Before this song falls off of the charts, I figured I’d get it up here. It is currently sitting at #49 on Spain’s radio hits chart, having spent 19 weeks on the chart and peaking at #17. It was released in April 2020, and appears on their eighth studio album Salto al color.

About the Artists

Amaral is a pop-rock band from Zaragoza, Spain, consisting of Eva Amaral (vocals) and Juan Aguirre (guitar). They met in 1992 in a bar in Zaragoza and decided to begin writing music and playing together soon after. At the time they met, Eva was playing drums in a local punk rock band called Bandera Blanca and singing with the group Acid Rain, and Juan was playing with a band called Días de Vino y Rosas. In 1997 they moved to Madrid, and in 1998 they were signed by Virgin Records and released their first album, entitled Amaral.

It was their third album, entitled Estrella de mar, that really made their careers take off. It was the highest-selling album in Spain in 2002, won one MTV European Music Award and 5 Premios de la Música music awards, and launched them into the international music scene. Rolling Stone listed the album as one of the 50 best Spanish rock albums and the single “Sin ti no soy nada” as number 67 of the 200 best Spanish pop-rock songs. Throughout their more than 10 year musical career, they have won numerous awards, have had more than 15 platinum albums, and have sold around 4 million copies of their albums worldwide.

Biographical information from Wikipedia.

Cultural References, Idioms and Explanations

‘apagarse’ – While ‘apagar’ means ‘to switch off’, ‘to turn off’, ‘to put out’ or ‘to extenguish’, ‘apagarse’ means ‘to fade’, ‘to wane’ or ‘to diminish’.

‘cerrarse’ – While both ‘cerrar’ and ‘cerrarse’ mean ‘to close’, the first is used when discussing someone or something closing another thing, for example ‘la niñi cierra la puerta’ (the girl closes the door). Here ‘the girl’ is the one that made it happen. The reflexive is a passive or impersonal construction, where the initiator of the action is not expressed, as if the item just closed all on it’s own and not by the actions of any specific person. The example here is “…persianas que se cierran…” meaning ‘blinds that are closing’. The blinds are closing, but the song doesn’t say who or what caused them to close.

‘lo que’ – Literally translating as ‘it that’, this phrase better translates as ‘what’, ‘whatever’, or ‘which’.

‘caer en picado/a’ – It’s difficult to give this phrase a literal translation that makes any kind of sense, but it means ‘to drop sharply’, ‘to plummet’, ‘to plunge’, ‘to dive’ or ‘to take a nosedive’. It can be found ending in either ‘o’ or ‘a’.

‘salir a flote’ – Literally translating as ‘to leave floating’, this phrase means ‘to stay afloat’, ‘to keep one’s head above water’, ‘to rise to the surface’ or ‘to pop up’.

‘saber + infinitive’ – The verb ‘saber’ meaning ‘to know’, when followed by another verb in the infinitive, means ‘to know how to’ do the action of the second verb. For example ‘ella sabe nadar’ means ‘she knows how to swim’. In the example in this song the verb ‘saber’ is separated from the infinitive, but put together it is ‘no sabes pronunciar mi nombre’, meaning ‘you don’t know how to pronounce my name’.

Activities

We’ve created flashcards, games, and exercises to practice vocabulary and grammatical concepts found in this song. Check out our Activities Page to take your learning further!

Song Lyrics with Grammatical Breakdown

Mouse over a term for grammatical information. A chart of the terms and grammatical information can be found here.

Ruidoruidonoise; commotion, uproar, fuss | noun | masc sing

[Intro]
Aparecisteaparecerappear, show up | verb | sec pers sing pret dedefrom, of | prep lalathe | def art | fem sing nadanadanothing | noun | fem sing comocomolike, as, since | adv unaunaone | indef art | fem sing ráfagaráfagagust, burst | noun | fem sing dedefrom, of | prep luzluzlight | noun | fem sing
Cuandocuandowhen | adv sostuvesostenerhold, maintain, support | verb | first pers sing pret tutuyour | poss adj | masc and fem sing mirada,miradalook, glance, gaze | noun | fem sing elelthe | def art | masc sing ruidoruidonoise; commotion, uproar, fuss | noun | masc sing sesepart of pronominal verb | pron apagóapagarswitch off, turn off; put out, extinguish; quench; dampen, calm, soothe | verb | third pers sing pret | apagarse = fade, wane, diminish
Elelthe | def art | masc sing ruidoruidonoise; commotion, uproar, fuss | noun | masc sing dedefrom, of | prep llamadasllamadasignal, gesture; call; phone call | noun | fem pl perdidas,perdidolost; stray; disoriented | adj | fem pl ruidoruidonoise; commotion, uproar, fuss | noun | masc sing dedefrom, of | prep palabraspalabraword | noun | fem pl vacíasvacíoempty, vacant; superficial | adj | fem pl
Ruidoruidonoise; commotion, uproar, fuss | noun | masc sing dedefrom, of | prep persianaspersaniashutter, blind | noun | fem pl quequethat, than | conj sesepart of pronominal verb | pron cierrancerrarclose, shut; cover | verb | third pers pl pres | cerrarse = close, be closed yayanow, already | adv dedefrom, of | prep díadíaday | noun | masc sing

[Verse 1]
Yyand | conj nadanadanothing | noun | fem sing sabessaberto know | verb | sec pers sing pres dedefrom, of | prep mímíme | pron | first pers sing, obj of prep yyand | conj nononot | adv sésaberto know | verb | first pers sing pres nadanadanothing | noun | fem sing dedefrom, of | prep titiyou | pron | obj of a prep
Nononot | adv sabessaberto know | verb | sec pers sing pres lolohim, it | pron | masc sing, neuter | lo que = what, whatever, which quequethat, than | conj | lo que = what, whatever, which quieroquererto want | verb | first pers sing pres nininor; not even | conj sabessaberto know | verb | sec pers sing pres cómocómohow, why | adv piensopensarto think | verb | first pers sing pres
Sisiif | conj soyserto be | verb | first pers sing pres yoyoI | pron | first pers sing solasoloalone; single, lone | adj | fem sing ooor | conj somosserto be | verb | first pers pl pres mil,milone thousand | adj nononot | adv sabessaberto know | verb | sec pers sing pres conconwith | prep quiénquiénwho, whom | pron | interr duermodormirto sleep; to spend the night | verb | first pers sing pres

[Chorus]
Aparecisteaparecerappear, show up | verb | sec pers sing pret dedefrom, of | prep lalathe | def art | fem sing nadanadanothing | noun | fem sing comocomolike, as, since | adv unaunaa, an | indef art | fem sing ráfagaráfagagust, burst | noun | fem sing dedefrom, of | prep luzluzlight | noun | fem sing
Cuandocuandowhen | adv sostuvesostenerhold, maintain, support | verb | first pers sing pret tutuyour | poss adj | masc and fem sing mirada,miradalook, glance, gaze | noun | fem sing elelthe | def art | masc sing ruidoruidonoise; commotion, uproar, fuss | noun | masc sing sesepart of pronominal verb | pron apagóapagarswitch off, turn off; put out, extinguish; quench; dampen, calm, soothe | verb | third pers sing pret | apagarse = fade, wane, diminish
Oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh
Ruidoruidonoise; commotion, uproar, fuss | noun | masc sing
Oh-oh-oh-oh

[Verse 2]
Sisiif | conj soyserto be | verb | first pers sing pres delde + elfrom the, of the | prep + def art | masc sing hemisferiohemisferiohemisphere | noun | masc sing sursursouth | noun | masc sing ooor | conj sisiif | conj lleguéllegarto arrive, reach | verb | first pers sing pret delde + elfrom the, of the | prep + def art | masc sing nortenortenorth | noun | masc sing
Sisiif | conj caigocaerfall, fall down, collapse; catch on, realize | verb | first pers sing pres enenin, on, during | prep picadopicadopunctured, peirced, perforated; decayed; minced, chopped | adj | masc sing | caer en picado/a = drop sharply, plummet, plunge, dive, take a nosedive ooor | conj estoyestarto be | verb | first pers sing pres saliendosalirleave; come from | verb | ger | salir a flote = stay afloat, keep one's head above water, rise to the surface, pop up aato, into, by | prep floteflotefloating | noun | masc sing | salir a flote = stay afloat, keep one's head above water, rise to the surface, pop up
Nononot | adv sabessaberto know | verb | sec pers sing pres quéquéwhich, what, how | adv | invariable esperaresperarto wait | verb | infin dedefrom, of | prep mímíme | pron | first pers sing, obj of prep nininor; not even | conj pronunciarpronunciarpronounce, articulate, utter; accentuate, show off | verb | infin mimimy | poss adj | masc and fem sing nombrenombrename | noun | masc sing

[Chorus]
Aparecisteaparecerappear, show up | verb | sec pers sing pret dedefrom, of | prep lalathe | def art | fem sing nadanadanothing | noun | fem sing comocomolike, as, since | adv unaunaa, an | indef art | fem sing ráfagaráfagagust, burst | noun | fem sing dedefrom, of | prep luzluzlight | noun | fem sing
Cuandocuandowhen | adv sostuvesostenerhold, maintain, support | verb | first pers sing pret tutuyour | poss adj | masc and fem sing mirada,miradalook, glance, gaze | noun | fem sing elelthe | def art | masc sing ruidoruidonoise; commotion, uproar, fuss | noun | masc sing sesepart of pronominal verb | pron apagóapagarswitch off, turn off; put out, extinguish; quench; dampen, calm, soothe | verb | third pers sing pret | apagarse = fade, wane, diminish

[Outro]
Ahoraahoranow, right now; in a minute, very soon | adv elelthe | def art | masc sing tiempotiempotime | noun | masc sing esserto be | verb | third pers sing pres relativorelativorelative; related; debatable | adj | masc sing
Nononot | adv pasapasarto go ahead, proceed; cross; pass; happen | verb | third pers sing pres porporfor; because of; by | prep nosotrosnosotroswe, us | pron dosdostwo | adj
Tútúyou | pron | sec pers sing yyand | conj yoyoI | pron | first pers sing hemoshaberto have | verb | first pers pl pres | aux verb used with the pp in the pres perf sobrevividosobrevivirsurvive, outlast | verb | pp aato, into, by | prep tantotantoso much, so many, so long | pron ruidoruidonoise; commotion, uproar, fuss | noun | masc sing
Oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh
Ruidoruidonoise; commotion, uproar, fuss | noun | masc sing
Oh-oh-oh-oh

Oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh
Ruidoruidonoise; commotion, uproar, fuss | noun | masc sing
Oh-oh-oh-oh

Lyrics with Translation

Songs in any language often leave room for multiple interpretations. Following is my interpretation of the song lyrics.

Ruido
Noise

[Intro]
Apareciste de la nada como una ráfaga de luz
You appeared out of nowhere like a burst of light
Cuando sostuve tu mirada, el ruido se apagó
When I held your gaze, the noise diminished
El ruido de llamadas perdidas, ruido de palabras vacías
The noise of missed calls, noise of empty words
Ruido de persianas que se cierran ya de día
Noise of blinds that are already closing during the daytime

[Verse 1]
Y nada sabes de mí y no sé nada de ti
And you know nothing about me and I know nothing about you
No sabes lo que quiero ni sabes cómo pienso
You don’t know what I want, you don’t know how I think
Si soy yo sola o somos mil, no sabes con quién duermo
If I’m alone or there’s a thousand of us, you don’t know who I sleep with

[Chorus]
Apareciste de la nada como una ráfaga de luz
You appeared out of nowhere like a burst of light
Cuando sostuve tu mirada, el ruido se apagó
When I held your gaze, the noise diminished
Oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-o
Ruido
Noise
Oh-oh-oh-oh

[Verse 2]
Si soy del hemisferio sur o si llegué del norte
If I’m from the southern hemisphere or if I arrived from the north
Si caigo en picado o estoy saliendo a flote
If I plummet or I stay afloat
No sabes qué esperar de mí ni pronunciar mi nombre
You don’t know what to expect from me or how to pronounce my name

[Chorus]
Apareciste de la nada como una ráfaga de luz
You appeared out of nowhere like a burst of light
Cuando sostuve tu mirada, el ruido se apagó
When I held your gaze, the noise diminished

[Outro]
Ahora el tiempo es relativo
Now time is relative
No pasa por nosotros dos
It doesn’t pass for the two of us
Tú y yo hemos sobrevivido a tanto ruido
You and I have survived so much noise
Oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-o
Ruido
Noise
Oh-oh-oh-oh

Oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-o
Ruido
Noise

Grammatical Concepts Used in this Song

• Preterite:
  • Apareciste de la nada como una ráfaga de luz
  • Cuando sostuve tu mirada, el ruido se apagó
  • Si soy del hemisferio sur o si llegué del norte

• Irregular:
  • Stem-changing:
    • Ruido de persianas que se cierran ya de día
    • No sabes lo que quiero ni sabes cómo pienso
    • Si soy yo sola o somos mil, no sabes con quién duermo
  • Irregular yo form:
    • Y nada sabes de mí y no sé nada de ti
    • No sabes lo que quiero ni sabes cómo pienso
    • Si soy yo sola o somos mil, no sabes con quién duermo
    • Si caigo en picado o estoy saliendo a flote
    • No sabes qué esperar de mí ni pronunciar mi nombre
  • Ser:
    • Si soy yo sola o somos mil, no sabes con quién duermo
    • Si soy del hemisferio sur o si llegué del norte
    • Si soy yo sola o somos mil, no sabes con quién duermo

• Present progressive:
  • Si caigo en picado o estoy saliendo a flote

• Present Perfect:
  • Tú y yo hemos sobrevivido a tanto ruido

• Pronominal verbs
  • Cuando sostuve tu mirada, el ruido se apagó
  • Ruido de persianas que se cierran ya de día