# Rambla de Barcelona



## MrBobby

Hi. This is my first post so my apologies if this is the wrong place.

My question concerns a Manu Chao song Rambla de Barcelona. Specifically the line that lyrics list as either "te mercé" or "le merce". Here's the context:

Rambla pa'qui Rambla pa'lla
Esa la Rumba de Barcelona

Te mercé Bibi Malena
Te mercé perro chaval
Te mercé la policia
Te mercé Abdu Lila

I can't find either listing in any spanish or french dictionaries. My guess is that it is Catalan since it is about Barcelona, but I couldn't find it any online catalan dictionaries either - i.e. diccionaris.net.
Any help would be much appreciated,
Dan


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## araceli

Moderator's note:
Moved to the Catalan forum.


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## Mei

Hola,

I found this. I know this song but I don't know what it means this "mercé"... He sings in differents languages so maybe it's French. 

Hope it helps, good luck!

Mei


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## MrBobby

Thanks for the link. I don't speak any Catalan so I could be wrong but I'm not sure what what the song would mean if "mercé"  meant that. I've looked in a few french dictionaries too with no luck.

Maybe it's just nonsense?


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## Samaruc

Hi MrBobby,

Manu Chao likes to use expressions and sentences from different languages in his songs, although he sings specially in French and Spanish (I don't remember hearing him singing anything in Catalan, but I can be wrong).

As for the song you are referring to, I'm affraid that the only words that could be in Catalan are "rambla = watercourse or avenue, famous avenue in Barcelona", "policia = police" and "mercè". Anyway, the two first words also exist in Spanish (well, the second one in Spanish should be "policía").

_Rambla pa'qui Rambla pa'lla_ -> Walking up and down the "Rambla"
It is Spanish slang, "pa'qui" means "para/hacia aquí" (towards here) and "pa'lla" means "para/hacia allá" (towards there)​
_Esa la Rumba de Barcelona_ -> This (is) the Rumba of Barcelona
"Rumba" is a kind of music.​_Te mercé Bibi Malena
Te mercé perro chaval
Te mercé la policia
Te mercé Abdu Lila_
I don't know what it means...
I can recognize some Spanish words: "perro" (dog), "chaval" (boy) and "la policía" (the police)
Also, "Bibi Malena" could be a woman's or a transvestite man's or a prostitute's name and "Abdu Lila" sounds like an Arabic name.
"Te mercé" is meaningless to me. "Mercè" could be Catalan, but it makes no sense... I don't really know where it comes from...
Maybe it simply reproduces the cultural mixture you can find in a place like the "Rambla" of Barcelona, where there are "different" people (Bibí Malena, Abdu Lila), some of them in an illegal situation (la policía), some of them homeless (perro), many of them very young (chaval)...​

Hope it helps.


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## Mei

Ep!

¿creieu que es refereix a la Mercè, patrona de Barcelona.

Barcelona té mercè= Barcelona té festa?

Mei


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## Laia

Mei said:


> Ep!
> 
> ¿creieu que es refereix a la Mercè, patrona de Barcelona.
> 
> Barcelona té mercè= Barcelona té festa?
> 
> Mei


 
mmm...  
Jo crec que no, que no té res a veure.


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## Mei

Laia said:


> mmm...
> Jo crec que no, que no té res a veure.



.... seguiré pensant... 

Mei


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## susanb

Rambla pa'qui Rambla pa'lla (colloquial Castilian)
Esa [es] la Rumba de Barcelona (Castilian)

Te mercé Bibi Malena
Te mercé perro chaval
Te mercé la policia
Te mercé Abdu Lila

I can't find either listing in any spanish or french dictionaries. My guess is that it is Catalan since it is about Barcelona, but I couldn't find it any online catalan dictionaries either - i.e. diccionaris.net.
Any help would be much appreciated,
Dan[/quote]
I don't think this last bit is either Catalan or Castilian.


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## MrBobby

Would it be against the board's fair use clause for me to upload a sample of the line above? It's quite possible that the transliteration of the song is wrong, and as a non-native with bad hearing I can't confirm it precisely.


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## Sangriabuena

ok I used to live in Barcelona, in plaza de Mercé or close to it, it's a square close to the ramblas.


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## AlexBarca

Merce, as I know, is the female saint of Barcelona. There is a story about her, although I don't know it very well. It is better to hear it from an original Catalan (I am Catalan only by heart). Once a year, every year, there is a big celebration in Barcelona, the celebration of Merce, in which the Catalans celebrate for the saint and the city. And a big music festival takes place during the celebration, with bands of the independent music, not the ones that sell millions of discs. I would like to be in Barcelona when the next Merce fest takes place


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## Sangriabuena

Well Alex it's only a few days til the annual merce fest isn't it? at the end of september if I remember correctly.


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## Mei

Sangriabuena said:


> Well Alex it's only a few days til the annual merce fest isn't it? at the end of september if I remember correctly.



Yes! I'm so nervous!!! Yay! 

Mei


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## Sangriabuena

I should go as well


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## betulina

AlexBarca said:


> there is a big celebration in Barcelona, the celebration of Merce, in which the Catalans celebrate for the saint and the city.



Well, to be fair, it's not "the Catalans" who celebrate it, as it's only in Barcelona. In Tarragona, for example, they celebrate "Santa Tecla" the day before, which is the patron saint of the city. So it's only in the city of Barcelona, although it's true that it's a nice and big celebration.


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## pekinducks

Te mercé means thank you in Provençal... my guess is that it may still sometimes be used in Catalan. . . Note it's close resemblance to the modern French word "merci".


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## chics

La cançó barreja castellà i francès. "Le merce" és masculí, per a la Mercè, però la gramàtica de les cançons del Manu Chaomai no ha estat gaire... diguem normativa. Jo pensava que ho deia en el significat de gràcies, però en ell em sembla una mica extrany que agraeixi també al policia...
le merce mademoiselle até ponte de avignon 
le merce o bixo bahia, le merce escudellers 
le merce bibi malena, le merce perro chaval 
le merce la policia, le merce abdu lila 
Jo penso que simplement evoca les coses que hi associa, les que veu, per on passa. I sí, potser considera "merce" una manera de referir-se a Barcelona. Recordeu que és el mateix autor de, per exemple, _Me gustas tu_:
(...)
Que horas son, mi corazón
Me gusta la canela, me gustas tu...

_Mercè_ is _thank you_ also in catalan, in French it's _merci_ (a word that we can use also in Catalan). _Gràcies_ (grace) and _mercès_ (mercy) were gifts or privileges that kings could give to a person that had help him in any way. Grace is also more associated a God. Some latin languages had taken the root/word _grace_ for telling thank you, and others _mercy_.

In Barcelona there isn't any _rambla de Barcelona_. We assume that it refers to that we tell "las Ramblas" (in fact, they are la rambla de les flors, dels caputxins, etc.). There are other ramblas (= boulevards) in the city: la rambla de catalunya, etc.


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## desaparecida

I can only help a bit here, but I believe when he says "De merce" it is like, "Have mercy" in English.

Also, the last part of the original post there is "De merce, hamdulillah".  Hamdulillah in Arabic is like, "Thank God."  Muslims say this a lot.. someone will ask, "How are you?" and they say, "Fine, hamdulillah."  Large Arab/Muslim influence in that part of Spain... that song reminds me of Manu just singing about his city.  

Calle d'Escudellers is his street in Barcelona, his neighborhood, and he mentions it in a lot of his songs.  For this I think he is naming things unique to Barcelona or to his neighborhood.   It's beautiful.. one of my favorite Manu songs.


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## Blass80

Well, Im no expert but I used to live in BCN for a few years..
My opinion;'

rambla here, rambla there (as in where ever you look you see the street la Rambla, probably running around and socializing with people in la Rambla or in whatever streets, las ramblas means the streets "of a specific type; two parallel street with an alley in the middle, often with trees.)
This is the way to (do) Rumba "dance" in Barcelona "visualizing the action of someone showing how to "Rumba""

In my mind, as the way I choose to interpret
La Mercé = The festival; te mercé "I thank you"
I choose to interpret it as in he appreciating the different people you meet in the streets in Barcelona, well and a young "street dog".. or a condescending way to speak about some young thugs/thieves..


te merce Bibi malena, (Just a name of some girl, actually 2 girl names Bibi is a common nickname, he might know her well in person)

te Merce Perro Chaval, (young day drifting street dog, BCN have quite a few of them.. both stated types.. )

te merce la policia, (gratitude to the police; either as a genuine thanks of them being out there in the streets doing the job, or as (I believe) a sarcastic thanks as in the police knows a lot of criminal activities happens in la Rambla, or in that area, but they just look the other way... well it will be hard to get the "puta ladrons" off la Rambla.. they doing a decent job I guess..

te merce Abdu Lila, I have no clue.. I thought of an Arabic name, but as mentioned it could be "Hamdulillah" Thank God! I may be possible Manu don't know how to spell/pronounce it 

te merce Madmuasel até ponte de Avignon, (french mix "Mademoiselle"; Thanks to the lady in the spot of "the street" D'avignon, maybe a monument of some sort in this street?)

te merce o bixo bahia, le merce Escudellers, (Thanks to the “ bay of bugs” ("bicho") or street language "bay of hookers/trash", which would imply where they hang out at night. thanks to the street Escudellers (one of the worst, dirtiest, steets in Barcelona, it's a fun street though  The hookers and thieves drift around here at nights and the streets crosses with each other. Manu or "Jose-Manuel" ´s local pub in BCN is in the crossing "Carrer Escudellers con Carrer D'Avinyó"


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## collons

Mercè, note that it is singular, in Catalan means grace.

So, "té mercè" means "he/she has grace".

Edited: "mercès", in plural, means "thank you". Just like the more common "gràcies".


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## Mmart

Maybe:
http://lyricstranslate.com/en/rumba-de-barcelona-rumba-barcelona.html

Not thankyou but at the mercy of.


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## collons

at the ~ of the elements a merced de los elementos;
(before n) ‹mission/flight› (journ) de ayuda or socorro

This meaning has no sense in that song.


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## ACQM

I think no meaning has sense in that song. I don't think Manu Chau can speak any catalan! Just using some words.


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