Helena [English translation]

It's been many days since

I started looking out from my balcony,

And I've lost my job

While chatting with a sparrow

Who is more bored than I am.

Or else, I've been watching

How a holm oak lost its leaves

While smelling rosemary.

All the trees bloom again

And then they lose their leaves once more.

It's been so long since I lost count of how many days I've been here..

It's been a long time since I started telling myself... Tomorrow

And I keep on waiting and hoping....

And I keep on waiting and hoping....

Living on nothing.

Working for nothing

And one good day, as if nothing had ever happened

I will die of God knows what.

Goodbye. Thank you.

I'm at the bottom of a bar

Drinking coffee with liquor

To warm up my heart,

While waiting for death to arrive

to play cards.

It's been so long since I lost count of how many days I've been here.

It's been a long time since I started telling myself... Tomorrow

And I keep on waiting and hoping...

And I keep on waiting and hoping....

And I keep on waiting and hoping....

Out here in the balcony

I'm waiting and hoping..

Laying the horizon bare

I'm waiting and hoping..

I'm hoping, for the sake of my happiness

And also in spite of my sorrow,

Through the day and through the night

For Helena to come back

For Helena to come back...

Because every time that she walks down my street

Even the geraniums wink at her

The air becomes warm thanks to her breath

And even the cobblestones look up

At her golden skin.

When Helena walks by.

When she looks at you, you know there's a meaning to life

And when she wants to, she reveals it.

When she weeps, you know what grief is.

When she is silent, my entire being trembles.

When she loves, Love itself soars...

And the sun swings between the roofs

And the linnets on top of the electricity cables

Stare, filled with envy, at how she laughs and moves.

Shades of longing and the perfume

Of many full moons

That's my Helena.

My Helena...

But...

After so many days

My entire body aches due to standing up all the time

The rheumatism has snapped my fingers

And the last sparrow has finally left.

• Artist:Joan Manuel Serrat
• Album:Per al meu amic