Molina started her career in 1988 as a comedic television actress in Argentina on the show La Noticia Rebelde. She later starred in Juana y sus hermanas, a hit sketch show across the Spanish-speaking world, for which she remains better known in Latin America.
When you ask most Argentines for an opinion of her music, however, you are likely to get a response related to her popular sketch comedy show from the ’90s, ‘Juana y Sus Hermanas’. The local tendency to pigeonhole her as a wacky comic actress. Appreciation of the originality of her art has grown in recent years—in concurrence with the rise of her international popularity—but her early dismissal by critics here in Argentina continues to hang over her.
This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It was this early criticism of her music that freed her to defy expectations on following albums. She could venture beyond influences and plunge ever deeper inside herself—digging out the music that she herself found most pleasing.
Molina grew up in a musical home. Her father, Horacio Molina, is a successful Tango singer and composer who gave Juana her first guitar lessons. Her mother is an actress and music lover who kept a diverse music library and regularly initiated family dances.
Dating back to her first years with the guitar, Molina was always intrigued by playing simple and repetitive melodies. She explains, “The first songs that I wrote were like loops. I would spend weeks playing the same few notes or chords, I would enter a trance. But I didn’t have the confidence necessary to play those by themselves. So I would insert a chorus, verse and bridge to make them resemble traditional song structures.”
Following the military coup in Argentina in 1976, the Molina family moved to Paris to flee the ensuing dictatorship. During those formative teenage years in Paris, Molina’s musical palette was vastly expanded. Long before “world music” became a genre of its own (loosely defined as it is), a couple of French radio stations that Molina regularly listened to offered programs featuring music from around the globe: Africa, Asia, India, Pakistan and various Middle Eastern countries. Molina loved the curious, exotic sounds and says, “It all really fascinated me, it seemed like it was from another world.”
She recorded these shows whenever she could, and built up a library of several hundred cassettes. She listened to the tapes constantly. But just weeks after her return to Buenos Aires the tapes were stolen out of a friend’s house. Molina still describes the loss as a “terrible pain”.
The painful loss, however, may also be understood as contributing to Juana’s daring artistic nature. As she developed her own form of expression, she couldn’t go back and study those strange sounds and styles that had interested her so much. She had to venture inwardly to find what was inside of her that had resonated with the unusual sounds that she had heard. They had planted a seed, but she would have to chase them down the rabbit hole herself.
In 1996 she decided to start her musical career and released her first album, Rara. Her second album, Segundo, was named Best World Music Album 2003 in Entertainment Weekly and gained a Shortlist Award 2004 nomination. Tres Cosas, her third album, was placed in the Top Ten Records of 2004 by the New York Times.
Son, her fourth album, released in 2005, has been acclaimed by the critics. In 2008, she released her fifth studio album, titled Un Día on Domino Records.
The lyrics on her albums are sung in her native Spanish and are often accompanied by acoustic guitar, among other instruments. Her music features elements of ambient and electronica, and she is often compared by critics to Björk, Beth Orton, and Lisa Germano. She usually writes, mixes tracks and performs on her own.
Eras
Juana Molina Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Veras nunca sabrás, soy buena actriz
Él tenía que?? de mí
Se me va??
Come, come quickly, come quickly, come
Come, come quickly, come quickly, come
Ando sola pienso sin dejar yo
Al sentir que estas en mí
Y creer que estoy en ti.
Come, come quickly, come quickly, come
Come, come quickly, come quickly, come
Come, come quickly, come quickly, come
Come, come quickly, come quickly, come
Uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, seis, siete, ahora te esperé
Uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, seis, siete días te esperé
Uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, seis, siete veces te esperé
Uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, seis, siete, años te esperé
Uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, seis, siete vidas te esperé
Siete vidas te esperé
Siete vidas te esperé
Siete vidas te esperé
Siete vidas te esperé
Oh, oh, oh, oh
Come, come quickly, come quickly, come
Come, come quickly, come quickly, come
Come, come quickly, come quickly, come
Come, come quickly, come quickly, come
The lyrics of Juana Molina's song, Eras, convey a sense of longing and frustration in a relationship. The first stanza expresses a feeling of emptiness despite having everything, and the second line highlights the theme of deception and pretense in the relationship. The third line perhaps refers to the expectation the partner had from the singer, and the last line is unclear, possibly indicating the loss of faith in the relationship.
The phrase "come, come quickly" is repeated throughout the song, and its meaning is ambiguous. It can be interpreted literally as an invitation to the partner, or metaphorically as a plea for emotional fulfillment. The subsequent verses repeat the number sequence from one to seven, possibly indicating the passage of time and waiting for the partner.
The chorus remains the same throughout the song, and the repetition of the phrase "come, come quickly" becomes more urgent towards the end, indicating the singer's desperation. The song's theme of loneliness and longing is carried by the haunting melody and the atmospheric background music.
Overall, the lyrics of Eras are open to interpretation, but they convey a sense of emotional turmoil and the yearning for connection in a romantic relationship.
Line by Line Meaning
Eras todo, nada me hará feliz
You were everything, and nothing will make me happy now that you're gone.
Veras nunca sabrás, soy buena actriz
You'll never know, I'm a good actress, hiding my true feelings from you.
Él tenía que?? de mí
He had to do something with me, but it's unclear what it is.
Se me va??
It's fading away from me, but it's unclear what 'it' is.
El mar lejos pidió más o el mío
The sea far away asked for more, or maybe it was my own longing for something more.
Ando sola pienso sin dejar yo
I walk alone, lost in thought without letting go of my own worries.
Al sentir que estas en mí
When I feel like you're inside of me,
Y creer que estoy en ti.
And believing that I'm inside of you.
Uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, seis, siete, ahora te esperé
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, now I waited for you.
Uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, seis, siete días te esperé
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven days I waited for you.
Uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, seis, siete veces te esperé
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven times I waited for you.
Uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, seis, siete, años te esperé
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, years I waited for you.
Uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, seis, siete vidas te esperé
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, lifetimes I waited for you.
Siete vidas te esperé
I waited for you for seven lifetimes.
Oh, oh, oh, oh
No distinct meaning, just a musical interlude.
Come, come quickly, come quickly, come
Repeated phrase urging someone to come to me quickly.
Come, come quickly, come quickly, come
Repeated phrase urging someone to come to me quickly.
Come, come quickly, come quickly, come
Repeated phrase urging someone to come to me quickly.
Come, come quickly, come quickly, come
Repeated phrase urging someone to come to me quickly.
Contributed by Aaron W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@zuzkadobro
What a different flavour, I'm loving this creativity. Juana la Musa
@JonHolden
Thank you NPR for introducing me to this gem of an artist!
@jhonnatangamav4349
La música y videos de Juana son puro arte. Transporta a escenas mágicas y, no quiero etiquetar, pero recrea mundos del surrealismo que me recuerdan mucho a Leonora Carrington. Bravo por Juana!
@alvaropandelo
Juana es magia. Magia de esa que te inunda el alma. Espeluznantemente increible!
@FacViL
quiero un cachorro cruza de juana molina y thom yorke
@Eduardo-ox3cq
+Fac ViL El abuelo Eduardo Mateo
@leaf5585
Siiii
@gabrielamendez3451
X2
@FacViL
Hola Facvil, soy el facvil del futuro, no me acordaba que habias comentado esto. Sigo creyendo lo mismo y te felicito por haberlo expresado en su momento
@mauonline
Esto es una obra de arte, maravilla total. Me saco el sombrero, ante esta talentosa argentina!