She sang in public for the first time in a radio contest at the age of ten. She didn't win that year, but won the next year. Her early singing caught the attention of a movie producer who introduced her to the cinema audiences as "Ana Belen" in the movie "Zampo y Yo" when she was thirteen.
Ana didn't want to become a child-star and focused on her studying. It wasn't until she finished drama school that she went back performing in public, being theater her prefered way to do so. She did small incursions in movies till she was offered major parts.
In 1973 she was cast opposite Víctor Manuel in Morbo and he became her husband as well as the composer of the songs included in her first album. In 1982 she released "Ana en Rio", an album with Brazilian music that included the song "Balance" and became an instant hit.
In 1986, took one more step and became one of the first female movie directors in Spain with the movie "Cómo ser mujer y no morir en el intento" which earned her the Gold Medal of Spanish Cinematographic Academy. That year concluded with another major success, a tour with Victor Manuel and many special guests of which they released a live album: "Mucho mas que dos". The success of this tour lead to a new one, "El Gusto es Nuestro" with Miguel Rios, Joan Manuel Serrat y Victor Manuel.
She releases several albums through the 90's that achieve great success like "Veneno para el Corazon" that included Spanish versions of Cole Porter songs among others, "Mirame" full of duets with the most important Spanish voices or "Lorquiana", a double CD with popular songs and poems of Federico García Lorca.
The new century finds her busy with filming and recording songs. Albums "Peces de Ciudad" or "Viva L'Italia" are released as she appears on stage plays and her name is on some of the most acclaimed films of the moment.
In 2006, she is currently touring with her husband Víctor Manuel across Spain with "Una Cancion me Trajo Aqui", a CD+DVD has been released of their very first performance in Segovia.She also has a new album in the works and a new movie pending.
Muerto De Amor
Ana Belén Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Por los altos corredores?
Cierra la puerta, hijo mío
Acaban de dar las once
En mis ojos sin querer
Relumbran cuatro faroles
Será que la gente aquella
Siete gritos, siete sangres
Siete adormideras dobles
Quebraron opacas lunas
En los oscuros salones
Lleno de manos cortadas
Y coronitas de flores
El mar de los juramentos
Resonaba no sé dónde
Brisas de caña mojada
Y rumor de viejas voces
Resonaban por el arco
Roto de la media noche
Bueyes y rosas dormían
Solo por los corredores
Las cuatro luces clamaban
Con el furor de San Jorge
Ajo de agónica plata
La luna menguante pone
Caballeras amarillas
A las amarillas torres
La noche llama temblando
Al cristal de los balcones
Perseguida por los mil
Perros que no la conocen
Y un olor de vino y ámbar
Viene de los corredores
Siete gritos, siete sangres
Siete adormideras dobles
Quebraron opacas lunas
En los oscuros salones
Lleno de manos cortadas
Y coronitas de flores
El mar de los juramentos
Resonaba no sé dónde
Madre, cuando yo me muera
Que se enteren los señores
Pon telegramas azules
Que vayan del sur al norte
Siete gritos, siete sangres
Siete adormideras dobles
Quebraron opacas lunas
En los oscuros salones
Lleno de manos cortadas
Y coronitas de flores
El mar de los juramentos
Resonaba no sé dónde
Tristes mujeres del valle
Bajaban su sangre de hombre
Tranquila de flor cortada
Y amarga de muslo joven
Viejas mujeres del río
Lloraban al pie del monte
Un minuto intransitable
De caballeras y nombres
Fachadas de cal ponían
Cuadrada y blanca la noche
Serafines y gitanos
Tocaban acordeones
Y el cielo daba portazos
Al brusco rumor del bosque
Mientras clamaban las luces
En los altos corredores
The first stanza of Ana Belén's Muerto De Amor sets the eerie and mystical tone that will define the rest of the song. The singer is describing a strange and shimmering light that can be seen from the high corridors. These corridors, which the singer's son is about to close off, seem to hold a secret or a hidden danger, as if they lead to a forbidden place. The use of the phrase "Acaban de dar las once" ("It just struck eleven") adds to the sense of forboding, as if something is about to happen. The singer's eyes involuntarily light up with four lanterns, suggesting that the strange light might be a portent of violence or tragedy.
The second stanza continues with the use of powerful and dark imagery, describing seven screams, seven blood stains, and seven poppies, which have broken opaque moons in dark halls. The use of the word "quebraron" ("they broke") suggests sudden violence or destruction. The phrase "mar de los juramentos" ("oath sea") is an evocative image that suggests the weight and importance of promises and secrets, as well as their potential to lead to suffering or disaster. The overall mood of the stanza is one of mourning and lamentation, as if some tragedy has already occurred.
The final stanza is enigmatic and somewhat surreal, referring to women who shed blood and mourn, and to seraphims and gypsies playing accordions under a night sky painted square and white by lime facades. The lines are full of images that are both vivid and elusive, as if the singer is trying to convey a sense of ineffable sadness and beauty. The song ends with a description of the sky slamming shut, while lights continue to call out from the high corridors.
Line by Line Meaning
¿Qué es aquello que reluce...
What is shining over there in the high corridors?
Cierra la puerta, hijo mío
Close the door, my son
En mis ojos sin querer
Inadvertently, my eyes
Relumbran cuatro faroles
Glimmer four streetlights
Será que la gente aquella
Maybe that people there
Estará fregando el cobre
Are cleaning the brass
Siete gritos, siete sangres
Seven screams, seven bloods
Siete adormideras dobles
Seven double poppies
Quebraron opacas lunas
Broke the opaque moons
En los oscuros salones
In the dark halls
Lleno de manos cortadas
Full of cut hands
Y coronitas de flores
And little flower crowns
El mar de los juramentos
The sea of the promises
Resonaba no sé dónde
Echoed I don't know where
Brisas de caña mojada
Wet sugarcane breezes
Y rumor de viejas voces
And rumor of old voices
Resonaban por el arco
Echoed through the arch
Roto de la media noche
Damaged by midnight
Bueyes y rosas dormían
Oxen and roses were sleeping
Solo por los corredores
Just in the corridors
Las cuatro luces clamaban
The four lights were shouting
Con el furor de San Jorge
With the fury of Saint George
Ajo de agónica plata
Agonic silver garlic
La luna menguante pone
The waning moon puts
Caballeras amarillas
Yellow horsemen
A las amarillas torres
To the yellow towers
La noche llama temblando
The night calls trembling
Al cristal de los balcones
To the glass of the balconies
Perseguida por los mil
Pursued by a thousand
Perros que no la conocen
Dogs who don't know her
Y un olor de vino y ámbar
And a smell of wine and amber
Viene de los corredores
Comes from the corridors
Madre, cuando yo me muera
Mother, when I die
Que se enteren los señores
Let the lords know
Pon telegramas azules
Send blue telegrams
Que vayan del sur al norte
That go from the south to the north
Tristes mujeres del valle
Sad women from the valley
Bajaban su sangre de hombre
Were getting their blood from a man
Tranquila de flor cortada
Calm of cut flower
Y amarga de muslo joven
And bitter of young thigh
Viejas mujeres del río
Old women from the river
Lloraban al pie del monte
Were crying at the foot of the mountain
Un minuto intransitable
An impregnable minute
De caballeras y nombres
Of horsemen and names
Fachadas de cal ponían
Lime facades were placing
Cuadrada y blanca la noche
The night was square and white
Serafines y gitanos
Seraphim and gypsies
Tocaban acordeones
Were playing accordions
Y el cielo daba portazos
And the sky was slamming doors
Al brusco rumor del bosque
To the abrupt noise of the forest
Mientras clamaban las luces
While the lights were shouting
En los altos corredores
In the high corridors
Writer(s): Federico Garcia Lorca, Amador Fernandez Diego
Contributed by Sophie O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
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