“Se Me Olvido Otra Vez” (I Forgot Again) by Juan Gabriel, Maná, English translation

“I Forgot Again”
Composer: Juan Gabriel (1974)
Albums: Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán (1990); Maná MTV Unplugged (1999)
Style: Mariachi, ranchera; bolero; rock; lost love song; always guitar. A classic Mexican ranchera song full of emotion, soulfully mourning still being in love with someone who doesn’t love them back. Good pick for a karaoke song.
Country: Mexico

About:

YouTube has renditions by: Maná (MTV live album, rock), Juan Gabriel (recorded mariachi style), Alejandro Fernández (live traditional mariachi), Lucero (woman mariachi live), Pedro Vargas (recorded ranchera), Chavela Vargas (slow and hoarse ranchera, woman), Julio Jaramillo (bolero version), and more.

Wikipedia originally said that Juan Gabriel wrote and released it in 1990, but that time can’t be right because Julio Jaramillo sung it also and Julio died in 1978. Anyway, Juan Gabriel re-released it in 1999 around the same time that Maná released their version. It won Maná a Latin Grammy in 2000.

Update: English Wikipedia now says 1975, but Spanish Wikipedia says Juan Gabriel released this song in 1974 in his collaboration with the famous and transgenerational Mariachi Vargas.

Lyrics Translation:

Probablemente ya
De mí te has olvidado
Y sin embargo yo
Te seguiré esperando.

Probably, by now
You’ve forgotten about me
And nevertheless, I
Will continue to wait for you.

No me he querido ir
Para ver si algún día
Que tú quieras volver,
Me encuentres todavía.

I have not wanted to leave
In case some day, [*lit. To see if some day]
You want to return,
You will find me (still).

–Coda–

Por eso aún estoy
En el lugar de siempre,
En la misma ciudad
Y con la misma gente.

That’s why even now I stay
In the same place (as always),
In the same city
And with the same people.

Para que tú al volver
No encuentres nada extraño,
Y sea como ayer, [*alt. JG live version: Y seas como ayer]
Y nunca más dejarnos.

(It is) so that you, on returning,
Do not find anything strange,
And it can be like yesterday, [*alt. JG live version: And you can be like yesterday]
And you won’t leave us again.

Probablemente estoy
Pidiendo demasiado.
Se me olvidaba que
Ya habíamos terminado.

I am probably
Asking for too much.
I was forgetting again that
We had already finished.

Que nunca volverás,
Que nunca me quisiste.
Se me olvidó otra vez
Que sólo yo te quise.

That you will never return,
That you never cared for me.
I forgot again
That only I loved you.

[Repeat from coda: “Por eso aún estoy…”]

Se me olvidó otra vez
Que sólo yo te quise.

I forgot again
That only I loved you.

Translation Notes:

Originally translated 2006 and posted on my now defunct Geocities site.

Se me olvidó otra vez que sólo yo te quise
I forgot again that only I loved you (i.e. you didn’t love me)

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“Se Me Olvido Otra Vez” sung by Juan Gabriel, Mana, Alejandro Fernandez, Lucero, Pedro Vargas, Chavela Vargas, Julio Jaramillo, and more!