Five Years
Santah Lyrics


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Moviendo por la plaza, tantas mamas llorando
Noticias serias llegaban: solo teníamos cinco años
El hombre lloró y nos dijo que la tierra estaba muriendo
Su cara mojada con lágrimas, así sabía que fue la verdad

Oi mobiles, opera, y la melodía
Vi chicos, juguetes, planchas y teles
Me duele la cabeza--la bodega tan llena
Allí tenía meter para mis cosas guarda

Y los delgordos! Y los altosbajos!
Y la nadie gente, y alguien gente
Nunca les necesitaba tanta gente.

Una chica se puso loca, ella pegó a los niñitos
Si el negro no la quito, pienso que los mataría
Un soldado con brazo roto, sus ojos en las ruedas (de Cadillac)
Arrodillo, un policía besó en los pies del padre
Por eso, el rarito vomitó

Creo que te mire en heladería
Bebiendo milk shakes cold and long
Reyendo esperando tan preciosa
No creo que sepas estás en canción

Hacía frío hacía lluvia así estaba un actor
Y pensaba de mama y queria volver
Tu cara, tu raza, cuando hablas
Te beso, hermosa, quiero que andas!

Five years! en frente mi cara
Five years! inesperada




Tenemos five years! me duele el cerebro
Five years! Somos los dueños de...

Overall Meaning

The song "Five Years" by Santah is a vivid and emotive piece that paints a picture of a chaotic and unstable world. The lyrics are sung in both Spanish and English, which adds to the raw and authentic tone of the piece. The singer describes a scene in a plaza where families are crying, and news arrives that the earth is dying, and they only have five years left. The mood is somber and desperate, as the man breaks down in tears, acknowledging the truth of the situation.


The song also talks about materialism and consumerism, displaying the singer's desire to hoard as many things as possible in preparation for the end of the world. There are references to technology and modern conveniences, such as mobile phones and televisions, as well as the potential for violence and chaos. A girl goes crazy and hits children, while a soldier with a broken arm kneels beside a police officer, who kisses the feet of a father figure. The lyrics paint a vivid, surreal picture of a world that is coming apart at the seams.


The singer also touches on themes of love and intimacy, reminiscing about a past love interest that he saw in an ice cream shop. The line "I saw you in the ice cream shop, drinking cold and long milkshakes, reading something so precious" evokes a feeling of nostalgia and longing. The song ends with the words "Five years! We are the owners of...," leaving the listener with a feeling of open-endedness and uncertainty.


Line by Line Meaning

Moviendo por la plaza, tantas mamas llorando
We were walking through the plaza and saw so many mothers crying.


Noticias serias llegaban: solo teníamos cinco años
There were serious news reports that said we only had five more years to live.


El hombre lloró y nos dijo que la tierra estaba muriendo
A man cried and told us that the earth was dying.


Su cara mojada con lágrimas, así sabía que fue la verdad
His face was wet with tears, so we knew it was true.


Oi mobiles, opera, y la melodía
We heard mobile phones, opera music, and melodies.


Vi chicos, juguetes, planchas y teles
We saw boys, toys, irons, and TVs.


Me duele la cabeza--la bodega tan llena
My head hurts because the storeroom was so full.


Allí tenía meter para mis cosas guarda
I had to find a place to store my things there.


Y los delgordos! Y los altosbajos!
There were fat people and short people!


Y la nadie gente, y alguien gente
There were people who didn't matter, and people who did.


Nunca les necesitaba tanta gente.
I never needed so many people before.


Una chica se puso loca, ella pegó a los niñitos
A girl went crazy and started hitting kids.


Si el negro no la quito, pienso que los mataría
If a black man hadn't stopped her, she may have killed them.


Un soldado con brazo roto, sus ojos en las ruedas (de Cadillac)
A soldier with a broken arm had his eyes on the Cadillac's wheels.


Arrodillo, un policía besó en los pies del padre
A police officer knelt down and kissed the father's feet.


Por eso, el rarito vomitó
That's why the weirdo threw up.


Creo que te mire en heladería
I think I saw you at the ice cream shop.


Bebiendo milk shakes cold and long
Drinking cold and long milkshakes.


Reyendo esperando tan preciosa
Smiling and waiting so beautifully.


No creo que sepas estás en canción
I don't think you know you're in a song.


Hacía frío hacía lluvia así estaba un actor
It was cold and rainy, just like in a movie.


Y pensaba de mama y queria volver
He was thinking of his mother and wanted to go back.


Tu cara, tu raza, cuando hablas
Your face, your race, and the way you speak.


Te beso, hermosa, quiero que andas!
I kiss you, beautiful, and want you to dance!


Five years! en frente mi cara
Five years! Right in front of my face!


Five years! inesperada
Five years! Unexpectedly!


Tenemos five years! me duele el cerebro
We have five years left! My brain hurts.


Five years! Somos los dueños de...
Five years! We are the owners of...




Writer(s): David Bowie

Contributed by Julia V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
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Most interesting comments from YouTube:

Crucillus Thorn

For those returning to this video after news sites tried to rail this man:
1. The story has already been confirmed by local news where this took place. This really did happen, this guy just wasn't about to drop names for the child, their family or the nursing staff for, frankly, obvious reasons. They'd been through enough.
2. The main reason for that controversy to begin with came out of the news' sudden anxiety over the legitimacy of the story and then, just as hastily as they aired the story, they tried to denounce it or at least claim it was unsubstantiated. They had never successfully debunked it (more obviously now than even since it has been proven) so it was never a concrete case itself.
3. Even assuming the story hadn't been substantiated later down the line, let's stop for a second. This guy has a job, commits fully to the role and wears it on himself EVERY day, and you think he'd risk that all just for a little media buzz? Professional Santas go through a LOT. They have fully grown adults being deployed into wars or who have lost family asking for safety or for their children back. The point of this story was that there is a man behind the persona who has to bear the burden of being someone who inspires joy, even in the absolute worst of situations. From his perspective, he was a stranger who potentially took the parents final moments with their child away from them during their child's passing. But that is okay, because in those final moments, that kid was happy. He did his job, the job just has its toll.

You can fake a lot of things, but you cannot fake the pain in that man's eyes. And here's the thing, liars have a tendency to screw up the details when retelling a story.

And all these years later this guy is still telling this story and he doesn't ever fudge the details. It's as if it comes straight from memory.

Point I'm driving at is this:
Believing in anything is hard these days, but if you're to believe anything at all, you might as well believe this is a good man and the closest thing we have to a real Santa Claus.



Ryan Blanche

@Moebym Why can't you just agree with the facts that this story is just unproven? If there's no secondary source, it can't be corroborated. Hence why I said many news sources retracted this story.

And if you read my comment, I did not say this story didn't happen. But at the same time it can't be confirmed or denied. You’re acting like it’s true but it can’t be proven one way or the other.

Here’s an account from the Washington Post :

According to Paul Farhi, a reporter at the Washington Post, the story serves as "a comment about the world we live in now in terms of the media." Farhi spoke with As It Happens host Carol Off about why he was sceptical about the story from the start.

Carol Off: Paul, what were your first impressions when you read this story about the little boy who died in Santa's arms?

Paul Farhi: I didn't really believe it. I think you read a story like that and you say to yourself there's a few elements that don't add up. Maybe you say that if you're a journalist. Maybe, if you're not, it's heartwarming about a sad situation. But as a journalist you can see through the story very quickly.

CO: What were some red flags for you?

PF: Any story that has a single source telling the story is an immediate red flag. So in this case, you had this gentleman, Eric Schmitt-Matzen, describing events that come only from him. We didn't know what hospital he was referring to that he went to. We didn't know the name of the family that allowed him to go into the hospital room. We didn't know the name of the child. We didn't know the name of the nurse. None of those details, which would allow anyone to go back and corroborate or verify his story. When those are missing you say, "Hmm…this is based on one person's account and one person's account only."

CO: But there are so many details in that one person's account. I mean, if Eric Schmitt-Matzen made this up it's an incredibly vivid story — is it not?

PF: It is a vivid story and I want to specify that we don't know if the story really is true or untrue. The only thing that we can truly say is that we can't corroborate or verify this and this is something that journalists try to do all the time, which is really what journalism is all about. It's about telling you things that we have found to be true through independent investigation. In this case, you couldn't do the independent investigation. You had to take his word for it. There's a famous old saying, rather cynical but true in the journalism world that, "If your mother says she loves you, check it out."

He also added

We’re not myth-makers, we're journalists, we're in the boring world of facts, and sorting out what's true and what's not true, and our job is to tell people those things, not create fantasies or comforting stories that go beyond the realm of fact.



Ryan Blanche

Unfortunately, the story has since been unconfirmed. Hence why news sources retracted it.

If you post a story as true but can’t confirm it happening, you risk your company becoming not reputable.

Not only that, but don’t you find it odd how none of the boy’s family has come forward to confirm a child, who was five in their family died?

Add to the fact that when someone dies, it is always made public record. Especially in a healthcare setting.

The person’s age, and date of death is almost always available to view online anymore.



All comments from YouTube:

Shantee Ariana

He held on only because he didn't want to miss Christmas. When he met Santa he definitely felt in his heart that Christmas came to him personally. That was his dying wish

Bunkyman

Christmas did come to him...Rest peacefully little angel

Reggie Collantes

A man with his heart of. Gold brain in super adventure island 3 and futures of druaga

Ryan Blanche

@Shantee Ariana At the same time though, wouldn’t have other doctors, especially the boy’s mother come out and confirm it was true?

They could always remain anonymous

Shantee Ariana

@Ryan Blanche I mean working in healthcare you see aoooooo many similar scenarios with your own eyes 🥺🥺

11 More Replies...

SixBladeKnife

I'm not religious but if this man hasn't earned his eternity in paradise this world is totally unfair.

Clark O'Bannon

@Anomaly Of course!

Anomaly

@Clark O'Bannon but how do you know? you have no proof except for words written by other people that you don't know the plans, motives, or the agendas of, that's called ignorant trust

Bfdia51

@Boogie which I think is pretty fucked up

The One

And I agree.

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