What is the song about?
A person calmly and cheerfully shares what things they like and what they don't. They like the sun, walking, summer, peace, reading on the sofa, and the open countryside. They don't like the cold, storms, noise, standing in line, or crowded parties. In the bridge, someone invites them to a party, but they prefer to stay at home playing their lute. The message is: sé lo que disfruto y no lo voy a ocultar.
Useful words and expressions
- me gusta / no me gusta: the basic way to talk about likes and dislikes.
- me encanta: I like it very much / I love it.
- prefiero: I choose one thing over another.
- odio and no soporto: express a strong dislike.
- no me importa: I don't mind / I don't care (No me importa la lluvia).
- me pone de mal humor: it makes me angry or bothers me.
- me parece mucho mejor: I think it is much better.
- dulce o salado, rápido o lento: pairs of opposites.
- la tempestad: a strong storm.
- un amigo querido: a friend you care about very much.
- no es santo de mi devoción: an idiomatic expression that means "I don't like them/it very much" or "I'm not fond of them." It is mostly used with people, but also with things.
Grammar
- The verb gustar: the thing that is liked is the subject, and the person is indicated with a pronoun (me, te, le…). With a singular noun or an infinitive, you say me gusta (me gusta el sol, me gusta leer). With a plural noun, you say me gustan (me gustan los libros). Encantar, importar, and poner (me pone de mal humor) work the same way.
- Preferir changes its stem vowel (e → ie): prefiero, prefieres, prefiere. It is followed by a noun or an infinitive: prefiero el verano, prefiero sonreír.
- Reflexive verbs: me despierto, quedarme en casa.
- Ir a + infinitive to talk about the future: no lo voy a ocultar.
- Lo que means "the thing that" or "what": Sé lo que disfruto, Sé lo que quiero.
Watch out: poetic license for rhyme
Some phrases are adapted so that they rhyme and shouldn't be copied as they are:
- A la calle siempre voy: the word order is inverted. The normal way to say it is siempre salgo a la calle.
- Cada uno tiene su propio sentimiento: here it means cada uno tiene sus gustos. Sentimiento was chosen to rhyme with lento.
- Si no tengo que ir allá: allá is vague and is used to rhyme with sofá. The natural phrasing would be si no tengo que salir.
- Con tanta multitud: sounds forced. It is better to say con tanta gente.
- Ni mi actitud: this is filler for the rhyme and doesn't add much meaning.
- Tocar mi laúd: the lute is an uncommon instrument and appears here for the rhyme in -úd.
- Lo prefiero yo: in normal speech you would say yo lo prefiero.
Regional variants
- Hacer la fila is common in Latin America. In Spain, people say hacer cola.
- Pronto in the sense of "early" (me despierto pronto) is typical of Spain.