El fin y el medio / The end and the means

By cmd1122
Un refugiado es un refugiado,
un niño es un niño
y el miedo es el miedo.
Destierro es destierro
y una hipocresía es una hipocresía.		A refugee is a refugee,
a child is a child,
and fear is fear.
Exile is exile,
and hypocrisy is hypocrisy.
No hay signo, no hay bando,
no hay ideología ni misterio.
No hay un solo fin
que justifique cualquier medio.		There is no sign, no side,
no ideology, no mystery.
There is not a single end
that justifies any means.
Un daño es un daño
del verbo dañar.
Todos los daños
son daños centrales.
Un niño es un niño,
no existen los daños colaterales.		A harm is a harm
from the verb “to harm.”
All harms
are central harms.
A child is a child,
collateral damages don’t exist.
No hay meta, no hay causa,
ningún motivo, ningún premio.
No hay un solo fin
que justifique cualquier medio.		There is no goal, no cause,
no motive, no prize.
There is not a single end
that justifies any means.
El fin es un punto
por siempre distante,
una cambiante ficción.
Un ciclón a merced de una hoja,
una paradoja como la de Zenón,
donde algo parece
que se va acercando
y siempre se escapa,
siempre se esconde,
siempre a la misma exacta distancia
de un mismo horizonte.		The end is a point
forever distant,
a shifting fiction.
A cyclone at the mercy of a leaf,
a paradox like that of Zeno,
where something seems
to be approaching
and always escapes,
always hides,
always at the exact same distance
from the same horizon.
El dedo que aprieta el gatillo
debería saber esto:
No hay “tuyos” ni “suyos” ni “míos”,
si son niños son nuestros.
(Todos los niños son nuestros).		The finger that pulls the trigger
should know this:
There is no “yours”, nor “theirs”, nor “mine”,
if they are children, they are ours.
(All children are ours).
Ni patria, ni credo hay,
ni diferencias de criterio.		There is no country, no creed,
nor differences of opinion.
No hay un solo fin
que justifique cualquier medio.		There is not a single end
that justifies any means.
No hay un solo fin
que justifique cualquier medio.		There is not a single end
that justifies any means.
No hay un solo fin
que justifique cualquier medio.		There is not a single end
that justifies any means.
No hay un solo fin
que justifique cualquier medio.		There is not a single end
that justifies any means.

This is my translation of the new song “El fin y el medio” (“The end and the means”) by Uruguayan singer songwriter Jorge Drexler, one of the most respected singer songwriters in the Hispanic World.

It seems fitting to share this song for the International Day of Peace, created by the United Nations in 1981 to be celebrated on September 21. Two decades after the day was adopted by the UN, in 2001, the General Assembly unanimously voted to designate the day as a period of non-violence and cease-fire. (Would this vote have had the same success in 2025?)

If only this wish would be respected by those controlling the arms and giving orders to those holding the weapons. If only the fighting that is raging in so many places around the world would pause, at least for today. If only no innocent child were harmed today. If only…

The artists on the track are:
Jorge Drexler: voice and guitar
Facu Balta: keys
Tadu Vázquez: programming
Nasrine Rahmani: flamenco percussion
Borja Barrueta: table percussion


(Image: Europa Press)

Gracias, Jorge, por compartir tanta humanidad en sus canciones.
Thank you, Jorge, for sharing so much humanity in your songs.

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