A song against depopulation and horouring the resistance of small villages.
Xavi Sarrià and Auxili have recently released a new song called A ple pulmó (which translates to something like “on the top of our lungs”). They dedicate the song “to the small villages of great courages, to everyone fighting against depopulation and the abandonment around our [Valencian] geography”, especially the inhabitants of the Els Ports shire.
The video was shot at Herbers, a village with 50 inhabitants, and with participation of people from all around the shire. Currently, Els Ports has a population density of 6.7 inhabitants per km2, that’s even lower than the Artic lands of Sápmi! But even with the pressure to emigrate to more urban areas, its inhabinats are building tools of cooperation and resistance, and don’t plan on giving up their villages any time soon.
Here’s the lyrics in Valencian/Catalan and the translation to English:
Tocant el cel pobles penjats entre les roques
The hanging towns between the rocks touching the sky
muntanyes aspres, els paisatges que enyores
rough mountains, the landscapes that you miss
un país íntim de silencis i roselles
an intimate country of silences and poppies
gegants de pedra a l’hortitzó d’ales esteses
giants of stone in the horizon of spread wings
Als carrerons la gent del poble s’organitza
In the alleys the people from the town get organized
colze a colze, persitir és la divisa
elbow to elbow, to persist is the motto
besos i cànters, trobades i abraçades
kisses and pitchers, reunions and hugs
el desig de viure plens d’emoció a les cares
the desire to live full of emotion on our faces
I amb l’orgull del nostre tros de món
And with the pride of our piece of the world
fem volar la vida a ple pulmó
we make life fly on the top of its lungs
I cantem poemes i consignes
And we sing poems and chants
sota la lluna dels nostres orígens
under the moon of our origins
i ens emocionen les ganes de viure
and the desire to live moves us
quan cridem al vent que som irreductibles
and when we shout to the wind that we are irreducible
som petits pobles de grans coratges
we are small villages of great courages
tota la força recau en nosaltres
all the strenght falls on us
m’ho recordes tu mentre somrius
you remind me of it while you smile
amb la rebel·lia
and with the rebellion
de sentir-nos vius!
of feeling alive!]
Dormint al ras el teu cos cru entre les herbes
Sleeping under the stars and your raw body among the plants
romer i espígol, el matí a les parpelles
rosemary and lavender, the morning in our eyelids
cap a la plaça geranis i muixerangues
geraniums and muixerangues [traditional Valencian walking human towers done in local festivities] towards the square
itineraris d’un amor curtit pels segles
itineraries of a love hardened by the centuries
Toquen de tabals, ballen els nans entre les feres
The drums play, the dwarfs dance among the beasts [dwarfs and fire beasts are dances of the local festivities around the Catalan countries]
punys i pupil·les, nit i foc, danses guerreres
fists and pupils, night and fire, warrior dances
ressonen visques, lluites irreductibles
echo hurrahs, irreductible fights
l’afany de perviure de la terra que estimes
the ardent desire to survive of the land you love
I amb l’orgull del nostre tros món
And with the pride of our piece of the world
fem volar la vida a ple pulmó
we make life fly on the top of its lungs
[Repeat chorus]
I amb l’orgull del nostre tros de món
And with the pride of our piece of the world
i amb la rebel·lia de ser petits
and with the rebellion of being small
la llar encesa fent caliu al col·lectiu
the fireplace on giving warmth to the collective
que fa la festa perquè el poble sobreviu
that celebrates because the people/town survive
tronen els carrers, som la tempesta de l’estiu
the streets thunder, we are the summer storm
Fins aribar al cim
Until we reach the summit
fins aribar al cim
until we reach the summit
vam pintar de roig
we painted red
el cel dels Ports per resisitir
the sky over els Ports in order to resist
a contracorrent
against the tide
vam navegar rebels el riu
we were rebels sailing the river
per la nostra gent
for our people
per sentir-nos vius!
to feel alive!
