San Martin was the vocalist until Amaia Montero joined the band by request from Benegas, just after he met her at a dinner party. Much later, the band played at El Concurso de Pop/Rock de San Sebastián, at which they were discovered and later signed by Sony Music.
Their first album, Dile al Sol (Tell The Sun), debuted in 1998; it went to the top of the Spanish music charts, and won the Premio Ondas to The very best Album of the Year. After numerous tours, the group released two more albums, El Viaje de Copperpot (Copperpot's Journey) and Lo que te Conté Mientras te Hacias la Dormida (What I Told You While You Pretended To Be Asleep) as well as two DVDs: La Oreja De Van Gogh with material from their first two records, and a live performance called Lo que te Conté Mientras te Hacias la Dormida Gira 2003'.
Their songs are written (both lyrics and music) mostly by Xabi San Martín and Amaia Montero in collaboration with Pablo Benegas, and the themes are usually love, friendship, or whatever comes up in a relationship between two people.
Their fourth album, Guapa, was released April 25th 2006. At the end of 2006, the re-edition of this album, called Más Guapa was released. It was met with wide critical success.
Since their debut, they have sold more than 6 million copies worldwide of their four albums. In November 2007, lead singer Amaia Montero announced that she would be leaving the group to begin a solo career. Her replacement, Leire Martínez, was announced in July 2008, along with the band's first single El Último Vals from their album titled A las cinco en el Astoria which was released on September 2, 2008. Leire was discovered on the Spanish reality show Factor X.
La carta
La Oreja de Van Gogh Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Donde el miedo tiene excusa
Donde el tiempo se pierde
Donde el odio no cura
La bandera que de noche me ahoga
La oscuridad me inunda
Mis fuerzas se pierden
Sin nada más que decirte
Cuando leas esta carta
No cierres esos ojos
Que tienen la luz que me falta
Que tienen la luz que me falta
Cuando leas esta carta
No cierres esos ojos
Que tienen la luz que me falta
Que tienen la luz que me falta
Recuerdos llenan mi espera
Cubren todos mis sueños
Duermen sobre una piedra
Soledad que me ahogas
Deja ya de mirarme
Y dame tu mano
La oscuridad me inunda
Mis fuerzas se pierden
Sin nada más que decirte
Me despido hasta siempre
Cuando leas esta carta
No cierres esos ojos
Que tienen la luz que me falta
Que tienen la luz que me falta
Cuando leas esta carta
No cierres esos ojos
Que tienen la luz que me falta
Que tienen la luz que me falta
Cuando leas esta carta
No cierres esos ojos
Que tienen la luz que me falta
Que tienen la luz que me falta, que me falta
The lyrics to "La carta" by La Oreja de Van Gogh are a letter to a loved one, written from a place of silence, fear, lost time, and the inability to find healing in hate. The writer is drowning in a sea of unbearable emotions, encapsulated by the flag that strangles them at night. They are consumed by darkness, drained of their energy, and resigned to their fate. The person to whom the letter is addressed is the one source of light left in their life, the only one who can provide the missing pieces of their soul.
The writer reaches out to the other person, begging them to read the letter with open eyes, to not shut out the author's pain or the light they provide. Memories fill the writer's days, covering their dreams and weighing heavily upon them, trapping them in a suffocating loneliness. The writer shuns this loneliness, desiring to escape its clutches and to connect with the other person, who possesses the ability to ease their burden. For the writer, the letter is a goodbye, a final farewell to the person they love, tinged with the hope that their message will be heard and their light remembered.
Overall, the song is a melancholic and emotional portrayal of the depths of human emotions, the searing pain of loss, and the desperate hope for connection and healing through human connection.
Line by Line Meaning
Te escribo desde el silencio
I am writing to you from a place of silence
Donde el miedo tiene excusa
Where fear has a reason
Donde el tiempo se pierde
Where time is lost
Donde el odio no cura
Where hate doesn't heal
La bandera que de noche me ahoga
The flag that suffocates me at night
La oscuridad me inunda
The darkness overwhelms me
Mis fuerzas se pierden
My strength fades away
Sin nada más que decirte
Without anything else to say
Me despido hasta siempre
I say goodbye forever
Cuando leas esta carta
When you read this letter
No cierres esos ojos
Don't close those eyes
Que tienen la luz que me falta
That have the light that I am missing
Recuerdos llenan mi espera
Memories fill my waiting
Cubren todos mis sueños
Cover all my dreams
Duermen sobre una piedra
They sleep on a stone
Soledad que me ahogas
Loneliness that suffocates me
Deja ya de mirarme
Stop looking at me
Y dame tu mano
And give me your hand
Que tienen la luz que me falta
That have the light that I am missing
Que tienen la luz que me falta
That have the light that I am missing
Que tienen la luz que me falta
That have the light that I am missing
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Alvaro Fuentes, Amaya Montero, Haritz Garde, Pablo Benegas, Xavier San Martin Beldarrain
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Paquito Bodeguero
Ya no se escriben cartas en estas épocas, pero hay palabras que están muy dentro del alma. ¿Volveremos a redactar despedidas a puño y letra? ¡Gran tema!
Sergio Reyes
Me encanta este tema, super letra...
Eduardo Teodoro Bracamonte Álvarez
bajo ese viejo arbol leyendo esa carta y ese viejo cuento de ese libro que aquella ingrata me dio
Hidalgo
Ahora que sé que está canción está inspirada en Ortega Lara ya no la puedo escuchar igual
Eduardo bracamonte alvarez
te escribo desde el silencio
Amanda Bergua
Cuando Amaia sí tenía auténtica voz de rockera y no de mojigata como en el último disco "Guapa"