Cucurrucucú Paloma (translation)
They say through every nighttime
he was purely a flowing river of tears;
they say he wasn’t eating,
but drinking to drown out the pain that so sears.
They swear that even the night skies
shudder with pity to his sad wails and sharp cries,
for her, oh he was suffering,
and vainly calls out past the death where she now lies.
Ay, ay, ay, ay, ay he’s singing,
ay, ay, ay, ay, ay he’s moaning.
Ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, he’s singing,
and from mortal passion dying.
A Mourning Dove sad and lonesome
at dawn its song will be cooed for your ears,
the cottage still is waiting
with wide open doors emptying fears.
They swear that Mourning Dove cooing
is surely the very soul of your darling,
that is still so sweetly awaiting
her return to his love never-ending.
Cucurrucucú paloma,
cucurrucucú no crying.
The stones we walk on, paloma,
will never know about our loving.
Cu….
(The ending of the song as performed by Caetano Veloso.)
Cucurrucucú, cucurrucucú,
cucurrucucú, paloma, no crying.
(The ending of the song as performed by Lola Beltran; her version has other differences from what is shown here.)
Cucurrucucù paloma
“Dicono che, la notte,
non facesse altro che piangere.
Dicono che non mangiava,
e passava il tempo solo a bere.
Giurano che persino il cielo
tremava al sentire il suo lamento.
Quanto soffrì per lei…
e anche morendo la chiamava.
Ay ay ay ay ay cantava,
ay ay ay ay ay gemeva,
ay ay ay ay ay cantava,
moriva consumato dalla passione.
Che una colomba triste
va a cantare di buon mattino
alla casetta solitaria
con le porticine spalancate.
Giurano che quella colomba
non è altro che la sua anima,
che ancora attende
il ritorno della sventurata.
Cucurrucucú, colomba,
cucurrucucú, non piangere:
le pietre, colomba,
cosa mai potranno sapere dell’amore?
Cucurrucucú, cucurrucucú,
cucurrucucú, cucurrucucú,
cucurrucucú, colomba, non piangere più”.