

Y si lo aprendimos¿Podemos también desaprenderlo?

Final ChorusBefore we had sidesYou were just youI was just meAnd that was enough

Final ChorusAntes de tener bandosTú eras simplemente túYo era simplemente yoY eso bastaba

Before they decidedWhat separated usI knew your faceI knew your name

Antes de que decidieranLo que nos separabaYo conocía tu caraYo sabía tu nombre

Maybe somewhereUnder all we've becomeWe're still the two kidsRunning homeBefore we had sides

Quizá en algún lugarDebajo de todo lo que somos ahoraSeguimos siendo aquellos dos niñosQue volvían corriendo a casaAntes de tener bandos

OutroBefore we had sidesBefore we knewWhich side was yoursWhich side was mine

OutroAntes de tener bandosAntes de saberDe qué lado estabas túDe qué lado estaba yo

There was onlyYou and I.

Solo estábamosTú y yo.

Notes on the translation

The Spanish word “bandos” refers to the division the characters learn.

“No hablábamos de lo tuyo ni de lo mío” conveys a place they both felt was theirs.

The translation accompanies the original lyrics, preserves their stanzas and is not adapted for singing.

Before learning fear

Editorial reading

The friendship appears in things neither needed to explain: a father’s greeting, the bells at noon, the walk home along the same street. Knowing someone also meant knowing those details. The lyrics keep the memory of a relationship in which neither yet had to justify whose side they were on.

Then the names of things change. The street and the school begin to stand for belonging. One stops coming through the gate; the other stops asking why. The person remembering recognises his own withdrawal in that silence. The separation has found a way to continue without anyone having to order it each day.

The summer rain brings the two children back at the end of the song. That memory has the force of something lived before fear. The question of unlearning grows from it: if there was a time when knowing each other’s face and name was enough, when did it stop being enough?

Bonds that came before sides

A friendship can begin to seem naive when the group imposes another version of the past. The song recovers what they shared: that person existed before the words through which they learned to judge them.

Remembering that bond does not decide how they should relate now. It does reveal what they had to learn to ignore in order to separate.

THE QUESTION THAT REMAINS

When did a familiar name begin to sound foreign?

After the song

The song ends with the two children on their way home. For a moment, the street belongs to that memory again.

Listen to this song Complete album

From the first verse · 00:04

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