Single 2 of 8
The World Plays Here
Larry Hans
RIGHT-HERE
Single 2 of 8
Larry Hans
RIGHT-HERE
The commission
Zarza Radio broadcasts in eight languages and commissioned one track for each. The point was not to do the minimum, but to do everything with excellence: that is why these are eight songs that stand on their own, with the same production and the same mastering as anything else this artist has signed. Zarza Radio.
The title is an untranslatable pun: «play» is what a radio does (play music) and what people do (play, have fun). It says «the world sounds here» and «the world comes here to have fun» in the same three words. Double rhyme: she rhymes in -own/-on and the radio in -ere/-ear. The shame becomes «this hit is my confession» — in English a confession sells better.
The lyrics stay in the language of the track and are not translated: they are the work.
(She left and she never called)
caught a one-way flight to somewhere still unknown;
changed her country and her language, left my voice alone,
deleted every photo... and she blocked my phone!
Says she doesn't hear me now, says the story's gone;
says it all was oh-so-good... but she's moving on...
turned the radio to French... guess who sings in French? C'mon;
switched it off, switched it on... and my voice kept on.
Bad idea running to a world where I'm the one:
zarza dot com — the world plays here.
And where does the world dance? (RIGHT HERE!)
And where does she dance? (RIGHT HERE!)
And where does the world play? (RIGHT-HERE!)
RIGHT-HERE... RIGHT-HERE... ZARZA RADIO!
RIGHT-HERE... RIGHT-HERE... The world plays here!
(DeeJay, DJ, DeeJay!)
Morning breaks in Tokyo and she can't sleep, it's clear,
flips the radio to Japanese... and hears me smile ear to ear;
down in Rio, hits the beach to make me disappear,
and the whole beach starts to sing it: "the world plays here!"
In Berlin she asks the DJ for a song she needs to hear,
and he drops the very one she tried to ban last year; (DeeJay, DJ, DeeJay!)
eight new languages she learned so she would never hear:
zarza dot com — the world plays here.
THE WORLD PLAYS HERE! (where at?)
THE WORLD PLAYS HERE! (right here!)
Eight languages, loud and clear,
Zarza Radio: the world plays here.
I never went to look for her: the radio ran the show,
any station she turns on, I'm the only voice they know;
she called me after midnight — sorry, had to let it go:
I was live across the planet... the planet where we met, you know.
She traded me for the whole wide world... and the world said "run the show";
this hit is my confession: wherever she goes, it goes.
I don't mourn her, I celebrate — even heartbreak caught the glow:
for the kisses that I gave her... and the ones she'll never know.
(What's she like?)
INTERNATIONAL! (who?)
INTERNATIONAL! (her!)
Out there dining with them all, my dear:
where Zarza Radio's playing... my Ex…
("she don't remember me"… ha!)
And if you're hearing this right now... in Tokyo or Paris,
easy... it's not for you... (well... it is).
You wanted a world without me... and the world said no:
in all eight of your new languages... I'm the show...
(me... me... here...)
(DeeJay, DJ, DeeJay!)
Oh-oh-oh-oh! (Zarza!)
Oh-oh-oh-oh! (Radio!)
Oh-oh-oh-oh! (the whole wide world!)
(DeeJay, DJ, DeeJay!)
Hola! Hello! Bonjour! Olá!
Ciao! Hallo! Konnichiwa! Marhaba!
(that's how you say "hello"... everywhere you're gonna hear me)
And where does the world dance? (RIGHT HERE!)
And where does she dance? (RIGHT HERE!)
And where does the world play? (RIGHT-HERE!)
(she was always the most beautiful...)
RIGHT-HERE... RIGHT-HERE... ZARZA RADIO!
RIGHT-HERE... RIGHT-HERE... The world plays here!
THE WORLD PLAYS HERE! (where at?)
THE WORLD PLAYS HERE! (right here!)
INTERNATIONAL! (her!)
Zarza Radio: the world plays here.
Last call of the night,
Zarza Radio booth,
she said: "I'm calling from Paris...
could you play that song... by the one who won't forget me,
the one who sings in eight languages?"
I knew her from the very first word...
And you know what I did? (Play, Play, Play)
I hit play!
This one's dedicated, my love:
zarza dot com...
the world plays here!
(and you... always knew)
Written, performed and produced by Larry Hans
Take it with you
A page to print: the full lyrics on bone paper, in this track’s colours, with the author’s signature.
Download the sheetThe things people ask most about this page. If something is missing, write to the address in the footer.
Because “play” does two jobs at once and neither is lost: it is what a radio does (play music) and what people do (play, have fun). The title says “the world sounds here” and “the world comes here to enjoy itself” in the same three words. That pun does not exist in Spanish, which is why the English version is not a translation.
With a double, split rhyme: she rhymes in -own/-on (phone, alone, gone, on) and the radio in -ere/-ear (here, clear, ear). The two characters have their own sound, and the ear tells them apart without anyone explaining it.
It becomes “this hit is my confession”. In English a confession sells better than shame, and the line keeps its force without sounding like an apology. It is an example of what changes when you write in a language rather than into it.
It becomes “she blocked my phone”, which is how people actually say it. The whole lyric uses the real vocabulary of a contemporary break-up, not the dictionary one.
Yes. All eight tracks were released on the same day as eight singles, each with its own cover art, UPC and ISRC. This one carries UPC 701486121141.
Larry Hans, the same artist on all eight tracks. There are no guest voices and no other performers: that was exactly the idea of the project — one voice singing to the world in eight languages.
I don't know your name or where you live, but the map says you were here. Thank you for putting this music on in your house, in your car or in your headphones, at whatever hour it was — every flag below is someone who stopped by to say hello.
Statements