From the recording Orijinal (En Bivo)
First recorded on Gracia (2012)
The spark for this song came from the poetry of the great 11th-century Jewish scholar Samuel Ha-Nagid. I always lingered over one line: "Even when you’re standing at death’s door... the wounded lion still knows how to roar." Those words feel as powerful today as they must have centuries ago.
Although the song speaks to resilience on a personal level, I also hear it as a reflection of Ladino itself. For generations, people have predicted the language's disappearance. Yet it continues to endure, finding new voices and new ways to be heard.
Lyrics
Ladino:
Kuando el mundo avla una lingua ke
no entiendes
I tus pensadas no tienen traduksion;
Kuando las palavras viajan avagar avagar
I se piedren durante la transmision.
Kuando tu amante en la vida no es komo tu t’akodras
I su golor i savor te son estranyas;
Kuando bives tu dia komo un aktor
Ma el senario esta en la nevla.
En los tiempos de grande apreto,
Enfortese tu korason.
Afilu si estas en la puerta de la muerte,
La lampa tiene luz antes de amatarse,
Afilu si estas en la puerta de la muerte,
El leon ferido ainda save bramear.
Kuando t’espantas ke esto es todo lo ke tienes
I no ay mas shenas en la opera de tu vida;
Kuando demandas si ya se izo tadre
I si puedes tomar otra mirada.
English:
When the world speaks a language you don’t understand
And your thoughts have no translation;
When words travel in slow motion
And get lost in the transmission.
When your love is not as you remember
And the scent and taste are strange;
When you move through your day like an actor
But the script is in a haze.
At times of great fear,
Strengthen your heart.
Even if you stand at death’s door,
The lamp has light before it is extinguished,
The wounded lion still knows how to roar.
When you’re scared that this is all you have
And there are no more scenes to your life’s work;
When you ask if it’s too late now
And if you can take another look.