Culture in the Blender

I recently joined a TCK forum site called TCKID. Someone posted a link to a video by a TCK artist called Makiza.

This is a song called La Rosa de los Vientos. Here are the lyrics and the English translation.

A veces quisiera desaparecer del mapa
Volver donde yo nac�
Pero no es tan papa, me achaca
Las duda no se saca es ta peg�
Como laca, el peso a lapa
Makiza es mi capa,
A veces quisiera tener alas como p�jaro
Volar por el tiempo donde estuvo Lautaro
Y olvidar yo, por un tiempo que la mitad
De mi familia esta muy lejos
Hay d�as en que me quejo,
hay dias en que estoy bien piola
Hay d�as en queme r�o hasta del Guat�n Loyola
Ay! Comadre lola, si usted supiera
Lo que estar dividida, no saber cual es su tierra
Ana chola, en la bola como rat�n sin cola
Mi mama me hablaba a mi del C.H.I
Por all� bien lejos donde yo nac�
Donde yo crec�
Y no juego a la gringa si eso tu cre�
Nunca niegues donde tu provengas
Tengas lo que tengas,
Vengas de donde vengas
Vengas de Dinamarca/ o de chiloe
Si el mundo es una gran arca de Noe
Y si yo he nacido fuera
Estoy orgullosa y tengo sangre ind�gena
Mejor por que es hermosa, soy una trotamundo
Sin Fijo rumbo me fundo,
Al lugar donde yo tumbo, as� es mi mundo
Soy del norte del sur,
Del oeste, del este,
Una viajer�a sin paradero sin nombre sin carnet,
Una Ulyse si tierra prometida Eh, eh
Creado en mi propia odisea moderna nene
Se eh, hacer camino al andar caminante
por eso no tengo bandera representante
da lo mismo mi nombre, lo importante es lo que hago
valorar el hombre por la calidad de su trabajo
y es que el mundo es tan grande
y uno tan peque�o,
s�lo me dirijo por la Rosa de los Vientos

Somos hijo de la Rosa de los Vientos
De la rosa de los vientos
Somos hijo de la Rosa de los Vientos
De la rosa de los vientos

De ni�o e seguido el camino de la calle
Tan dif�cil que me pare como quien me calle
Donde me halle nunca olvido mis ra�ces
Los pa�ses donde e vivido han unido sus matices
Para que me caracterice con mi personalidad
Ser una persona de calidad,
La calidez de la verdad, me ampara
Me prepara, para levantar mis alas
Me protege como un chaleco antibalas,
Cala mi alma al mundo en que vivo,
Pido un minuto pa’ recopilar lo ke he vivido
Las ciudades en las que he vivido
Las ciudades en las que he residido
Las personas con las cuales e compartido
He sido yo he que he partido recorrido
Miles de kil�metros en todos los sentidos
Miro la importancia de mi vivencia
En mi existencia, encuentros coincidencias
Cuando me preguntan a que sector represento?
Respondo que en verdad yo no entiendo
El sentimiento de estar ligado aun barrio
Al contrario que el salir de el pa’ no ser marginado
Yo soy ciudadano del planeta tierra
Ser humano que no cree en las fronteras
Tanto Squat, Cenzi, Anita vivieron fuera
Yo igual hermano, ah,ah
No es por que yo quiera, pero mi lugar
Es tanto aqu� como donde sea, cuatro puntos cardinales
Cuatro cabezas, ver�s que la nacionalidad no es la gran cosa
Si no mas bien girar con el viento como la rosa.

Somos hijo de la Rosa de los Vientos
De la rosa de los vientos
Somos hijo de la Rosa de los Vientos
De la rosa de los vientos

Somos hijos de la rosa de los vientos
de la Rosa

Sometimes I would like to disappear from the map
Go to where I was born, but it is not that easy
The doubt comes over me and doesn’t leave, it sticks like glue
The weight doesn’t go away, makiza is my cape
Sometimes I would like to have wings like birds
Fly through time, where Lautaro was
And forget for a while
That half of my family are very far away
There are days where I complain
There are days where I am ok
There are days where I even laugh about Guantón Loyola
Oh! My friend Lola, if you knew
What it is to be divided, not to know what is your land
Ana la Chola, lost like a rat without a tail
My mother spoke to be about the C.H.I.
In that place far away, where I was born
Where I grew up
And I am not playing at the foreigner if that is what you think
You can not deny where you come from
You have whatever you have, you are from there where you come from
You come from Dinamarca (or from Chiloé)
The world is a big Noah’s Arc
And if I was born far away, I am proud
And if I have aborigianal blood, good, because it is beautiful
I am a globe trotter, without a fixed course I am based
In the place where I find myself landing, that is my world!
I am from the north, from the south, the west, the east
A traveller without address, without a name, without an I.D.
A Ulyseis without promised land,
I created my own modern odysey
Making the way as I walk,
Because of this I do not have a flag representing me
My name does that job, the important thing is what I feel
Value a man by the quality of his work
The earth is so big and one is so small
I am only guided by the compass

We are children of the compass

(I come from other latitudes)

Since I was a girl, I knew the way of the road
I am not gonna stop and I am not gonna shut-up
Wherever I find myself, I don’t forget my roots
The countries in which I have lived have united their differences
So that I can characterise my personality
To be a person of quality, the warmth of the truth
It protects me, prepares me to raise my wings
Protects me like a bullet-proof vest
The world pierces my soul, I request
A minute to reflect on what I have lived
The towns in which I have lived
The people which whom I have shared
I have been the one to leave, to cross
Thousands of kilometres in all directions
I measure the importance of my experiences
In my existence, encouters and coincidences
When you ask me which sector I represent
I respond in truth, that I don’t understand
The feeling of being bound to a district
On the contrary it is necessary to leave it not to be marginalised
I am a citizen of planet earth
A human being that does not believe in borders
As Squat, Cenzi and Anita always lived outside
No matter brothers, it is not because I wanted it that way
But my place is as much here as there
The four corners of the earth, four faces
You will see that nationality is not a big deal
Instead spin with the wind like the Rose

We are the children of the ‘rose of the wind’ (compass)

Although my Spanish is terrible, with the help of the English translation, I really like the lyrics.

The same person posted another video by Wir Sind Helden of a song called Soundso.

The lyrics are about categorization, which relates strongly to most TCKs. Cultural marginalization has certainly been a big issue for me, and I imagine it has been for many others as well. You’re supposed to be from somewhere, and when you are from somewhere, everyone already knows what you should be like. It can be quite marginalizing to be told that, essentially, you can’t exist. Aren’t allowed to exist, because you have to be from somewhere and be like those from that somewhere. The lyrics follow.

Sie wissen genau, wer du bist – Du bist uns so einer
Sie sagen es so, wie es ist – So gut kennt dich keiner

They know exactly who you are – To us, you’re like one of those (*)
They say it like it is – Noone knows you as well as they do

Und zwar bist du vom Wesen so und so – So und so! So irgendwie!
Verstehen sie dich, dass macht sie froh – So einer ändert sich nie

Namely your nature is like that and that – That and that! Somehow like that!
When they understand you, it makes them happy – Someone like that never changes

[Refrain]

Aber nichts davon bestimmt dich, weißt du
Nichts davon verglimmt nicht mit der Zeit

But nothing of that defines you, you know
Nothing of that doesn’t fade with time

Nur du bestimmt nicht, weißt du
Nichts davon ist wirklich
Nichts davon

Only you surely won’t, you know
Nothing of that is real
Nothing of that

So und so
Und sowieso bleibt nichts davon

Like that and that / Anyway (**)
And anyway nothing of it stays

So und so
Und sowieso ist nichts davon

Like that and that / Anyway
And anyway nothing of it is

So und so
Glaub mir, nichts davon
Bist du

Like that and that / Anyway
Believe me, you’re nothing of that

So und so warst du schon immer – Genau so, nur kleiner
Im Alter wird so was nur schlimmer – Genau so, nur alleiner

You’ve always been like that and that – Exactly like that, just smaller
With age it’ll only get worse – Exactly like that, just lonelier

Wie gut, wenn man geliebt wird, wie man ist – So und so, und so allein!
So wie du warst, so wie du bist – Bist das du, musst du das sein?

How nice if you get loved as you are – Like that and that, and so lonely!
As you were, as you are – Is that you, do you have to be that?

[Refrain]

Dein Vater ist froh, weil er weiß, du bist so und so
Und Mutter ist froh, weil sie weiß, du bist so und so

Your father is happy because he knows you’re like that and that
Your mother is happy because she knows you’re like that and that

Dein Haustier ist froh, weil es weiß, du bist so und so,
Dein Lehrer ist froh, weil er weiß, du bist so und so

Your pet is happy because it knows you’re like that and that
Your teacher is happy because he knows you’re like that and that

Die Freunde sind froh, alles klar, du bist so und so
Auf Arbeit: alle froh, alles klar, du bist so und so

Your friends are happy, alright, you’re like that and that
At work: everyone’s happy, alright, you’re like that and that

Zuhause: alle froh, alles klar, du bist so und so
Und du gehst k.o, weil du weißt du bist so und so
du gehst k.o, weil du weißt du bist so und so

At home: everyone’s happy, alright, you’re like that and that
And you break down because you know you’re like that and that
You break down because you know you’re like that and that

Weil du weißt du bist so und so
Nichts davon

Because you know you’re like that and that / anyway
Nothing of it