Con Limon and Sal

It needs to be said that one of the loveliest things about being in Ecuador these past few months has been the ubiquitous presence of the music of Julieta Venegas. I first heard her on the soundtrack to Amores Perros, a song which is darker and more unsettling than most others I have heard. (Porque tus amores perros me van a matar. Because your dogs of love are going to kill me.) During the summer, I was sitting in a night bus coming into Quito when I heard Me Voy (I´m Leaving) which is softer and sweeter but still manages to convey regret, pain and anger, and knowing you are gravely at fault, but still can´t stick around to make things better. (Apparently she wrote that song for her ex-husband.) That was the first of many, many times, so much that her album has become part of my little soundtrack to my life here in Ecuador. Everyone listens to here here on the radio, garage mechanics, teenagers, waitresses. She is everywhere. In stores, in buses, in garages, in restaurants. You can´t avoid her. And unlike the Shakira´s Hips Don´t Lie, which you still here from time to time, when radio play exhausts one of her singles it picks up on the next on the next one. We went from

No voy a llorar y decir,
que no merezco esto porque,
es probable que lo merezco
pero no lo quiero, por eso... me voy

(My rough translation)
I´m not going to cry and say
that I don´t deserve this, because
it is likely that I do deserve it,
but I don´t want it and that´s why I´m leaving

to

Yo te quiero con limón y sal,
yo te quiero tal y como estás,
no hace falta cambiarte nada,

(Trans)

I love you lemon and with salt
I love you just the way you are
Don´t change a thing

to

Eres para mi, me lo ha dicho el viento

(Trans)

You are for me, the wind told me.

She is funky and innocent and vampy and wholesome all at the same time. I recommend her without reserve.