This is how I would translate the song El Baile De Los Que Sobran from Los Prisioneros. YouTube video of the song. I found a few translations in English, and some weren’t very good. This might be more of an interpretation, then a literal translation.
First, the title: The Dance of the Leftovers
It’s another night, of walking.
Another month ends, with nothing new.
My friends stayed, just like you.
This year, the games have ended. The 12 games.
Join the dance of the leftovers
Nobody is going to miss us.
Nobody really wanted to help us.
They told us when we were young,
Play at studying.
Men are brothers, and together they must work.
You heard the advice,
Your eyes on your professor.
There was so much sunshine over your heads
And it wasn’t so true
Because those games in the end,
for some, ended in laurels and a future,
And left my friends kicking rocks.
Join the dance of the leftovers
Nobody is going to miss us.
Nobody really wanted to help us.
Hey, I know some stories, about the future
Hey, when I learned them, the times were the safest
Under the shoes, mud and cement
The future is none
Of the promised in the 12 games
Others were taught, secrets that you weren’t
Others trusted that thing called education
They asked for effort, they asked for dedication
And for what?
To end up dancing, and kicking rocks.
Hey, I know some stories, about the future
Hey, when I learned them, the times were the safest
Join the dance of the leftovers
Nobody is going to miss us.
Nobody really wanted to help us.
ghislaine
maybe the eyes IN your professor? but you did a great work, thanks 🙂
Jonathan
Gracias! Yeah, I think I made a mistake here where I had “The eyes of your professor.”
I think it should be “The eyes on your professor.” or “Your eyes on your professor.”
Carla
I am not an English native speaker but I believe “the left behind” better conveys what the prisioneros said in the song. The 12 games refers to the twelve years of mandatory education in Chile (primary plus high school) after which the youth realized the can’t find a job and the education they got is worthless. That is not the case of the privileged who are educated in private schools.