Eduardo Mateo (1940-1990) was a Uruguayan singer, songwriter, guitarist and… Read Full Bio ↴Eduardo Mateo (1940-1990) was a Uruguayan singer, songwriter, guitarist and arranger. He played a key role in the development of the modern Uruguayan pop music mixing rock, jazz, bossa nova and local rhythms like candombe, in a similar way than Brazilian Tropicalismo. Musicians like Argentinian songwriter Juana Molina or Academy Award winners Jorge Drexler and Gustavo Santaolalla cited Mateo as a big influence. Artists like Pedro Aznar, Milton Nascimento or León Gieco have covered his songs.

Tras de Ti
Eduardo Mateo Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Tras de ti quedaba
me vi
miraba la nada
sentí

Que te ibas yendo
sola y sintiendo
que el miedo es tiempo

Lluvia en tus cabellos
por mí
mil noches oscuras
temí

Te vi llorando
quedé pensando
siempre el pasado

Si tú te quedas
te estás matando
y en los sollozos
te vas quedando
luego sentías
tu alma en la mía

y esa mirada
que va llevando.

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Eduardo Mateo's "Tras de ti" describe the experience of being left behind by someone we love. The opening lines "Tras de ti quedaba / Me vi miraba la nada, sentí" express a sense of emptiness and loss. As the song progresses, we hear about the singer's fear and sadness as they watch their loved one leave, captured in the lines "Lluvia en tus cabellos por mí / mil noches oscuras temí / te vi llorando quedé pensando siempre el pasado."

The chorus of the song offers some insight into the situation: "Si tú te quedas te estás matando / y en los sollozos te vas quedando / luego sentías tu alma en la mía / y esa mirada que va llevando." These lines suggest that the person leaving is doing so in order to find themselves or to escape from a situation that is harming them, even though it is painful for everyone involved. The idea of feeling someone else's soul in your own is a powerful and poignant one, suggesting a deep connection that carries on even when physical distance separates us.

Overall, "Tras de ti" is a touching and introspective song that captures the complex emotions that come with losing someone we care about.

Line by Line Meaning

Tras de ti quedaba
After you, there remained

me vi
I saw myself

miraba la nada
I looked at nothing

sentí
I felt

Que te ibas yendo
You were leaving

sola y sintiendo
Alone and feeling

que el miedo es tiempo
That fear is time

Lluvia en tus cabellos
Rain on your hair

por mí
Because of me

mil noches oscuras
A thousand dark nights