"La cançó del soldadet" - Manel

Song title: La cançó del soldadet
Artist: Manel
Album: 10 milles per veure una bona armadura (2011)

"The Song of the Little Soldier"

Listen to the song of the little soldier 
who, through a bull's eye,
see swifts flying!
and it's not that he really understands much, the little soldier,
but, if swifts are flying,
it must mean that land is near.
So near that the captain comes down
and he tries not the seem nervious
as he finishes the instructions:
"Concentrate, little soldiers, be prudent
and cling to life
with tooth and nail".
Now on deck, the men pray.
Now on deck, the men pray.
And the little solider says an unconvincing "amen",
and caresses his rifle,
trying not to think about anything
From the bow the hills grow large,
"little soldier, be brave, be brave,
the luck of the world depends on people like you".
But "if an enemy bullet crosses the wind
and passes through my brain,"
the little soldier thinks,
"the waves will carry me away
and a thousand colored fish
will fight to eat my flesh".
And that's when he thinks "I'll hide myself
when they're not watching, I'll hide myself"
But they're always watching, and the boat is coming to a stop,
the hatches have been opened
and, in a second, the sea is flooded
with soldiers firing into the infinite
with a little soldier in the middle,
who loads while insulting the enemy.
And between bombs everything is going well for him,
until one falls nearby.
First he thinks, "what luck, you've…"
but then he feels a strange pain in his back
and in touching it his arm comes away covered in blood.
He turns his head from side to side.
He sits on the sand and rests.
And while the medical stretcher arrives
he calms himself repeating
what he'll do, where he'll go, if he survives:
"I'll go to visit my mother wearing my best clothes
and, first of all, I'll have to ask her
to forgive me for always treating her like this.
I'll go see Margarida and make her a child
so that, just seeing him, I'll know
that I love him more than I love myself".