Sting - They Dance Alone Lyrics
Lyrics Translation
"They Dance Alone (Cueca Solo)" is a protest song by Sting, released in 1987 as part of his album "...Nothing Like the Sun." The song is a tribute to the Chilean women who danced the Cueca, the national dance of Chile, alone, holding photographs of their disappeared loved ones during the Pinochet dictatorship.
Song lyrics
Why are there women here dancing on their own?
Why is there this sadness in their eyes?
Why are the soldiers here, their faces fixed like stone?
I can't see what it is that they despise
They're dancing with the missing
They're dancing with the dead
They dance with the invisible ones
Their anguish is unsaid
They're dancing with their fathers
They're dancing with their sons
They're dancing with their husbands
They dance alone... they dance alone
It's the only form of protest they're allowed
I've seen their silent faces scream so loud
If they were to speak these words, they'd go missing too
Another woman on a torture table... what else can they do?
They're dancing with the missing
They're dancing with the dead
They dance with the invisible ones
Their anguish is unsaid
They're dancing with their fathers
They're dancing with their sons
They're dancing with their husbands
They dance alone... they dance alone
One day we'll dance on their graves
One day we'll sing our freedom
One day we'll laugh in our joy
And we'll dance
One day we'll dance on their graves
One day we'll sing our freedom
One day we'll laugh in our joy
And we'll dance
[Rubén Blades:]
Ellas danzan con los desaparecidos
Danzan con los muertos
Danzan con amores invisibles
Con silenciosa angustia, danzan con sus padres
Con sus hijos, danzan con sus esposos
Ellas danzan solas, danzan solas
Hey Mr. Pinochet
You've sown a bitter crop
It's foreign money that supports you
One day the money's going to stop
No wages for your torturers
No budget for your guns
Can you think of your own mother
Dancing with her invisible son
They're dancing with the missing
They're dancing with the dead
They dance with the invisible ones
Their anguish is unsaid
They're dancing with their fathers
They're dancing with their sons
They're dancing with their husbands
They dance alone... they dance alone
One day we'll dance on their graves
One day we'll sing our freedom
One day we'll laugh in our joy
And we'll dance
One day we'll dance on their graves
One day we'll sing our freedom
One day we'll laugh in our joy
And we'll dance
And we'll dance
And we'll dance