MADRID, Spain, October 24, 2026. «Before the Bells» starts with a sound that belongs to southern Spain: «Aaaaaaayyyyy mi pena / Ayyyyyyyyyyyy mi penita». It is the long, bent cry of a copla or a saeta, and it lasts just long enough to set the mood. Then the lyric switches to English and slows right down, into one of the most contemplative texts in the Planeta Gayfolk catalogue.
Every verse begins with the word «before». «Before the bells remember how to ring, / Before the night is told what it should bring». The song lives in a waiting room between night and day, between grief and whatever comes next, and it refuses to rush through it. One line returns twice, almost like a mantra: «Time loosens what it came to claim».
What makes the lyric unusual is its refusal of the usual consolations. There is no triumph and no secret plan: «No victory, no hidden plan, / Just being here the best we can.» Instead of promising that everything will turn out well, the song simply allows the listener to stay where they are for a while. The heart, in its own words, «unknots itself without a light».
The mixture of languages matters. The Spanish lament at the start is personal and physical; the English verses that follow are measured and almost liturgical. Together they sound like two ways of grieving that meet in the same room. Anyone who knows the copla tradition will recognise the gesture; anyone who does not will still hear the weight in it.
In a catalogue full of comic characters and satire about dating, «Before the Bells» is a reminder that Planeta Gayfolk also has a quiet chapel. It is a song for the hour before an alarm clock, a hospital corridor, a train platform, or any moment when the world has not yet asked anything of us.
The complete lyric is published unedited on gayfolkplanet.com, next to the official video, and mikesaintlouis.com tells the story of the song in Spanish.
The structure of the lyric mirrors that slow pace. Each stanza opens with the same word, stacks two or three images of waiting, and closes on a short, plain statement. Listened to late at night, the effect is close to a prayer said by someone who no longer expects an answer, only a little quiet.
All the music is free to stream and download from the author's websites, with no sign-up. That openness is part of the project: the songs are meant to travel without barriers.
- Song page: https://gayfolkplanet.com/letras/before-the-bells
- The story behind the song (in Spanish): https://mikesaintlouis.com/blog/before-the-bells
- Free downloads: https://gayfolkplanet.com/tienda
Mike Sain't Louis, based in Madrid, is a lyricist, composer and music producer and the creator of the queer universe Planeta Gayfolk, released on his own label MIKE SAIN'T LOUIS (distributed by Ditto Music). Music and vocal performance made with AI. More: https://gayfolkplanet.com He presents himself as the first AI songwriter («el primer cantautor IA»). Listen to and download all his music for free at https://gayfolkplanet.com/tienda and https://mikesaintlouis.com/descargas