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Chapter 02

They Gave Us Names

The first warnings arrive at the family table. Repeated often enough, they replace a person’s own name with the name of their side.

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From the first verse · 04:21

A man looks through rain-covered glass, the word THEM obscuring part of his face. — The same house begins to be called “theirs”. View full image ↗

THE LYRICS

Original lyrics and translation

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

Verse 1First they told us who we wereThen they told us who they wereSimple words around the tableQuiet lessons we had heard

Verse 1Primero nos dijeron quiénes éramosLuego nos dijeron quiénes eran ellosPalabras sencillas alrededor de la mesaLecciones que aprendimos casi sin darnos cuenta

Nothing changed along the streetSame doors, same morning rainBut somehow every face we knewWas carrying a different name

Nada cambió en la calleLas mismas puertas, la misma lluvia de la mañanaPero, de algún modo, cada rostro conocidoTenía ya otra etiqueta

Pre-ChorusNot the namesTheir mothers chose

Pre-ChorusNo los nombresQue eligieron sus madres

Something colderSomething closed

Eran palabras más fríasQue no dejaban ver más allá

ChorusThey gave us namesAnd called them truth

ChorusNos pusieron nombresY dijeron que eso era la verdad

Put one on mePut one on you

Me pusieron uno a míTe pusieron uno a ti

Until the wordsWere all we saw

Hasta que las palabrasFueron lo único que veíamos

Not your eyesNot who you were

No tus ojosNo quién eras

They gave us namesAnd we forgotWe had our own

Nos pusieron nombresY olvidamosQue teníamos los nuestros

Verse 2They said, “Be careful over there”They said, “People like them lie”And every warning left a markWe never stopped to ask them why

Verse 2Dijeron: «Ten cuidado por allí»Dijeron: «La gente como ellos miente»Y cada advertencia dejó una marcaNunca nos detuvimos a preguntarles por qué

Soon your house became “their house”Your street became “that side”And all the things we'd known as oursWere split by words overnight

Pronto tu casa se convirtió en «la casa de ellos»Tu calle se convirtió en «ese lado»Y todo lo que habíamos sentido nuestroQuedó dividido por palabras de la noche a la mañana

Pre-ChorusNothing movedThe road stayed still

Pre-ChorusNada se movióLa calle siguió en su sitio

Only weHad learned the drill

Solo nosotrosYa sabíamos cómo debíamos actuar

ChorusThey gave us namesAnd called them truth

ChorusNos pusieron nombresY dijeron que eso era la verdad

Put one on mePut one on you

Me pusieron uno a míTe pusieron uno a ti

Until the wordsWere all we saw

Hasta que las palabrasFueron lo único que veíamos

Not your eyesNot who you were

No tus ojosNo quién eras

They gave us namesAnd we forgotWe had our own

Nos pusieron nombresY olvidamosQue teníamos los nuestros

BridgeSay my nameThe way you did before

BridgeDi mi nombreComo lo hacías antes

Before it carriedSomething more

Antes de que lo cargaranDe otros significados

Before they filledEach syllable

Antes de que llenaranCada sílaba

With everythingWe had to fear

Con todo aquelloQue nos enseñaron a temer

BreakdownIf I call you what they taught meWhat happens to your face?

BreakdownSi te llamo como me enseñaron¿Qué queda de tu rostro?

If you call me what they told youWhat happens to my name?

Si me llamas como te dijeron¿Qué queda de mi nombre?

Final ChorusThey gave us namesAnd called them truth

Final ChorusNos pusieron nombresY dijeron que eso era la verdad

Put one on mePut one on you

Me pusieron uno a míTe pusieron uno a ti

But underneathThe words they chose

Pero por debajoDe las palabras que eligieron

You still breatheAnd so do I

Tú sigues respirandoY yo también

They gave us namesBut somewhere thereWe have our own

Nos pusieron nombresPero en algún lugarAún conservamos los nuestros

OutroSay my name

OutroDi mi nombre

Not what they called me

No el que ellos me pusieron

My name.

Mi nombre.

Notes on the translation

The imposed names act as labels that displace personal names.

“Ya sabíamos cómo debíamos actuar” conveys a learned, repeated behaviour: the meaning of “learned the drill”.

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

The words that took their place

Editorial reading

The lessons in this song are heard in a familiar place. They are advice, warnings, things grown-ups say with a certainty children do not yet know how to question. Fear enters the conversation in the voice of someone they trust.

The street keeps its doors and its rain. What changes is how it is named. “Your house” becomes “their house”; what they shared is divided into different sides. The lyrics follow that loss of closeness through words that seem simple and end up deciding who can count as one of us.

The chorus speaks of both of them. Accepting the labels has made them forget they had names of their own. That is why the final request is so precise: say my name as you did before. Reclaiming a name is asking for a relationship in which it is still possible to answer for oneself.

What a name allows us to see

A label lets us believe we know someone before hearing them speak. Any gesture can then seem to confirm what we expected. Here, a familiar face ends up hidden behind a learned word.

The request for a name leaves a demand for precision open. There is someone specific on the other side of what we say about a group.

THE QUESTION THAT REMAINS

How much of a person do we leave out when we name their side?

After the song

At the end, a name waits to be spoken. A word that can still bring the conversation back to two people.

Listen to this song Complete album

From the first verse · 04:21

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