spanish songs that use vos
April 15, 2012 7:18 PM
For a project I'm doing, I'm looking for songs in Spanish that demonstrate voseo (the use of the informal second-person singular pronoun vos). This way of speaking isn't technically "standard" Spanish, so I don't exactly know how to search for songs that show this usage.
In standard Spanish, you've got some ways of talking to one person (the second grammatical person):
tú, informal singular || tú hablas inglés
usted, formal singular || usted habla portugués
vosotros, informal plural (Spain) || vosotros habláis francés
ustedes, formal singular || ustedes hablan chino
However, in many parts of Latin America, there is another form for the informal second-person singular: vos. Following the above example sentences, one might say "vos hablás español." Vos replaces tú, and hablás is its accompanying verb form.
I'm doing a little presentation on this whole construction, and I'd like to have some "multimedia" to illustrate the concept, but I'm having a hard time finding songs in Spanish that do so. Do y'all know of any songs that use vos instead of tú forms? Thanks!!!
In standard Spanish, you've got some ways of talking to one person (the second grammatical person):
tú, informal singular || tú hablas inglés
usted, formal singular || usted habla portugués
vosotros, informal plural (Spain) || vosotros habláis francés
ustedes, formal singular || ustedes hablan chino
However, in many parts of Latin America, there is another form for the informal second-person singular: vos. Following the above example sentences, one might say "vos hablás español." Vos replaces tú, and hablás is its accompanying verb form.
I'm doing a little presentation on this whole construction, and I'd like to have some "multimedia" to illustrate the concept, but I'm having a hard time finding songs in Spanish that do so. Do y'all know of any songs that use vos instead of tú forms? Thanks!!!
What have you done to find songs. I'm sure you know that voseo is common in Rioplatense Spanish, so that's a good place to start. Have you looked through tango lyrics? Argentinian rock nacional? Andres Calamaro, Soda Stereo…
posted by esprit de l'escalier at 7:24 PM on April 15, 2012
posted by esprit de l'escalier at 7:24 PM on April 15, 2012
Fito Paez, che!
This one was all over the radio when I was in Buenos Aires 20 years ago.
Cada vez que pieso en vos,
Fue amor, fue amor.....
posted by pantarei70 at 7:32 PM on April 15, 2012
This one was all over the radio when I was in Buenos Aires 20 years ago.
Cada vez que pieso en vos,
Fue amor, fue amor.....
posted by pantarei70 at 7:32 PM on April 15, 2012
pienso....claro
posted by pantarei70 at 7:33 PM on April 15, 2012
posted by pantarei70 at 7:33 PM on April 15, 2012
Enanitos Verdes Solo alguien como vos
They're from Argentina and use the vos form, this is a slower song. They have more fun rock en espanol style songs too.
posted by wilky at 8:14 PM on April 15, 2012
They're from Argentina and use the vos form, this is a slower song. They have more fun rock en espanol style songs too.
posted by wilky at 8:14 PM on April 15, 2012
For tango, you can get complete lyrics and streaming audio at www.todotango.com.
There's tons of these, as others have mentioned, but off the top of my head try Gardel/Razzano's "Mano a mano":
"Vos tenés el mate lleno de infelices ilusiones..."
(Caetano Veloso also did an interesting cover of this a few years back)
And for imperative forms, there's Piazzolla/Ferrer's "Balada para un loco":
"Bailá! Vení! Volá!"
posted by dr. boludo at 8:30 PM on April 15, 2012
There's tons of these, as others have mentioned, but off the top of my head try Gardel/Razzano's "Mano a mano":
"Vos tenés el mate lleno de infelices ilusiones..."
(Caetano Veloso also did an interesting cover of this a few years back)
And for imperative forms, there's Piazzolla/Ferrer's "Balada para un loco":
"Bailá! Vení! Volá!"
posted by dr. boludo at 8:30 PM on April 15, 2012
Para vos. also be prepared cause this song is totally bananas.
posted by special agent conrad uno at 8:48 PM on April 15, 2012
posted by special agent conrad uno at 8:48 PM on April 15, 2012
In general, check into the Zizek/ZZK label. Based out of BA, it has some great artists, most of whom are porteños and will use voseo. I would do some research slash links but i am on an iphone and that is a major pain. Suerte!
posted by special agent conrad uno at 8:53 PM on April 15, 2012
posted by special agent conrad uno at 8:53 PM on April 15, 2012
And if it's "multimedia" more generally that you're looking for, think about film/TV clips as well. For example, here's a famous scene from the film Nueve Reinas (the language is crude but it's correctly conjugated) with the dialogue transcribed in the lead comment.
And/or, what about comics? The inimitable Mafalda has lots to choose from. On this page -- a few strips down, I like "Que hacés, Premio Nobel de la maceta?"
posted by dr. boludo at 9:05 PM on April 15, 2012
And/or, what about comics? The inimitable Mafalda has lots to choose from. On this page -- a few strips down, I like "Que hacés, Premio Nobel de la maceta?"
posted by dr. boludo at 9:05 PM on April 15, 2012
Some great tango lyrics (helpfully translated) from singer Tita Merello here
posted by jontyjago at 4:56 AM on April 16, 2012
posted by jontyjago at 4:56 AM on April 16, 2012
For sure los Enanitos Verdes (from Argentina) and Juanes (from Colombia)
Juanes - A Dios Le Pido
"Que si me muero sea de amor
Y si me enamoro sea de vos
Y quede tu voz sea este corazón"
Enanitos Verdes - Mil Horas
"Vos estas tan fria
Como la nieve a mi alrededor
Vos estas tan blanca"
posted by xicana63 at 8:37 AM on April 16, 2012
Juanes - A Dios Le Pido
"Que si me muero sea de amor
Y si me enamoro sea de vos
Y quede tu voz sea este corazón"
Enanitos Verdes - Mil Horas
"Vos estas tan fria
Como la nieve a mi alrededor
Vos estas tan blanca"
posted by xicana63 at 8:37 AM on April 16, 2012
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Sidhedevil at 7:22 PM on April 15, 2012