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X -> RE: Spanish lyrics translation (Nov. 2 2010 10:42:54)
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Hey, thanks, everyone. I think "china" (or, as Mayte pronounces it in true Catalan fashion, "Sheena") is Latin American usage and means a nanny, but unlike Mary Poppins, chinas were almost like substitute stay-at-home moms who, aside from being always there for the kids, might also do everything else (cooking, cleaning, nursing, plan birthdays etc.), so you can see how they can easily become members of the family, especially to the kids. In fact at first hearing, I thought the last word in the song was "mae," adding that much more impact for me.
The park with the peacock and the little tree is maybe someplace MM shared with her china, maybe daily afternoon paseos, and the canaveral is something she also associates with her; maybe the china was a canastero (a china doesn't have to be Asian in this usage, just as "filipina" in Italian now means "au pair" or "maid," whether she is indeed Filipina or not.)
When I was nine, I grew very close to my china. and when she left, I threw a real flat-out screaming tantrum. My father had to pry me off her by my hair. I was inconsolable for days. Years later, after I had learned to put away childish things, I looked back and realized that she very likely colored all my later relationships with women.
But enough. This is an example of what I meant in another post-- I can really relate to this song, while a lot of cante jondo moves me not at all. No one's fault, tho-- maybe it's just that the his experience and mine don't overlap that much.
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