Temes Lyrics in English by iLe
Despojo is a fascinating word with several layers of meaning: it can mean 'remains,' the 'spoils' taken after a battle, or the act of 'stripping' something away. That range makes it feel both violent and strangely intimate.
The singer uses it to describe being possessed by someone else, singing "Si mi libertad la tiene tu despojo" ("If my freedom is held by your remnants"), as if she herself has become the spoils claimed by this person.
The whole song is one question asked over and over: "¿Por qué me temes?" (Why do you fear me?). A woman is speaking to a man who is afraid of her, and she keeps handing him reasons he might have — each one an accusation dressed up as a concession. "Si soy fruto de algo que no tiene nombre" (If I am the fruit of something that has no name). "Si estoy hecha para estar arrepentida" (If I'm made to be repentant). Every verse opens with si (if), so she is arguing on his terms, and his terms get uglier as she goes: "Si tus celos me acuchillan por la espalda" (If your jealousy stabs me in the back), "Si tu ira me dispara en la cabeza" (If your rage shoots me in the head). The violence arrives inside a hypothetical, sung over a slow bolero, and that is what makes it land.
By the last verse the fear has spread outward — "Si el mundo juzga con ojos cerrado'" (If the world judges with closed eyes), and "todo lo que hago es un pecado" (everything I do is a sin). Then the closing line changes one word and turns the whole song around: "¿A qué le temes?" (What do you fear?). Not why do you fear me any more, but what is it, actually, that you are afraid of.
