Song Meaning
The lyrics paint a picture of urban isolation, beginning with a mundane 7 AM bus ride where the narrator feels utterly alone amidst the repetitive motions of others. The initial lines, "Subís, bajás, bajás, subís / Salís, entrás, entrás, salís," establish a sense of cyclical, almost robotic movement, highlighting the narrator's detachment from this flow. This feeling culminates in the stark declaration, "Y yo me sentí solo en el San Martín," grounding the abstract loneliness in a specific, yet unnamed, location.
The core of the song seems to revolve around a disillusionment with conventional forms of expression and escape. The repeated refrain, "Eran solo cuadros colgados," suggests a superficiality, a lack of genuine substance or emotional depth in what is presented. This is amplified by the dismissal of popular music genres: "No me hablen ni de tango ni de rock." The narrator appears to be searching for something more profound than these established artistic outlets, finding them wanting.
The imagery of "cotorras vestidas de tigres" and the "filarmónica un charango más" further emphasizes this critique of artifice. Birds dressed as tigers and a symphony orchestra reduced to a simple folk instrument imply that even grander artistic endeavors are perceived as mere costumes or diminished versions of their potential. The question, "¿Y después del guitarrazo qué?" followed by the cynical "Caer más simpático en SADAIC," points to a weariness with the performance and bureaucracy of the art world, suggesting that true impact or meaning is elusive.
Ultimately, the lyrics convey a profound sense of alienation and a yearning for authentic experience in a world that feels increasingly artificial and performative. The repeated, almost mantra-like, "Eran solo cuadros colgados / No era tango, ni era rock," solidifies the narrator's rejection of superficial artistic forms and their search for a deeper, perhaps unnamable, truth or feeling, hinted at by the final, stark image of "Una luz de almacén!"
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