Octavo Día Lyrics in English by Shakira
Perdición is a powerful word that translates to "perdition," "ruin," or "damnation." It's a dramatic, almost biblical term that carries much more weight than a simple word like "fin" (end).
In this song's unique story, Shakira imagines God becoming disillusioned and abandoning humanity. She sings, "Sería nuestra perdición" (It would be our ruin), to describe the dire consequences of this departure. Using such a strong, theological word to explore a modern social critique makes it a fascinating and memorable part of the lyrics.
Shakira imagines what happened right after the world was made, and her take is hilarious and sharp. According to the lyrics, after working hard to build the universe, God took a well-deserved vacation on the eighth day ("El octavo día") to float through outer space. But when he came back, humanity had turned the planet into an "infiernal mess" ("un desorden infernal"). Instead of ruling over creation, God ends up wandering the streets completely unemployed ("un desempleado más"), just looking for a regular person to have a quiet chat with.
The song takes direct aim at power and celebrity culture. Shakira points out that a powerful few move ordinary people around like "chess pieces" ("fichas de ajedrez"). Because God is not a model, a movie star, or royalty ("no es modelo ni artista o de familia real"), society ignores him. She jokes that if God ever gave up on us out of sheer loneliness, we would end up worshipping people from pop culture and politics instead: "Michael Jackson, Bill Clinton, or Tarzan." It is a clever, biting pop track about who we choose to follow when we lose our sense of direction.
