Paroles et traduction Ignacio Copani - Ida y Vuelta

Ida y Vuelta

Un día mi abuelo llegó a mi país
Y eran mil descendiendo del barco.
Y al día siguiente llegaron dos mil
Y tres mil otro día bajaron.

Decenas, docenas, centenas de mil,
Millones de penas, de guerras de allí...
De allí donde ahora se puede vivir,
Donde quiere ir mi propio hermano.

Un día mi abuelo llegó a mi país
Sin contactos, monedas, ni visa,
Con cuatro remiendos en su traje gris
Y otro en el cuello de la camisa.

Llegó sin permisos para residir,
Entró sin billete de vuelta y aquí...
Aquí es tan dificil ahora conseguir
El permiso para una sonrisa.

Un día mi abuelo llegó a mi país
Con abuelos de tantos lugares,
Que no eran doctores, actores ni actrices,
Ni físicos termonucleares.

Bastaron sus manos para construir
Una nueva casa y un día feliz
Y cientos de ramas de aquella raiz
Que a ninguno pudieron cortarle.

Un día mi abuelo llegó a mi país
Con orgullo, con fe y sin contrato.
Tardó una mañana para conseguir
Documento, pensión y trabajo.

No se para qué me contaba eso a mi.
No se, su refrán, qué quería decir:
Hoy es por nosotros, mañana por ti...
Si esa ley no se cumple acá abajo.

Round Trip

One day my grandfather arrived in my country
And there were a thousand others disembarking the ship.
And the next day, two thousand more arrived
And three thousand more disembarked the day after that.

Dozens, dozens, hundreds of thousands,
Millions of sorrows, wars from there...
From there, where now people can live,
Where my own brother aspires to go.

One day my grandfather arrived in my country
With no contacts, money, or visa,
With four patches on his gray suit
And another on the collar of his shirt.

He arrived without a residence permit,
He entered without a return ticket, and here...
Here it is so difficult now to obtain
Permission for a smile.

One day my grandfather arrived in my country
With grandparents from so many places,
Who were not doctors, actors or actresses,
Nor thermonuclear physicists.

Their hands were enough to build
A new home and a day filled with joy
And hundreds of branches from that root
That no one was able to cut short.

One day my grandfather arrived in my country
With pride, faith, and no contract.
It took him one morning to obtain
Identification, a pension, and a job.

I don't know why he told me that.
I don't know what he wanted to say with his refrain:
Today it's for us, tomorrow it's for you...
If that law is not fulfilled here.