“I Let Go of Your Rein” Lyrics
Style: Corrido, ranchera, sometimes a mariachi. This popular Mexican song is an epic “you’ll miss me, but go” breakup song.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube (José Alfredo Jiménez, Maná, Lupillo Rivera, Vicente Fernandez, and many more)
Translation:
Se me acabó la fuerza
De mi mano izquierda.
Voy a dejarte el mundo
Para ti solita.
I lost the strength
On my left hand.
I am going to leave you the world
For your very own.
Como al caballo blanco
Le solté la rienda,
A ti también te suelto,
Y te me vas ahorita.
Like with the white horse,
I let go of his rein,
I let go of you, too,
And you are to leave me now.
Chorus:
——————————————
Y cuando al fin comprendas
Que el amor bonito,
Lo tenías conmigo…
And when you finally understand
That — beautiful love —
You had it with me…
Vas a extrañar mis besos
En los propios brazos
Del que esté contigo.
You are going to miss my kisses
In the very arms
Of the one holding you.
Vas a sentir que lloras
Sin poder siquiera
Derramar tu llanto.
You are going to feel that you cry
Without even being able to
Let go of your tears.
——————————————
Y has de querer mirarte
En mis ojos claros [*alt: ojos tristes]
Que quisiste tanto,
Que quisiste tanto,
Que quisiste tanto.
And you must want to look at yourself
In my clear/light eyes [*alt: sad eyes]
That you loved so much,
That you loved so much,
That you loved so much.
Cuando se quiere a fuerza
Rebasar la meta,
Y se abandona todo
Lo que se ha tenido…
When one wants – by force –
To go beyond the goal,
And one abandons everything
That one has acquired…
Como tú traes el alma
Con la rienda suelta,
Ya crees que el mundo es tuyo [*Maná: A ti también te suelto]
Y hasta me das tu olvido. [*Maná: Y te me vas ahorita.]
Just as you have your soul
With free rein,
You believe now that the world is yours [*Maná: I, too, give you free rein]
And you even give me your oblivion. [*Maná: And you are to leave me now.]
[Repeat chorus: “Y cuando al fin comprendas…” (And when you finally understand…)]
Y has de querer mirarte
En mis ojos claros
Que quisiste tanto
Que quisiste tanto
Que quisiste tanto
Y que quieres tanto.
And you must want to look at yourself
In my clear/light eyes
That you loved so much
That you loved so much
That you loved so much
And that you love so much [present tense].
Se me acabó la fuerza
Y te solté la rienda.
I lost my strength
And I let go of your rein.
Translation Notes:
Se me acabó la fuerza.
I lost the strength.
I ran out of strength.
—
Y te me vas ahorita.
And you are to leave me now.
This is a demand. He’s saying, “I’m letting go of you, so go!”
The demand part comes from te me…ahorita which gives the meaning “you are going to do this for me.”
—
En los propios brazos del que esté contigo.
In the very arms of the one holding you.
In the very arms of the one who is with you. [lit.]
—
Derramar tu llanto.
(To) let go of your tears.
(To) shed/drop/spill your tears. [lit.]
—
Y has de querer mirarte / En mis ojos claros
And you must want to look at yourself / In my clear eyes
“Ojos claros” means light eyes (blue, green, hazel eyes), but here also refers to the reflective quality of eyes and the fact that the singer has accepted that the breakup is happening and is not crying about it (no crying eyes).
—
Introduction to the Maná live performance on their MTV unplugged album:
“Hay un compositor (eh) Mexicano bien importante de la musica ranchera, yo creo que para mi es el favorito. Este señor se llama José Alfredo Jiménez. Este… y vamos a cantar una canción que hemos arreglado de él que se llama ‘Te Solté La Rienda.'”
MTV Unplugged ‘Te Solte La Rienda’ Intro
Translation:
There is a Mexican composter, uh, really important in the ranchera musical genre, and I think my favorite. This man is named José Alfredo Jiménez. Um… and we are going to sing a song of his that we have put together called “I Let Go of Your Rein.”
Other Renditions:
This is a popular song in Mexico. José Alfredo is a famous singer, but in addition to that this song also makes a lot of allusions to his other popular song, “El Caballo Blanco” (The White Horse).
José Alfredo Jiménez (original composer/singer)
Maná, Mexican rock band
Lupillo Rivera, Mexican singer. Full mariachi version.
Lola Betran, Mexican singer and actress
Vincente Fernández, Mexican singer and actor
Tania Libertad, Peruvian-Mexican singer
My original translation was posted to my Geocities site in 2006, edited and moved to my LiveJournal in 2009, now moved to songlations.com in 2022.
“Te Solte La Rienda” by Jose Alfredo Jimenez, Mana — without accents so the search engine finds the song translation
Songlations 