What is the song about?

A person walks through a big city looking for the station. They look at their phone, but in the end, they ask a man for the way. The chorus is the answer: a list of directions. In the bridge, the person confesses to feeling lost and gives thanks because they now know how to reach their destination.

Useful words and expressions

  • a la izquierda / a la derecha: to the left / to the right.
  • seguir recto / seguir adelante: to continue without turning (go straight / keep going forward).
  • girar: to turn, to change direction (Gira a la izquierda).
  • tomar la primera calle: to take (enter) the first street.
  • cruzar (por) el puente: to cross the bridge to the other side.
  • dar la vuelta a la plaza: to go around the square.
  • el semáforo: the traffic light (the red, yellow, and green light for traffic).
  • las señales: the street signs.
  • el celular: the cell phone / mobile phone (a Latin American word; in Spain it is called el móvil).
  • la panadería, el supermercado, la estación, la avenida: places in the city (bakery, supermarket, station, avenue).
  • perder el norte: to become disoriented, not know which way to go.
  • tardar: to take a long time, to be late (no quiero tardar).

Asking for help politely

  • Disculpe, señor, ¿me puede ayudar? Uses usted, the formal way to address a stranger.
  • Dígame... is the formal imperative of decir.

Grammar

The imperative for giving directions

The chorus uses the tú imperative: gira, sigue, recuerda, toma, camina, cruza, pasa, haz (hazlo = haz + lo). This is the normal way to give instructions.

Notice the shift: the person asking uses usted (disculpe, dígame), and the person answering uses tú (gira, sigue). When speaking with a stranger, the most polite option is to keep using usted: gire, siga, tome, cruce.

Present tense with future meaning

Pronto estás en casa uses the present tense for something that will happen very soon. This is very common in spoken Spanish.

Past: imperfect + ir a

Sentía que iba a perder el norte combines the imperfect (sentía) with ir a + infinitive in the past (iba a perder). It expresses something that seemed like it was going to happen.

Para + infinitive

para ir seguro, para poder llegar, para llegar al fin: indicates the purpose of an action.

Watch out: things changed for the rhyme

  • hazlo perfecto is there to rhyme with recto. When giving directions, you would rather say no te equivoques or es fácil.
  • para llegar al fin: al fin normally means "at last, finally". Here it is used as "to the end of the road" to rhyme with ahí. The natural phrasing would be para llegar or hasta el final.
  • Dígame la ruta sounds a bit odd. It is more natural to say ¿Me dice cómo llegar? or ¿Cómo llego a la estación?
  • no miento en verdad is filler for the rhyme and the phrase repeats the idea. Just no miento or de verdad is enough.
  • Paso el supermercado is understood as "paso por delante del supermercado". This longer form is the clearest.