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“El Oso” is a famous song by the Argentine musician Moris. Released back in 1970, it’s a big part of the Argentine rock scene. You can check out this version here:
The song tells the story of a bear that gets caught and taken to a circus but dreams of going back to its forest home. It’s all about freedom, nostalgia, and wanting to reconnect with where you come from.
I’ve picked this song mainly to help my students get the hang of the pasado simple (simple past) and pasado imperfecto (imperfect past). The song uses both tenses, providing great examples and context.
After each stanza, I’ve added an English translation to highlight the difference between both tenses. The pasado simple is marked in blue, and the pasado imperfecto is in red. You can also listen to the lyrics.
Of course, we’ll continue to explore these two tenses in our lessons. Meanwhile, here are two quick links to help you grasp them instantly:
And, of course, this post aims not only to explain the difference between these two tenses but also to help you expand your vocabulary, improve your listening skills, and much more!
EL OSO
Yo vivía en el bosque1, muy contento2.
Caminaba, caminaba, sin cesar3.
Las mañanas y las tardes eran mías4.
A la noche me tiraba5 a descansar6.
I used to live in the forest, very happy.
I would walk, walk, endlessly.
The mornings and evenings used to be mine.
At night I would lay down to rest.
Pero un día vino el hombre con sus jaulas7.
Me encerró8 y me llevó a la ciudad.
En el circo me enseñaron las piruetas
y yo así perdí mi amada9 libertad10.
But one day a man came with his cages.
He locked me up and took me to the city.
In the circus, they taught me tricks
and thus I lost my beloved freedom.
“Conformate11”, me decía un tigre12 viejo.
“Nunca el techo13 y la comida han de faltar14.
Sólo exigen15 que hagamos las piruetas
y a los hijos podamos alegrar16”.
“Be content,” an old tiger used to say to me.
“We’ll never lack a roof or food.
They only require us to do tricks
and entertain the children.”
Han pasado cuatro años de esta vida.
Con el circo recorrí17 el mundo así.
Pero nunca pude olvidarme18 de todo:
de mis bosques, de mis tardes, ni de mí.
Four years of this life have passed.
With the circus, I traveled the world like this.
But I could never forget everything:
my forests, my evenings, nor myself.
En un pueblito alejado19,
alguien no cerró el candado20.
Era una noche sin luna
y yo dejé la ciudad.
In a distant little town,
someone didn’t lock the cage.
It was a moonless night
as I left the city.
Ahora piso21 yo el suelo22 de mi bosque.
Otra vez23 el verde de la libertad.
Estoy viejo, pero las tardes son mías.
¡Vuelvo24 al bosque, estoy contento de verdad25!
Now I walk on the ground of my forest.
Once again, the green of freedom.
I am old, but the evenings are mine.
I’m back in the forest, truly happy!
_____________________________________
I’ve selected 25 expressions from the song that you might not be familiar with or could find useful to review. Let’s explore them together!
- BOSQUE: FOREST ↩︎
- CONTENTO: HAPPY, GLAD ↩︎
- SIN CESAR: ENDLESSLY ↩︎
- MÍO: MINE ↩︎
- TIRARSE: TO LAY DOWN ↩︎
- DESCANSAR: TO REST ↩︎
- JAULA: CAGE ↩︎
- ENCERRAR: TO LOCK UP ↩︎
- AMADO: BELOVED, DEAR ↩︎
- LIBERTAD: LIBERTY, FREEDOM ↩︎
- CONFORMARSE: TO BE SATISFIED ↩︎
- TIGRE: TIGER ↩︎
- TECHO: ROOF, CEILING ↩︎
- FALTAR: TO LACK ↩︎
- EXIGIR: TO DEMAND ↩︎
- ALEGRAR: TO CHEER UP ↩︎
- RECORRER: TO TOUR, TO TRAVEL ↩︎
- OLVIDAR/OLVIDARSE: TO FORGET ↩︎
- ALEJADO: DISTANT ↩︎
- CANDADO: PADLOCK ↩︎
- PISAR: TO STEP ON ↩︎
- SUELO: GROUND ↩︎
- OTRA VEZ: ONCE AGAIN ↩︎
- VOLVER: TO COME BACK ↩︎
- DE VERDAD: TRULY ↩︎
And now, let’s play this game so you learn these expressions in a snap!
