“Mariposa Traicionera” (Treacherous Butterfly) by Maná, English translation lyrics

“Treacherous Butterfly” Translated Lyrics
Album: Revolución de Amor (Revolution of Love), 2002
Style: Rock, butterfly as metaphor for a woman who isn’t serious, fluttering from guy to guy and leaving behind heartbreak. One of my most popular translations.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube

Translation:

Eres como una mariposa,
Vuelas y te posas, vas de boca en boca,
Facil y ligera, de quien te provoca.

You are like a butterfly,
You fly and you land, jumping from mouth to mouth —
Easy and light — of anyone who excites you.

Yo soy raton de tu ratonera,
Trampa que no mata pero no libera.
Vivo muriendo prisionero.

I am the mouse of your mousetrap,
Trap that doesn’t kill, but doesn’t liberate.
I live dying a prisoner.

Chorus:
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Mariposa traicionera,
Todo se lo lleva el viento.
Mariposa no regreso.

Treacherous butterfly,
The wind takes everything.
Butterfly, I do not return.

Ay, mariposa de amor,
Mi mariposa de amor,
Ya no regreso contigo.

Ay, butterfly of love,
My butterfly of love,
I do not return to you.

Ay, mariposa de amor,
Mi mariposa de amor,
Nunca jamas junto a ti.

Ay, butterfly of love,
My butterfly of love,
Never again next to you.
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Vuela amor, vuela dolor,
Y no regreses a un lado.

Fly, love; fly, pain,
And don’t return to my side.

Ya vete de flor en flor,
Seduciendo a los pistilos,
Y vuela cerca del sol,
Pa’ que sientas lo que es dolor.

Just leave now, go from flower to flower,
Seducing the pistils,
And fly near the sun,
So you feel what pain is.

Ay, mujer cómo haces daño,
Pasan los minutos cual si fueran años,
Mira estos celos me están matando.

Ay, woman, how you cause harm,
Minutes pass like (if they were) years,
Look, these jealousies are killing me.

Ay, mujer que facil eres,
Abres tu alitas, muslos de colores,
Donde se posan tus amores.

Ay, woman, how easy you are,
Open your little wings, colorful thighs,
Where your lovers rest.

[Chorus]

Vuela amor, vuela dolor,
Que tengas suerte en tu vida.

Fly, love; fly, pain,
I wish you luck in life [*lit. May you have luck in your life].

Ay, ay, ay, ay, ay dolor,
Yo te llore todo un rio.
Ay, ay, ay, ay, ay amor,
Tú te me vas a volar.

Ay, ay, ay, ay, pain,
I cried a whole river for you.
Ay, ay, ay, ay, love,
You are going to fly from me.

Translation Notes:

Vuelas y te posas, vas de boca en boca —
Facil y ligera — de quien te provoca.

You fly and you land, jumping from mouth to mouth —
Easy and light — of anyone who excites you.

[More literal:]
You fly and you rest, you go from mouth to mouth–
Easy and quick — of (anyone) who provokes/excites/stirs you.

To go de boca en boca (from mouth to mouth) means that people are talking about you. In the butterfly and flower metaphor context, the primary meaning is that this woman is flying “from lover to lover”. I think it is a poetic way of saying that this fluttery woman is sleeping with lots of people and getting a reputation as her lovers talk about her.

A commenter pointed out that ligera (light/quick) here also means “superficial”. The butterfly is fluttering from flower to flower, not spending much time on any. The woman is not serious about her relationships.

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I originally translated this song in 2004 for my Geocities site. Yahoo shut down Geocities website hosting in October 2009, so I edited and reposted to Songlations.

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“Mariposa Traicionera” by Mana