Spain is bringing the “fiesta” to Eurovision 2019 with Miki and his party anthem “La venda” (The Blindfold). A spirited punch in the face that’s driven by good vibes, it’s an extremely danceable song with an empowering and uplifting message behind it.
The music video is filled with bright colours and dancing on the street. But Miki is not just throwing a party for the sake of it. The “La venda” lyrics call on people to leave prejudice behind, and to embrace the beautiful life that comes after that. Bias and hate — and by extension xenophobia, homophobia and misogyny — are “the blindfold” that limit us. After it falls, we can embrace true happiness. Olé!
That idea certainly comes through in Miki’s music video. All manner of people take to the street to join Miki in celebration — and a choreographed group dance number. It’s riotous and, given that it’s the middle of the day in a public setting, somewhat rebellious. Sometimes to take a stand you’ve got to hit the road.
“La venda” – Miki (Spain Eurovision 2019)
“La venda” lyrics / translation — Miki (Spain Eurovision 2019)
Original lyrics
Te vendes porque te sobras
Te pierdes porque hay camino
Te digo, hay otras cosas
Te quieres, tu mente en forma
Te eliges porque hay camino
Te digo, hay otras cosas
Y solo quedó la alegría
La venda ya cayó
Y empezarán nuevos días
La venda ya cayó
Avivando fantasías
La venda ya cayó
Y serás como querías
Te sientes que ya tenías
Te vives, alto voltaje
Te traje buenas noticias
Te vives y te interesas
Te saltas, no quedan normas
Ahora, la vida loca
Y solo quedó la alegría
La venda ya cayó
Y empezarán nuevos días
La venda ya cayó
Avivando fantasías
La venda ya cayó
Y serás como querías
Lo que ere, lo que ere, ere, ere, e
Lo que ere, lo que ere, ere, ere, e
Lo que ere, lo que ere, ere, ere, e
Lo que ere, lo que ere, ere, ere, e
Lo que ere, lo que ere, ere, ere, e
Y solo quedó la alegría
La venda ya cayó
Y empezarán nuevos días
La venda ya cayó
Avivando fantasías
La venda ya cayó
Y serás como querías
English translation
They buy you because you are for sale
You are for sale because you are smug
You get lost because there are roads
I tell you — there is something else
You rock because you love yourself
You love yourself, your mind is in shape
You choose yourself because there are roads
I tell you — there is something else
The blindfold fell already and only joy remained
The blindfold fell already and new days will start
The blindfold fell already, stirring up fantasies
The blindfold fell already and you’ll become what you wished
You pray to yourself because you trust in you
You feel like you already got it
You live yourself, high voltage
I brought you the good news
You rock but you ain’t shoving
You live yourself and you got self-care
You skip yourself, no rules left
And now, la vida loca
The blindfold fell already and only joy remained
The blindfold fell already and new days will start
The blindfold fell already, stirring up fantasies
The blindfold fell already and you’ll become what you wished
What you are, what you are, are, r
What you are, what you are, are, r
What you are, what you are, are, r
What you are, what you are, are, r
What you are, what you are, are, r
What you are, what you are, are, r
*’ere’ is a colloquial way of saying ‘eres’ (‘are’ — as in ‘you are’, second person singular — in Spanish).
Text is beatiful.very positive and optimist .love it
This is going to be a summer hit
“Venda” actually means “blindfold” in Portuguese too. But yes, it also means “selling”, but when the verb is conjugated, like in “I want him to sell his car” (“Eu quero que ele venda seu carro”) or when you talk about the process of selling something. In Brazil, it has even a third meaning, because you can use the word to describe a small grocery store. But not many people use it these days I guess.
The verses are quite confusing. They go from the clever provocation of “They buy you because you’re for sale” to meaningless things like “you live in high voltage”. I don’t know if it was intentional, but there’s nothing connecting the dots, it feels like the excess of information we deal with in our lives. Like there’s so much pressure on our shoulders all the time. Then comes the cathartic chorus: once you let the blindfold go, you’ll be able to live the way you want, leaving all those pains behind. It’s not great songwriting, but it’s a feel good song.
It reminds me of a football chant, except with more ethical content. 😉
Hahaha, it’s true. As many people already commented here (usually with mean intentions), it sounds like a “Fifa World Cup anthem”. But it’s also like a street carnival song written to have the chorus screamed by a large crowd.
Dear Wiwibloggs, I just want to thank you for sharing all the songs’ lyrics one by one and furthermore explain some of the meaning behind it. Personally, I wouldn’t get Island, Portugal, Georgia, Albania and Hungary at all, also mostly Poland and partially Italy and Slovenia too if I hadn’t translated it. And even if one knows the lyrics, multiple input on the meaning behind it is always welcome. Keep up the good work! 🙂
I second that. I know that sometimes it’s difficult to translate some lyrics (the song on this post is a good example of that), but the more personal they are, the more we need to understand them to actually love a song. For example: I liked “Sebi” right away, but after reading the translated lyrics I felt in love with it. Last year, I couldn’t understand all the fuss about “Non Mi Avete Fatto Niente” in Sanremo and then I read the lyrics and everything was so clear.
Yep. Well done Wiwibloggers.
All the revamps this year have been rather subtle. Every single one (Romania, Albania, Spain, Montenegro…). I get that one can shift the song a bit after the revamp (let’s say from 7/10 to 7.5 or 7 or even 6.5), but I don’t think that any revamp thus far has been so impactful to change the opinion drastically. Of course, feel free to disagree.
Well the UK still has time to do something… bigger.
As I said, what UK needs to do is give it’s song a context. They need to make a more narrative official video which tells a story (whether it’s Michael with his love or two random actors while he only sings). Something like Ireland or Malta did in 2017. Ditch the typical UK style random box and lights. It would make the song even more general. The staging usually cannot tell a story as precisely as the video, but Ireland and Lithuania contextualized their ballads pretty well last year, so why not. Let the emotion speak for itself. Don’t *try*… Read more »
Blindfold against what? Lyrics are not clear ? Spanish speakers answer pls
The blindfold is a reference to “prejudices”. So, prejudices now have fallen, so you enjoy life
A strong message. It’s a pity the limitations of the ESC don’t allow for more than six people on the stage, because this is an entry that begs for a lot of people backing it up. Holograms, anyone?
I wonder how come EBU is so strict when it comes to this rule. September 1 release rule is very often put as a grey area, original content apparently too, not even going into the political messages that go through vaguely disguised. But this is something they really systematically go through with. Even if huge majority of songs don’t need more than six people, every now and then something like this comes and I keep wondering why don’t they get a ”special permit” from the EBU? Honestly, “En godt stekt pizza” (Norway 2015) wouldn’t be as epic on stage if… Read more »
Well whenever we get the opportunity to run the ESC, we can adjust these rules and find out what happens. 🙂
I assume that the six-person limit is there to try to be fair to the competitors.
I was going to ask the same thing, I have no idea how the performance will turn out. Probably they could do something with 5 dancers if the stage is small? Eleni and the dancers made it work last year but the song requirements were so different.
As I mentioned in another thread, this one has big mass appeal outside of the contest. The energy is very infectious and the hook is terrific. Much as I love the Netherlands, watching how immediately gripping this one was to ordinary folks like my family gave me interesting winner vibes. You really never know.
Where exactly do the lyrics call on us to remove the blindfold of prejudice?
It’s like trying to find a deeper meaning in a song that does not have it…
I’m trying, but I’m not getting that message of “prejudice”. To me it sounds more like escapism, embracing yourself and enjoying life. And the first verse also sounds a bit anti-establishment/anti-materialism.
What an uplifting song! Fiesta no siesta is what we need in Eurovision. Well done Miki!