Mediterráneo Lyrics in English by Jorge Drexler
Embustero translates to "liar" or "trickster." It's a colorful and somewhat old-fashioned word that adds a unique flavor to the lyrics.
In the song, the narrator declares, "Soy cantor, soy embustero" (I am a singer, I am a trickster). This self-description is intriguing, suggesting a playful, perhaps even mischievous, personality behind the poetic words, making the listener wonder about the stories he tells.
Jorge Drexler's "Mediterráneo" is a heartfelt embrace of the Mediterranean Sea, seen through the eyes of someone who feels deeply connected to it. He starts by telling us how his childhood memories are tied to its beaches: "Quizás porque mi niñez sigue jugando en tu playa / Y escondido tras las cañas duerme mi primer amor" [Perhaps because my childhood continues to play on your beach / And hidden among the reeds sleeps my first love]. He carries the sea's "luz y olor" [light and smell] everywhere, keeping "amor, juegos y penas" [love, games, and sorrows] in its sand.
He acknowledges the sea's long history of human emotion, noting the "sabor amargo del llanto eterno / Que han vertido en ti cien pueblos de Algeciras a Estambul" [bitter taste of the eternal weeping / That a hundred towns from Algeciras to Istanbul have poured into you]. Despite this, his eyes are used to its "atardeceres rojos" [red sunsets], and he declares, "Soy cantor, soy embustero / Me gusta el juego y el vino / Tengo alma de marinero / ¿Qué le voy a hacer si yo / Nací en el Mediterráneo?" [I am a singer, I am a liar / I like games and wine / I have the soul of a sailor / What can I do if I / Was born in the Mediterranean?]. He even has a beautiful, slightly dramatic wish for his end: if death comes, he wants his boat pushed out to sea to be broken by a storm, and to be buried "entre la playa y el cielo" [between the beach and the sky], on a mountain where he can still see the sea. It's a beautiful, personal ode to a place that shaped him entirely.
