Help interpreting Gustavo Cerati lyric (Spanish, por seguro)

December 16, 2024 10:29 PM

I know what each word means, but I'm having trouble with interpretation.

Need some help w/the meaning of some parts of "Uno entre 1000" by Gustavo Cerati.

Full Lyrics here at Genius.com (beware ad bloat)

Not sure what these lines refer to:

Solo endivias, como manjar
La delicia, nada más criminal

Si las larvas pueden ser dulces
Mal vecino, las exterminará

Finally, why would the writer say

Mientras tanto
Yo me encargo de evitarlo

when the chorus is about merging his dream with hers?

The more detail, the merrier. Thanks!

posted by 4midori to Media & Arts (8 answers total)

There’s a mistake it should be “envidias” so “you envy/crave”

Then he compares her to a larva, I suppose in a cocoon, hibernating, sleeping… and says that only a bad neighbour would exterminate a sweet larva like that.

And the “yo me encargo…” bit I think he is trying to prevent her from waking up (so they can continue dreaming together, I guess)
posted by sefsl at 11:14 PM on December 16

Agreeing with sefsl. In the full lyrics the first time "yo me encargo de evitarlo" shows up is after "algún día ella despertará" and the part at the end is just a callback to that rather than referring to the dream/ing itself.
posted by wormtales at 5:27 AM on December 17

With all due respect, I think "endivious" is correct and "envidias" is not correct, because "endivias" (endive) is portrayed as a delicacy, as something precious and elusive ... the same way desire is precious and elusive.

The food, "endivious", sort of jibes with the food metaphor thing: "delicia" (deliciosa = delicious ... delicia = delight)
posted by SageTrail at 6:04 AM on December 17

I went and listened to the song on Gustavo Cerati's YouTube channel and he says "endivias," as SageTrail points out.
posted by needled at 7:24 AM on December 17

(Oh sorry, I was basing myself on some other lyrics that I found and at first glance it seemed more “song-like” than endives so didn’t double check!)
posted by sefsl at 8:21 AM on December 17

Best answer: She's sleeping and literally dreaming, he's awake and dreaming of a shared life with her - but, for whatever reason, he thinks if she wakes up in a real or metaphorical sense it will be like an endive unfurling or a larva undergoing metamorphosis. Endives turn bitter, larvae become less edible (the edible ones I know of are ants and bees, both of which develop self-defence chemicals along with the ability to bite or sting). He believes his desire is infantilizing and destructive to her.

But, hey, maybe there's a way to make things work after all, and they can be those one in a thousand?
posted by VelveteenBabbitt at 12:44 PM on December 17

Best answer: There are also elements of burial imagery and a sort of faceless masses theme. Endives are cultivated by the thousands buried in sand in dim rooms; grubs in a hive are raised in dark spaces. The woman in these lyrics has no personal characteristics beyond having a gender and being asleep. Kind of gives ambiguity to the singer's desire: is it fundir like making an alloy or is it fundir like a subsuming destruction?
posted by VelveteenBabbitt at 1:18 PM on December 17

Response by poster: Wow. Metafilter - like Reddit but smarter, clearer, more direct! Thanks all!
posted by 4midori at 2:43 PM on December 18