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There's this famous Spanish song called "El Talisman", by Rosana.

The lyrics start with:

El talismán de tu piel me ha dicho
Que soy la reina de tus caprichos
Yo soy el as de los corazones
Que se pasean en tus tentaciones
El talismán de tu piel me cuenta
Que en tu montura caerán las riendas

I can't figure out what "talismán de tu piel" means in this context. The literal translation - "talisman of your skin" - is not very enlightening.

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    Since talismán is some object with some magical powers, I assume it is a poetic way to say "your dear skin", that is, "you" in a probable erotic sense.
    – fedorqui
    Feb 9, 2019 at 15:03

2 Answers 2

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In this case, el talismán de tu piel might be translated as the talisman that your skin is or even your talisman skin, meaning your skin, which is a talisman, has told me.... Of course, here it has a poetic sense, but you can use this construction even in quite vulgar contexts:

El idiota de mi hermano me ha roto el ordenador --> My idiot brother (my brother, who is an idiot,) broke my computer

Be aware that, in this construction, the second noun must have a modifier (an article or a posesive, usually). Talismán de piel, as the question says, would mean skin talisman (i.e. a talisman made of skin), which is quite different.

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A talisman (or talismán) is something that gives me good luck or special protection. In a literal way a lock of hair could be used as a talisman. Here, we are not going to hold onto a piece of skin the way we might hold onto a lock of hair, but in poetry we are allowed to be a little bit less technically correct. I think the poet is using "talisman" as a less tangible thing -- more of a concept -- than one usually does.

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