Let it be . . .

I've mentioned before how I enjoy listening to music in Spanish.
It's a great way of picking up new vocabulary, while giving you a good excuse to watch Shakira videos ;¬)

How great, then, when a particular song perfectly illustrates a concept you've been learning in class!

Everyone has the pain of getting to grips with the Spanish subjunctive mood.
It's not so much the conjugation, as knowing when to use it, and when not to use it.

You might have used it, for instance, a couple of weeks ago, on New Year's Eve.
When you wish for things for the New Year, in Spanish, you would invariably use the Subjunctive.
For example '(I hope) that I get a new job', '(I wish) that there were no more wars' would demand the subjunctive, as 'espero que' and other verbs of desire, or wishing, do.

The reason I put 'I hope' and 'I wish' in brackets is that they are commonly not actually spoken in Spanish, but implied.
So 'Que tengas una buena semana' literally means 'That you have a good week', but implies 'I HOPE that you have a good week'

This is a very common construction, but actually has two uses.
One, as mentioned, is to imply a wish.
The other is a way of saying 'Let . . . .'
So 'Que lo pase' isn't 'That it happens' but 'LET it  happen' and
'Que yo hable' isn't 'That I speak' but 'LET me speak'

What does this have to do with Shakira?
Watch her video at http://www.musica.com/video.asp?video=1727, and read along with the lyrics.

You'll see that both forms are used in the song.
So, we have 'Que se arruinen los canales de noticias'
'LET them ruin all the TV news channels'
AND
'Pero que me quedes tu
Y me quede tu abrazo'
'But so long as I keep you and your embrace' - it doesn't exactly use the word 'wish', but the sentiment is there.

Anyhow, it's a great song, interesting too, as virtually every verb is conjugated in the subjunctive.
But there's even more to it, as many of the sentences are also written in what is know as the 'Passive Voice'
This means that things become rather complicated when you try to identify the Subject and Object, grammatically speaking.

For example, looking again at
'Que se arruinen los canales de noticias' you might think that the verb is reflexive, and that 'se arruinen' means 'let them ruin themselves', in which case 'los canales' become both Subject and Object, but you would be wrong.

 It actually means 'Let the news channels be (or get) ruined', and doesn't actually specify by who.
See how many more examples you can spot in the lyrics.

¡Que lo disfrutes!