“Tu Falta De Querer” by Mon Laferte, English translation of lyrics

“Your Failure to Love” Lyrics
Album: Mon Laferte Vol. 1, 2015
Style: Latin rock about a devastated woman wondering “why?” after a breakup.
Country: Chile
Listen: YouTube

Translation:

Hoy volví a dormir en nuestra cama
Y todo sigue igual.
El aire y nuestros gatos, nada cambiará.
Difícil olvidarte estando aquí, oh, oh, oh.

Today I went back to sleep in our bed
And everything remains the same.
The air and our cats, nothing will change.
It’s difficult to forget you being here, oh, oh, oh.

Te quiero ver.
Aún te amo y, creo, que hasta más que ayer.
La hiedra venenosa no te deja ver.
Me siento mutilada y tan pequeña, ah, ah, ah.

I want to see you.
I still love you and, I think, even more than yesterday.
The poison ivy doesn’t let you see.
I feel mutilated and so small, ah, ah, ah.

Ven y cuéntame la verdad.
Ten piedad
Y dime por qué no, no no, oh.

Come and tell me the truth.
Have mercy
And tell me why not, not, not, oh.

¿Cómo fue que me dejaste de amar?
Yo aún podía soportar
Tu tanta falta de querer.

How was it that you stopped loving me?
I could still endure
Your great lack of love.

Hace un mes solía escucharte
Y ser tu cómplice,
Pensé que ya no había nadie más que tú.
Yo fui tu amiga y fui tu compañera, ah, ah, ah.

A month ago I used to listen to you
And be your accomplice.
I thought that there was no one except you.
I was your friend and I was your partner, ah, ah, ah.

Ahora dormiré
Muy profundamente para olvidar,
Quisiera hasta la muerte, para no pensar.
Me forro pa’ quitarme esta amargura, ah, ah, ah.

Now I will sleep
Very profoundly to forget,
I wish it were until death, to not think anymore.
I wrap myself up to take away this this bitterness, ah, ah, ah.

Ven y cuéntame la verdad.
Ten piedad
Y dime por qué no, no no, oh.

Come and tell me the truth.
Have mercy
And tell me why not, not, not, oh.

¿Cómo fue que me dejaste de amar?
Yo aún podía soportar
Tu tanta falta de querer.

How was it that you stopped loving me?
I could still endure
Your great lack of love.

Ven y cuéntame la verdad.
Ten piedad
Y dime por qué no, no no, oh.

Come and tell me the truth.
Have mercy
And tell me why not, not, not, oh.

¿Cómo fue que me dejaste de amar?
Yo aún podía soportar
Tu tanta falta de querer.

How was it that you stopped loving me?
I could still endure
Your great lack of love.

Translation Notes:

Yo {aún} podía soportar tu tanta [falta de querer]

I could {still} endure your much [lack of loving]
I could {still} bear your great [failure to love]
I could {yet} withstand your great [absence of love]

soportar (verb) = to endure, to withstand, to support (a figuratively or literally heavy thing), to bear

querer (verb) = to love; to want. In this case it means “to love”.

She is saying that she knew their relationship had problems but that she could still stand to be in it, that she could have held out longer.

The translation “much lack of loving” is the most literal. I like “great failure to love” as a standalone line, but I used “great lack of love” in the main translation since I think that best explains that she could withstand a lack of loving gestures, words, etc. She already asked earlier in the stanza why they stopped loving her (“¿Cómo fue que me dejaste de amar?“).

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Hace un mes {solía} escucharte y ser tu cómplice.

A month ago {I used to} listen to you and be your accomplice.

Here, cómplice means “accomplice” in the way that people call their romantic partner a “partner in crime”. It isn’t the most common word to describe a romantic partner, but neither is “accomplice” in English. She uses more common words in the next lines:

Pensé que {ya} no había nadie más que tú.
Yo fui tu amiga y fui tu compañera, ah, ah, ah.

I thought that there was no one except you {anymore}.
I was your friend and I was your partner, ah, ah, ah.

The noun “compañero/compañera” means “partner” in English and is a much more common way to refer to a romantic partner, though there is ambiguity because it could also mean classmate, roommate, colleague, close friend, business partner, and any other type of partner. There is no ambiguity in THIS song because of the surrounding context, but just beware when hearing it other times. If you hear someone introduce their “compañero/a” in real life, use that situation’s context to figure out what they mean.