“Calle de la Llorería” is Rayden’s entry for Benidorm Fest. The song takes a musical stance against hypocrisy, bullying on social media, hate speech, envy and falsehood. These lyrics are deep, y’all.
Scroll down for the “Calle de la Llorería” lyrics
Benidorm Fest: Rayden “Calle de la Llorería”
Writer and rapper David Martínez Álvarez – known as Rayden – has worked next to big names in Spain’s music industry like Pablo López, Leiva, Rozalén and Bely Basarte. He composed “Calle de la Llorería” himself and also participated in its production alongside François Legoffic.
Rayden is one of the best-known acts in the Benidorm Fest line up. “Calle de la Llorería” takes Rayden’s proven rap skills and layers on electric guitar and clapping. Fans have been hungry for this one: Rayden revealed the name of the song even before he knew he was selected to compete.
What do the “Calle de la Llorería” lyrics mean?
The music video for “Calle de la Llorería” is pretty ilustrative of the song itself. Through the lyrics, Rayden criticises hypocrisy, falsehood, a lack of enthusiasm about life and several other fears that grip society.
With each line, the rapper addresses a different type of person: “To those charlatans who seek clarity”, “To the one who stays dry but wants others to get wet”, “To the attention seeker who fears being forgotten”. All of them are sent out to cry to “la Calle de la Llorería”.
“Llorería” is a relatively recent and slangy concept in Spanish. It’s not a word recognised by the Spanish language academy, and it’s not a tangible concept. It uses the word “Llorar” (to cry) and the desinence “-ía”, which refers to a place, and it’s meaning would be something like “the place where you go to cry”. “A llorar a la Llorería” is a sentence used to tell somebody to go complain elsewhere.
“Calle de la llorería” lyrics – Rayden (Benidorm Fest 2022)
Written and composed by: David Martínez Álvarez, François Legoffic
Spanish textAl que quiere jugar con fuego pero odia quemarse Al equidistante travestido que choca Al que vive del recuerdo y el presente le explota Que lograste que tuviese contigo Porque antes con él lo habían sido Corre o no va a haber sitio Como una Magdalena A llorar a la calle de la llorería Perdona la ironía Al indeciso que se queda a la espera Solo ganó el tiempo perdido Al buscador de caso que teme que lo olviden Al eterno arrepentido Corre o no va a haber sitio Como una magdalena Hoy, hoy A llorar a la calle de la llorería Perdona la ironía Yo ya la lloré, yo ya la lloré, yo ya la lloré |
English translationTo the one who wants to play with fire but hates getting burnt To the cross-dressed equidistant who crashes To the one who lives by the memories while his present explodes Just like I treated you Because people were cruel to him before Run, or there will be no more time Just like Mary Magdalene² Go to cry to the crying place street Excuse my irony To the undecided one who stands by He only won the lost time To the attention seeker who fears being forgotten To the eternally repented Run, or there will be no more time Just like Mary Magdalene* Today, today Go to cry to the crying place street Excuse my irony I already cried about it, I already cried about it, I already cried about it |
¹ “Pide peras al alma” is a play on words on the Spanish “Pide peras al olmo”, which means “To ask for blood from a stone”. However, it literally means “to ask the elm for pears”. “Alma” means soul.
² “Llorar como una magdalena”, literally “To cry like a muffin”, is a Spanish idiom which means “To cry a lot”. However, Magdalena is a reference to Mary Magdalene.
Is “Calle de la Llorería” your favourite Benidorm Fest entry? Should Rayden sing at Eurovision 2022? Tell us in the comment section below!
If he’s to go to Eurovision, it’s going to be a sure Top 5 result, I can feel it. My favourite so far.
He’s against so many great contenders and it’s a shame only one will go on at the end. Great job, Spain!
Alternativo, moderno y diferente- Mandemoslo a Eurovision!
Let´s send it to Eurovision and none of the swedish songs, please.
Uhhh… I don’t know what to say… I like the song, but it’s different from the others ( definitely in a good way) I guess I just wasn’t expecting this. It’s outside the box and I really appreciate that! I do like the song’s meaning too. I think it will start growing on me by the time Benidorm Fest happens.
Not for me, I’m afraid…
My heart is divided between Terra and Calle de la Lloreria. They are both amazing! It will be very hard to choose one, especially with some other good options around… The lyrics in Calle the la Lloreria sound pure quality in Spanish
The best lyrics I ever heard in a spanish song, Congratulations !
Absolutely love this song and the thought put behind the lyrics really make it even more special. Looking forward to how it will be performed live.
Lol I was thinking “is he gonna start clapping as well” cause I thought the song sounded so much like Soldi. And… he did lmfaooooo
Um, no… It reminds me of Bella Ciao and this is only a good thing.
This is better than Tanxugueiras. Please Spain, send him.
I do understand and speak a little bit of Spanish but the song sounds so Italian for me when you don’t listen closely. Like something straight out of Sanremo.
Spanish and Italian music are not so different Anna. They are in fact very similar
My dad is italian and my boyfriend spanish. This song has nothing italian.
You should check your Spanish…
I mean, Southern European culture is quite similar but this sounds VERY Spanish haha
I live in Spain and yes it’s something that we could hear at Sanremo and wouldn’t be out of place.
I could imagine this in French as well.
The “talk/poem” verses are very common in all 3 music cultures
It’s the most different and interesting entry
ok guys this is by far my favourite. Catchy, modern and smart lyrics and production. This is the song Spain!! OMG i am so excited.
Tanxugueiras is my second choice. Very special.
I still have to hear half of the BF lineup, but here’s my top 7 so far (out of the 7 songs I have actually listened to):
#1 – Calle de la llorería (Rayden)
#2 – Terra (Tanxugueiras)
#3 – Raffaella (Varry Brava)
#4 – Sigues en mi mente (Marta Sango)
#5 – Ay mama (Rigoberta Bandini)
#6 – Make You Say (Sara Deop)
#7 – Voy a morir (Luna Ki)
Though I believe Tanxugueiras are an act that are perfect for Eurovision, in my opinion, this one is the best song of the national finals’ season so far. I don’t know how it would translate to an international audience that wouldn’t understand the beautiful punches the lyrics keep throwing over and over, but the closest we had from that in terms of genre and attitude was “Soldi” and it worked pretty well for Italy.
I believe it would probably stand out enough to find a fanbase with the televote, because rap is a popular genre still neglected in Eurovision and the only other country I can see sending something like this is Italy. Also, I’ve seen some tops from Spanish and foreign fans and it’s doing quite well with many people, though “Terra” seems to be the most popular by a certain margin.
The juries are a little more difficult to predict, they can be very conversative sometimes. I would label it as a “risk worth taking”.
Phone votes dominated Eurovision and National finals in the noughties. Phone votes in the national finals gave us “gems” like Flying the Flag and Wolves of the sea. The UK will always phone vote for someone like Michael Rice. It’s well demonstrated on many shows the UK audience will vote for an underdog or a novelty.
I really really (really) like this song. I hope it will grab the ticket to Turin!
Terra is my “favorite” in that it’s exactly on-brand for me, but this is my REAL favorite of Benidorm, and what I think would do best for Spain!!
Not to overblow it or risk making comparisons, but it really gives me the same energy as Soldi and Occidentali’s Karma did.
I thought exactly the same thing –> the Soldi and Occidentali’s Karma energy mix.
the best option, imo
He is the dark horse indeed but i cant get out of my head Postureo….i know this is unpopular opinion and they probably wont win due to their age but its a memorable bop….
Dark horse of Benidorm Fest
Its by far the best and can easily bring back SPain very high in the contest. No other options amigos !!!
this song is really cool. it can easily break language barriers while not being basic at all.
The lyrics are a big challenge for me although I can speak and understand Spanish.
It´s just like a poem. Wonderful !
This song is definitely my favourite out of the fourteen selected ones, and I have the feeling this will be part of the final TOP3! I hope people start paying attention to this proposal because it could be something really good on stage 🙂
I think is the best song in the bunch.
Absolutamente !
This is at least something with character, which has sadly been lacking in recent Spanish entries.
this is what happens when you leave contestants full artistic freedom. it’s been italy’s recipe to success since our comeback, no idea why spain didn’t think of it earlier
Cause RTVE’s director was Toñi Prieto and she was not interested at all in Eurovision so they tried to do the bare minimum so people wouldn’t be mad. Now there is a new delegation that is actually interested in showing the talent of Spanish artists. There has always been talented people in Spain.
I mean, with good staging…
To my beloved translator: I would not translate magdalena as muffin. He does not say magdalena, actually. He says Magdalena (María Magdalena), known for having cried a lot when Jesus died. Please, do not translate that like muffin because he never wrote the song thinking in a muffin but in Maria Magdalena
Thank you for pointing it out!
Unpopular opinion but I think this song is more competitive than Terra
I agree.
Yo tambien /Me too
Maybe the studio version,but I think we’ll need to see the live performances first.