“Let No One Know of My Suffering”
Style: Varies, but commonly in the style of a Peruvian waltz
Composer: Ángel Cabral (Argentina), 1936
Songwriter: Enrique Dizeo (Argentina)
Country: Sung by many, originally from Argentina
Listen: Renditions available at YouTube by: Los Lobos (USA, 1970s-current), Julio Jaramillo (Ecuador, 1950s pasillo), Maria Dolores Pradera (Spain, 1950s operatic), Sonora Dinamita (Colombian and Salvadorean, 1980s+ cumbia), Julio Iglesias (Spain, 1980s romantic), Lucha Reyes (Peru, 1970s), 웅산 Woong San (Korea, in Spanish, 2010s), Edith Piaf (France, in French with edited lyrics as La Foule, 1957), and many more.
Translation:
No te asombres si te digo lo que fuiste:
Una ingrata con mi pobre corazón.
Porque el fuego de tus lindos ojos negros [*alt: el brillo]
Alumbraron el camino de otro amor.
Don’t be surprised if I tell you what you were:
An ingrate with my poor heart.
Because the fire of your lovely black eyes [*alt: the shine]
Lit up the path to another love.
[Some versions skip this verse and jump to the chorus:]
Y pensar que te adoraba ciegamente, [*alt: tiernamente]
Que a tu lado como nunca me sentí,
Y por esas cosas raras de la vida,
Sin el beso de tu boca yo me vi.
And to think that I loved you blindly, [*alt: tenderly]
That by your side I felt like nothing else,
And because of those strange things (that happen) in life,
I found myself without the kiss of your mouth.
Chorus:
Amor de mis amores, reina mía, ¿qué me hiciste? [*alt: alma mía]
Que no puedo conformarme sin poderte contemplar. [*alt: consolarme]
Ya que pagaste mal mi cariño tan sincero, [*alt: pagaste así]
Sólo conseguirás que no te nombre nunca más. [*alt: Lo que]
Love of my loves, my queen, what did you do to me? [*alt: my soul; my love]
Because I can’t be satisfied without thinking about you. [*alt: console myself]
Now that you so badly repaid my affections so sincere, [*alt: repaid like that]
All you will accomplish is that I will never name you again. [*alt: What]
Amor de mis amores, si dejaste de quererme,
No hay cuidado que la gente de eso no se enterará.
Love of my loves, if you stopped loving me,
There is no worry because people will not find out about that.
¿Qué gano con decir que una mujer cambió mi suerte?
Se burlarán de mí.
Que nadie sepa mi sufrir.
What do I gain by saying that a woman changed my luck?
They will make fun of me.
Let no one know of my suffering.
Y pensar que te adoraba ciegamente, [*alt: tiernamente]
Que a tu lado como nunca me sentí,
Y por esas cosas raras de la vida,
Sin el beso de tu boca yo me vi.
And to think that I loved you blindly, [*alt: tenderly]
That by your side I felt like nothing else,
And because of those strange things (that happen) in life,
I found myself without the kiss of your mouth.
[Chorus: “Amor de mis amores…“]
Translation Notes:
Y pensar que te adoraba ciegamente,
Que [a tu lado] <como nunca me sentí>
And to think that I loved you blindly,
That [by your side] <I felt like nothing else>
Here, “como nunca” is a positive thing. He felt amazing, like nothing he had felt before.
Some renditions change the first line to:
Y a pesar que te adoraba ciegamente
And despite that I loved you blindly
And although I loved you blindly
—
Y por esas cosas raras de la vida,
Sin el beso de tu boca yo me vi.
And because of those strange things (that happen) in life,
I found myself without the kiss of your mouth.
Y <por> [esas cosas raras] de {la vida},
{{Sin}} [el beso de tu boca] yo me vi.
And <because of> [those strange things (that happen)] in {life},
{{Without}} [the kiss of your mouth] I saw myself.
The wording here is very poetic and fractured, but he is saying that despite the romance and passion he felt, life took an unexpected turn and he found himself separated from his lover. “Cosas raras” means “strange things”, with the adjective rara/raro meaning weird, strange, rare, or unusual.
—
Amor de mis amores
Love of my loves
Similar in construction to the phrase, “crème de la crème” (cream of the crop, or the top layer of the top layer), amor de mis amores means they are the singer’s best and greatest love. Of all loves (plural), they are THE love (singular).
—
No hay cuidado que la gente de eso no se enterará.
There is no worry because people will not find out about that.
This line is telling the song’s target that they need not worry about the story of the relationship’s end coming out and becoming the subject of gossip. The heartbroken singer does not want to talk about it.
—
¿Qué gano con decir que una mujer cambió mi suerte?
What do I gain by saying that a woman changed my luck? [*literal]
What do I gain by saying that a woman changed the course of my life?
This is the reason the heartbroken singer does not want to make the relationship’s sad end public. They do not want to admit that the relationship had such a major impact on their life.
—
Maria Dolores Pradera’s genderswapped version makes a few changes to achieve that change:
- “Una ingrata con mi pobre corazón” becomes “Un ingrato con mi pobre corazón.” This is a simple noun gender change.
- “Amor de mis amores, reina mía, ¿qué me hiciste?” becomes “Amor de mis amores, dueño mío, ¿qué me hiciste?”, changing “my queen” to “my master”.
- “¿Qué gano con decir que una mujer cambió mi suerte?” becomes “¿Qué gano con decir que tu amor cambió mi suerte?“, changing “a woman” for “your love”.
Other Renditions:
Julio Jaramillo (Ecuador, 1950s pasillo, Peruvian waltz)
Lucha Reyes (Peru, 1970s) – I only have part of the song here, but let me know if you find the full version
Maria Dolores Pradera (Spain, 1950s operatic)
Sonora Dinamita (Colombian and Salvadorean group, 1980s+, cumbia)
Julio Iglesias (Spain, 1980s romantic)
웅산 Woong-San (Korea, in Spanish, current)
Edith Piaf (France, in French with edited lyrics as La Foule, 1957)
Songlations 