Spanish songs translated to English with side-by-side lyrics and notes for Spanish learners
“Inevitable”
Album: ¿Dónde Están Los Ladrones? (Where Are The Thieves?), 1998
Style: Rock, confessions love song.
Country: Colombia
Listen: YouTube
Si es cuestión de confesar,
No sé preparar café
Y no entiendo de fútbol.
If it’s a matter of confessing,
I don’t know how to prepare coffee
And I don’t understand soccer.
“Smells of Sadness” Lyrics Translation
Album: Luna (Moon), 2003
Style: Slow rock, Latin rock. Melancholy song about missing a lover and not knowing where they are.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube
Sólo huele a tristeza,
Huele a soledad.
En mis ojos perdidos
Sólo hay humedad.
It smells only of sadness,
It smells of loneliness.
In my lost eyes
There is only moisture (lit. humidity).
“Pay Attention”, alt. “Look Closely”
Album: Fíjate Bien, 2000
Style: Pop/rock, anti-war song raising awareness to the conflict in Colombia. It won Best Rock Song at the 2001 Latin Grammy Awards.
Country: Colombia
Listen: YouTube
Te han quitado lo que tienes,
Te han robado el pan del día,
Te han sacado de tus tierras
Y no parece que termina aquí.
They have taken away what you have,
They have stolen your daily bread,
They have taken you out of your lands
And it doesn’t look like it stops here.
“Enchantress”
Album: Sueños Liquidos (Liquid Dreams), 1997
Style: Psychedelic rock about a beautiful enchantress who seduces but is out of reach.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube
Hay una mujer hermosa,
La más primorosa,
De ojitos negros,
De piel gitana.
There is a gorgeous woman,
The most exquisite,
Of (darling) black eyes,
Of gypsy skin.
“Anthology”
Album: Pies Descalzos, Sueños Blancos (Bare Feet, White Dreams), 1995
Style: Ballad about the impact of a first love on someone’s life. Shakira sings “Antología” (Anthology) to reflect on the positive impact of a past relationship and everything she learned from it.
Country: Colombia
Listen: YouTube
Para amarte
Necesito una razón
Y es difícil creer
Que no exista una más
Que este amor.
To love you
I need a reason
And it is difficult to believe
That there wouldn’t exist one more
Than this love.
“I Leave”, “I Am Leaving” Song Lyrics
Album: Limón y Sal (Lemon and Salt), 2006
Style: Indie, breakup and farewell song, strong vocals. Julieta Venegas sings her farewell song and explains why the relationship is ending. She uses a sort of sing-song tone that works surprisingly well in this album.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube
Porque no supiste entender a mi corazón,
Lo que había en él.
Porque no tuviste el valor
De ver quién soy.
Because you did not know how to understand my heart,
What was there in it.
Because you didn’t have the courage
To see who I am.
“Today is Goodbye” Lyrics
Album: Shaman, 2002
Style: Blues rock, Chicano rock, sad song about losing people across the USA-Mexico border. It is from the perspective of a person left behind, singing about their loved one who left with the intent of crossing the border, then time passing and not knowing what happed to them, but continuing to wait.
Country: Mexico, Argentina
Listen: YouTube
Él se fue con el invierno.
Él se ha ido a trabajar.
No me ha escrito en mucho tiempo;
Él dijo que volverá.
He left with the winter.
He has gone to work.
Hasn’t written to me in a long time;
He said he would return.
“Your Memory and Me”
Composer: José Alfredo Jiménez
Style: Ranchera, sad song about reminiscing at a bar about a lost love.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube
Estoy en el rincón de una cantina,
Oyendo una canción que yo pedí.
Me están sirviendo ahorita mi tequila,
Ya va mi pensamiento rumbo a ti.
I am in the corner of a bar,
Listening to a song I myself requested.
They are serving my tequila to me right now,
Already my thoughts are on their way to you.
“You Are For Me” Lyrics
Albums: Limón y Sal (Lemon and Salt), 2006; Julieta Venegas MTV Unplugged, 2008
Style: Hypnotic, alternative rock/pop. Julieta Venegas collaborated on this song with Ana Tijoux in 2006, and with Mala Rodriguez in 2008.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube (official video). When I originally posted this song, Julieta did not have a VEVO account and there was not an official source for the original music video. These fangirls made a mimic video at YouTube here. It’s a very good mimic of the original!
Chorus:
————————————————-
Eres para mí, me lo ha dicho el viento.
Eres para mí, lo oigo todo el tiempo.
Eres para mí, me lo ha dicho el viento,
Eres para mí.
You are for me, the wind has told me this.
You are for me, I hear it all the time.
You are for me, the wind has told me this,
You are for me.
————————————————-
“God Knows” Lyrics Translation
Style: Bolero song about a person doubting their partner, suspecting infidelity but not having proof, and being worried that the suspicion itself could end the relationship if they are wrong.
Country: Mexico
Listen: Álvaro Carrillo; Eydie Gormé and Los Panchos; Vicente Fernández; Tania Libertad
Sabrá Dios, si tú me quieres o me engañas.
Como no adivino seguiré pensando
Que me quieres solamente a mí.
God knows, if you love me or you deceive me.
Since I can’t guess I will continue thinking
That you love only me.
“It Makes Me Fall In Love”
Album: La Vida Es Un Ratico (Life is a Brief Moment), 2007
Style: Pop, electric influence, infatuation song
Country: Colombia
Listen: YouTube
Cada blanco en mi mente
Se vuelve color con verte
Y el deseo de tenerte,
Es más fuerte, es más fuerte.
Every white (blank) in my mind
Turn to color on seeing you
And the desire to have you,
Is more strong, is more strong.
“With a Single Hit” Lyrics
Style: Heavy Metal
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube (live performance)
Hay canciones que se escriben
Con las lágrimas
Y se cantan con la sangre
En la garganta.
Es porque el corazón explota
A golpe de la distancia.
There are songs that are written
With tears
And are sung with blood
In the throat.
It’s because the heart explodes,
Blown up from a distance.
Songlations 
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