22. "Seguidilla"

By the ramparts of Seville...

By the ramparts of Seville,
at my friend Lillas Pastia's place,
I'm going to dance the seguidilla and drink manzanilla.
I'm going to my friend Lillas Pastia's!

Yes, but all alone one gets bored,
and real pleasures are for two.
So, to keep me company,
I shall take my lover!
My lover... he's gone to the devil:
I showed him the door yesterday.

My poor heart, so consolable…
my heart is as free as the air.

I have suitors by the dozen,
but they are not to my liking.

Here we are at the week’s end;
who wants to love me?
I will love him.

Who wants my soul? It's for the taking!
You've come at the right moment!
I have hardly time to wait, for with my new lover...

By the ramparts of Seville,
at my friend Lillas Pastia's place,
I'm going to dance the seguidilla and drink manzanilla.
Yes, I'm going to my friend Lillas Pastia's!

Bizet’s Carmen is one of the most popular and familiar operas. When Bizet created Carmen, he broke operatic convention by celebrating proletarian and immoral ways of life. He also vividly brought to life the character of Carmen (almost a side note in the original story) as a complex, proud and spirited woman who strove at every turn to claim independence and agency in her life, love and friendships.

In the Seguidilla, one of three Spanish dancing songs Bizet composed for the opera, Carmen sings of the delights of a nearby tavern and the pleasures it offers – dancing, wine and the possibilities of (new) love.

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