“Ingrate” Lyrics
Albums: Re, 1994; Amar y Vivir (To Love and To Live), 2017
Style: Original version is a mix of a Mexican corrido norteño and grunge rock. The cover song starts as a ballad and becomes a tango. Song to an “ungrateful” ex-lover who keeps coming back and causing pain. Warning: violent end.
Countries: Mexico City (Café Tacvba); USA, Mexico, Chile (La Santa Cecilia and Mon Laferte)
Listen: Café Tacvba (original); Duet by La Santa Cecilia and Mon Laferte (cover)
Translation:
Ingrata,
No me digas que me quieres,
No me digas que me adoras,
Que me amas,
Que me extrañas,
Que ya no te creo nada.
Ingrate,
Don’t tell me that you care for me,
Don’t tell me that you adore me,
That you love me,
That you miss me,
For I no longer believe anything you say.
Ingrata,
Que no ves que estoy sufriendo,
Por favor hoy no me digas
Que sin mí te estás muriendo,
Que tus lágrimas son falsas.
Ingrate,
Don’t you see that I am suffering,
Please don’t tell me today
That you are dying without me,
Because your tears are false.
Ingrata,
No me digas que me adoras.
Se te nota que en tus labios
Ya no hay nada que tú puedas
Ofrecer a esta boca.
Ingrate,
Don’t tell me that you adore me.
It is obvious that your lips
Have nothing that you can
Offer this mouth.
Por eso ahora yo sé que veniste
Porque te acuerdas de mi cariño.
That’s why today I know that you came
Because you remember my affection.
Por eso ahora que estoy tan triste,
No quiero que nadie me mire sufrir.
That’s why today that I am so sad,
I don’t want anyone to see me suffer.
Ingrata,
No me digas que me quieres.
Tú desprecias mis palabras.
Mis besos más de una vez
Hicieron que soñaras.
Ingrate,
Don’t tell me that you care for me.
You spurn my words.
My kisses more than once
Made you daydream.
Ingrata,
No te olvides que si quiero
Pues si puedo hacerte daño,
Solo falta que yo quiera
Lastimarte y humillarte.
Ingrate,
Don’t forget that if I want,
Well, I can cause you pain,
All that’s missing is for me to want
To hurt you and humiliate you.
Ingrata,
Aunque quieras tú dejarme,
Los recuerdos de esos días,
De las noches tan oscuras,
Tú jamás podrás borrarte.
Ingrate,
Even if you want to leave me (behind),
The memories of those days,
Of those nights so dark,
You will never be able to erase.
No me digas que me quieres,
Que me adoras,
Que me extrañas,
Que ya no te creo nada.
Don’t tell me that you care for me,
That you adore me,
That you miss me,
For I no longer believe anything you say.
Por eso ahora yo sé que veniste,
Porque te acuerdas de mi cariño.
That’s why today I know that you came
Because you remember my affection.
Y no me importa si lloro un poquito
Porque ese poquito será por tu amor.
And I don’t care if I cry a little
Because that little will be for your love.
No vengas para pedirme que
Tenga compasión de ti,
Y luego vienes a decirme [*pedirme]
Que quieres estar lejos de mí.
Don’t come to ask me
To have compassion for you,
And later come to tell me [*ask me]
That you want to be far away from me.
Te pido que no regreses
Si no es para darme
Un poquito de amor.
I ask you not to return
If it isn’t to give me
A little of your love.
Te pido y te lo suplico
Por el cariño
Que un día nos unió.
I ask you and I beg you
In the name of the affection
That one day united us.
[Musical interlude]
Por eso ahora
Tendré que obsequiarte
Un par de balazos
Pa’ que te duela.
That’s why today
I will need to bestow upon you
A couple of bullets
So it hurts you.
Y aunque estoy triste
Por ya no tenerte,
Voy a estar contigo
En tu funeral.
And though I am sad
For not having you anymore,
I will be with you
At your funeral.
Translation Notes:
una ingrata (feminine noun) = an ingrate
un ingrato (masculine noun) = an ingrate
This song was originally titled “La Ingrata” and sung by Café Tacvba, a male band, on their album Re (1994). They have later expressed regret about the end of the song and have refused to sing it live. Per the Remezcla article:
Café Tacvba’s highly anticipated forthcoming album is set to drop in just a few months, but ahead of its release, the Mexican band has found itself the subject of a conversation on femicides and their beloved song “La Ingrata,” from the landmark 1994 album Re.
In an interview with Argentine newspaper La Nación from November 2016, vocalist Rubén Albarrán stated, “We were really young when we wrote the song and we weren’t sensitive to [femicides] the way we are now. It’s time for us to reflect if we will keep playing it or change the lyrics…We’re not interested in supporting [femicides.] A lot of people can say that it’s just a song. But songs are culture, and that [kind of] culture can empower some people to attack, hurt, whatever.”
Marcos Hassan, “Café Tacvba Reconsiders Playing ‘La Ingrata’ Live in Solidarity Against Femicide”, Remezcla, 02/17/2017
No me digas que me quieres,
No me digas que me adoras,
Que me amas
Don’t tell me that you care for me,
Don’t tell me that you adore me,
That you love me
Verbs querer and amar can both mean “to love” when referring to people, but the connotations are different. Querer is broader and also means “to care (emotionally) for”, and is not specifically only for romantic love. Amar is for romantic love.
Que <ya no> te creo [nada]
For I <no longer> believe [anything] you say
For I <no longer> believe you [anything]
Because I <now don’t> believe [anything] from you
Se te nota que {en} tus labios
<Ya no> hay <nada> que tú puedas
Ofrecer a [esta] boca.
It is obvious that your lips
Have <nothing> that you can
Offer [this] mouth.
One can see that {on} your lips
<There no longer> is <anything> that you can
Offer to [this] mouth [of mine].
Tú desprecias mis palabras.
Mis besos [más de una vez]
Hicieron que soñaras.
You spurn my words.
My kisses [more than once]
Made you daydream.
You spurn my words.
My kisses [more than one time]
Caused you to dream.
I translated the last line as “daydream” because the singer is complaining that their ex-lover didn’t listen to them or care for them as a person. Daydream seemed more appropriate in that context.
<Aunque> quieras tú [dejarme],
Los recuerdos de esos días,
De las noches tan oscuras,
Tú {jamás podrás} borrarte.
<Even if> you want to [leave me (behind)],
The memories of those days,
Of those nights so dark,
You {will never be able} to erase.
<Even if> you want to [leave me behind],
The memories of those days,
Of those nights so dark,
You {will never be able} to erase for yourself.
She is saying “you will remember me.”
No vengas para pedirme que
Tenga compasión de ti,
Y luego vienes a decirme [*pedirme]
Que quieres estar lejos de mí.
Don’t come to ask me
To have compassion for you,
And later come to tell me [*ask me]
That you want to be far away from me.
The original lyrics by Café Tacvba say decirme (tell me) in the third line of this stanza. The cover changed it to pedirme (ask me), changing the scenario to the ex-lover asking for permission to break up, which definitely sounds irritating.
Te pido y te <lo> suplico
Por el cariño
Que un día nos unió.
I ask you and I beg you
In the name of the affection
That one day united us.
I ask you and I beg <it of> you
In the name of the affection
That one day united us.
Te lo suplico por… = I beg of you in the name of…
Tendré que obsequiarte
Un [par] de balazos
Pa’ que te duela.
I will need to bestow upon you
A [couple] of bullets
So it hurts you.
pa’ que = para que = so that
The verb obsequiar (to gift, to honor with) sounds particularly literate and fancy, so I mirrored that in the English translation. The singer is presenting their ex with the “gift” of a couple bullets, delivered at high speed.
Other Renditions:
Café Tacvba, “La Ingrata”, album Re (1994)
Style: Grunge rock, corrido, música norteña
Country: Mexico
“La Ingrata” by Cafe Tacuba, cover “Ingrata” by La Santa Cecilia and Mon Laferte
Songlations 