Esa canción antigua me da nostalgia, pero también un poco de paz.

Spanish demonstratives show distance, not just physically but sometimes emotionally or contextually.

• esta = this, near the speaker
• esa = that, near the listener or not especially close to the speaker
• aquella = that over there, farther away or more distant

So esa canción antigua means that old song. In many everyday situations, esa is the most natural equivalent of English that.

Because canción is a feminine singular noun.

That means the words describing it also have to be feminine singular:

• esa matches canción
• antigua matches canción

So:

• esa canción antigua = correct
• ese canción antiguo = incorrect

Even though a song is not biologically female, Spanish nouns still have grammatical gender, and adjectives and demonstratives must agree with that gender.

A lot of learners expect word endings to always predict gender, but they do not always do that reliably.

Canción is feminine because it is simply a feminine noun: la canción.

A useful clue is that many nouns ending in -ción are feminine:

• la canción
• la información
• la conversación
• la nación

So even though -ón often appears in masculine words, -ción words are usually feminine.

Yes, you could say esa antigua canción, but the meaning or emphasis changes slightly.

In Spanish, adjectives often come after the noun:

• esa canción antigua = that old song

This is the most neutral, descriptive order.

If you put the adjective before the noun:

• esa antigua canción

it can sound a little more literary, emotional, or stylistically marked. Sometimes the adjective before the noun feels less purely descriptive and more expressive.

So both are possible, but esa canción antigua is the most straightforward everyday version.

This is a very common Spanish pattern.

Literally, me da nostalgia means it gives me nostalgia. In natural English, that often becomes:

• it makes me feel nostalgic
• it gives me a sense of nostalgia

Spanish often uses dar for emotional or physical reactions:

• me da miedo = it frightens me / it gives me fear
• me da vergüenza = it embarrasses me / it gives me embarrassment
• me da alegría = it gives me joy
• me da nostalgia = it gives me nostalgia

Here, the subject is esa canción antigua, even though it is not repeated later in the sentence. The song is what gives the speaker nostalgia.

Me is an indirect object pronoun meaning to me.

So:

• me da nostalgia = it gives me nostalgia

Spanish usually places these short object pronouns before a conjugated verb:

• me da
• te da
• le da
• nos da

You would not normally say da me here.

Because nostalgia here is being used as an uncountable feeling or state, not as a specific item.

So me da nostalgia means:

• it gives me nostalgia
• it makes me feel nostalgic

If you said me da la nostalgia, it would sound different and much less natural in this context. It could suggest a more specific or known instance of nostalgia, which is not what this sentence is doing.

Spanish often leaves out the article with abstract feelings in expressions like this.

Pero means but, and también means also or too.

Together:

• pero también = but also

So the sentence contrasts two effects of the song:

• it gives me nostalgia,
• but also a little peace.

This structure is very common in Spanish.

Both are possible, but they mean slightly different things.

• me da paz = it gives me peace
• me da un poco de paz = it gives me a little peace

Adding un poco de softens the statement and makes it more specific. It suggests a small amount of peace, not a strong or complete feeling.

This is a very common structure:

• un poco de tiempo = a little time
• un poco de agua = a little water
• un poco de calma = a little calm
• un poco de paz = a little peace

Because un poco de is a fixed expression meaning a little bit of.

You should learn it as a chunk:

• un poco de + noun

Examples:

• un poco de café
• un poco de suerte
• un poco de silencio
• un poco de paz

Una poca paz is not the normal way to say this.

Because paz is being used in a general, abstract sense.

• un poco de paz = a little peace

You do not need the article when you mean peace in general. If you said de la paz, it would usually suggest a specific peace already identified in context, which is not the case here.

So the natural phrase is:

• un poco de paz

Because the sentence joins two parts with a contrast:

• Esa canción antigua me da nostalgia
• pero también un poco de paz

In Spanish, it is normal to use a comma before pero when it introduces a contrasting idea. It helps readability and reflects the pause in speech.

In standard peninsular Spanish, a rough pronunciation guide would be:

EH-sa kan-THYON an-TEE-gwa me da nos-tal-HYA, PE-ro tam-BYEN oom PO-ko de path

A few Spain-specific points:

• canción: the c before i sounds like th in much of Spain, so kan-THYON
• z in nostalgia is not present, but the gi sounds like a strong Spanish h sound: nos-tal-HYA
• paz is often pronounced path in Spain because z sounds like th

This will vary a bit by region, but that is a useful Spain-oriented model.