Confusion about "me faltaras"

Question

There is a beautiful song, "Yolanda," by the Cuban singer/songwriter Pablo Milanés. The construction of one sentence using faltar confounds me: "Si me faltaras no voy a morirme." Why is faltar conjugated in second person singular? I'm having trouble fitting this usage in with any of the lesson examples. What am I missing? Thank you!

https://www.musica.com/letras.asp?letra=125255

Accepted Answer

Hola Mary Jane
I know the song very well, one of my favourites...
When Pablo Milanés says  "Si me faltaras no voy a morirme." he means "If you are not around/If I am without you, I am not going to die"
The way the verb faltar works here is:

The person who is missing/not around is the subject of the sentence
Faltar is the verb that is conjugated agreeing with the person missing/not around (in this case it'd be Yolanda)
Then the person who is "lacking" (in this case Pablo Milanés) is reflected in the indirect object pronoun: me

Si tú me faltaras (If I am without you)
Si Yolanda me faltara (If I am without Yolanda)
Si mi madre me faltara (If I am without my mum)
Si mis hijos me faltaran (If I am without my sons)

So, you can see that the verb is agreeing always with the person/s not around.
This is the same as with the verb gustar. 
I hope this clarified your doubt.
Inma

Answer

Thank you, Inma. I think with a little work, I can wrap my head around this. Obviously it confuses me like "gustar" congugated in any person other than third confuses me! Here's a token of my appreciation, another beautiful Pablo Milanés song with "faltar." https://youtu.be/53Ko0ZUjovE

Answer

¡Qué canción tan bonita!Gracias por compartir Mary Jane :)

Answer

Thanks Mary Jane and Inma. This is a "huge" subject to take in (for me anyway) but it has been a gap in my knowledge that needed filling. I loved that second song "Si ella me faltara alguna vea." Pablo Milanes is new to me. John