We don’t talk about Bruno, no, no, no! We don’t talk about Bruno… but
The more I play this song in my head, the more impressed I am with the rhyme schemes.
It was my weddingday It was our weddingday We were getting ready, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky No clouds allowed in the sky
Bruno walks inwith a mischievous grin- Thunder!! You telling this story,oramI? I’m sorry, mi vida, go on
Bruno says, “Itlookslikerain” Why did he tell us? In doing so, he floodsmybrain Abuela, get the umbrellas Married in a hurricane What a joyous day… but anyway
We don’t talk about Bruno, no, no, no! We don’t talk about Bruno!
Pepa and Felix, aside from interrupting one another (Pepa’s side-eye!), get some nice internal and partial rhymes in: ‘wedding-getting-ready’, ‘clouds-allowed’. I love the that ‘umbrellas’ is rhymed with ‘he tell us’, and partly echoed in ‘Abuela’, and the sort of echo between ‘married’ and ‘hurricane’, while ‘looks like rain’ and ‘floods my brain’ plays on sound, rhyme and the watery imagery.
Hey!Grew to live in fearofBrunostutteringorstumbling I could always hearhim sort of mutteringandmumbling I associate him with the sound of falling sand, ch-ch-ch It’s a heavy lift, with a giftsohumbling AlwaysleftAbuela and the familyfumbling Grappling with prophecies they couldn’t understand Do you understand?
This bit of Dolores’ is wonderfully complex. ‘Fear-stuttering-stumbling’ and ‘hear-muttering-mumbling’ has rhyme and alliteration across and within lines. I also think ‘fear/hear’ is also dimly echoed by the ‘-ering’ in ‘stuttering/muttering’ because then a similar pattern is repeated with ‘lift-gift-humbling’ and ‘left-family-fumbling’. There’s some great assonance with ‘associate-sound-sand’, and then some partial alliteration with ‘grappling-prophecies’.
A seven-foot frame Rats along his back When he calls your name Itall fades to black Yeah, he sees your dreams And feastson your screams (hey!)
I’ve highlighted the stressed vowels in Camilo’s part. English spelling obscures some of the phonological patterns, but using a rough phonetic transcription, it’s perhaps easier to see the same vowels pop up over and over, with the high front vowel /i/ in ‘sees-dreams-feasts-screams’ building some tension at the end.
ɛ-ʊ-eɪ
a-ɔ-a
ɔ-ɔ-eɪ
ɔ-eɪ-a
i-ɔ-i
i-ɔ-i
We don’t talk about Bruno, no, no, no! (We don’t talk about Bruno, no, no, no!) We don’t talk about Bruno (we don’t talk about Bruno!)
He told me my fish would die The next day: dead! (No, no!) He told me I’d grow a gut! And just like he said… (no, no!) He said that all my hair would disappear, now look at my head (no, no! Hey!) Your fate is sealed when your prophecy is read!
Not much to say about the bit above - maybe that’s why Lin-Manuel Miranda gave it to the townsfolk!
He told me that the life of my dreams would be promised, and someday be mine He told me that my power would grow, like the grapes that thrive on the vine Óye, Mariano’s on his way
He told methat the man of my dreams would be just out of reach Betrothed to another It’s like I hear him now Hey sis, I wantnot a sound out of you (it’s like I can hear him now) I can hear him now
These two bits contrast with one another in the music itself, and mirror each other in the language. It’s neat that for Isabela’s line with ‘me-dreams-promised-someday’, the syllable with /m/ and/or /i/ is sung on a higher note that the surrounding syllables, while in the corresponding line for Dolores’ part ‘me-man-dreams-reach’, the /m/ and/or /i/ is generally on a lower note than the surrounding syllables. Then there is also some alliteration ‘grow-grapes’ and even ‘thrive-vine’, ‘betrothed-another’ and ‘want-not-sound’.
Rhyme scheme nerdfest over … for now. That’s what you get for talking about Bruno!
What if there existed no other language on earth except something deeply symbolic: a handshake, a hug, a kiss. The sheer capacity of the human body to express by itself, be it through the eyes or by the hands is simply amazing. A touch could be more healing than any other medicine discovered till date. And don’t ask me what wonders those lips could do if they were to just widen a bit with a hearty smile, enough to bring all the heavenly bliss. Get your body involved, tongue is not the crown of expression, it’s merely a medium resorted in the last phase. Otherwise, your entire being is more than enough to express beautifully by itself - this body, in which you reside, is the perfect symbolic epitome of what your soul is truly made of…
