Spanish songs translated to English with side-by-side lyrics and notes for Spanish learners
“Nailed to a Bar (In Love)”
Album: Sueños Líquidos (Liquid Dreams), 1997
Style: Latin Rock song about someone pining for the love of a specific woman, drowning his sorrow in drinks.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube
¡Oye!
Aquí me tiene
Bien clavado,
Soltando las penas en un bar,
Brindando por su amor.
Hey!
Here she has me
Really nailed down (madly in love),
Letting my regrets out at a bar,
Toasting for her love.
“Supermarket” Lyrics Translation
Album: 1940 Carmen, 2021
Style: Alternative rock song about a couple shopping at a supermarket after a fight, avoiding looking at each other, and suffering.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube
Pasillo 2 me invita a comprar
Cosas que no hacen falta,
Y el alivio comercial, y la risa falsa.
Aisle two invites me to buy
Things that aren’t needed,
And the consumerist relief, and false laughter.
“Tell Them Not To Fear Me”
Album: Dile Que Por Mi No Tema / Bajo La Luna Vinyl, 1972; Boleros, 1993
Style: Bolero, which is both a dance style and a story-telling lyrics style. Song telling an ex that you have a new (better) sweetheart and that your ex should tell their own new lover not to worry about you, because you’ve moved on. Also an example of a gender neutral Spanish song.
Country: Cuba
Listen: YouTube
Dile a tu nuevo querer
Que no hay nada que temer
Porque hace ya mucho tiempo
Que te borré de mi mente
Y no me acuerdo de ti…
Tell your new beloved
That there is nothing to fear
Because it’s been a long time now
Since I erased you from my mind
And I don’t remember you…
“The Present”
Album: MTV Unplugged, 2008
Style: Alternative rock with accordions. Song celebrating the gift of time and the joy of being present with a loved one. It works as a song for one’s lover or one’s child.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube
Ya sé lo que te diga
No va a ser suficiente, ay ya-ya-ya ya,
Y lo que tu me entregues
Dejará pendientes, ay ya-ya-ya ya.
I know that what I tell you
Will not be enough, ay ya-ya-ya ya,
And what you give me
Will leave worries, ay ya-ya-ya ya.
“Siboney” or “Canto Siboney” Lyrics
Composer: Ernesto Lecuona, 1927
Style: Jazz, romance, love song to Siboney. Xiomara Alfaro’s version was the composer’s favorite.
Country: Cuba, with several covers from Spain
Listen: Xiomara Alfaro (Cuba, 1957); Plácido Domingo (Spain, opera, 2012); Concha Buika (Spain, jazz, 2013)
Siboney, yo te quiero,
Yo me muero por tu amor.
Siboney, I love you,
I am dying for your love.
“She Was Different”
Album: Realidades (Deluxe), Realities (Deluxe), 2014
Style: Corrido norteño, regional Mexican. LGBTQ acceptance song about realizing a neighborhood girl is not interested in any of the boys, but rather her best friend (another girl).
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube
Eras más linda,
Más bella que luna de octubre.
Su voz era tan dulce, trino de gorrión.
She was more lovely,
More beautiful than the October moon.
Her voice was so sweet, trill of a sparrow.
Era la chica más tierna de aquel viejo barrio.
Los hombres se peleaban su fiel corazón.
Ellos hacían su apuestas para conquistarla,
Pero ningún muchacho se ganó su amor.
She was the most tender girl of that old neighborhood.
The men fought each other for her loyal heart.
They made their bets to win her over,
But no guy ever won her heart.
“Cecilia” Lyrics
Album: Vida Cotidiana (Daily Life), 2023
Style: Tropical pop. Peace and love song, singing to Cecilia that they shouldn’t fight and that they should dance instead.
Country: Colombia, Dominican Republic
Listen: YouTube
Cuando hablamos y peleamos,
No vamos a ningún lado.
Nos lastimamos
Y más y más
Y más y más nos apartamos.
When we talk and fight,
We don’t go anywhere.
We hurt each other
And more and more
And more and more we distance ourselves.
“Finding Myself”
Album: El Renacimiento (The Rebirth), 2022
About: Pop. Carla’s heartfelt song about reckoning with depression and her journey for mental health.
Country: Mexico, USA (Arizona)
Listen: YouTube
Se acabó, ya la mentira está en mi cuerpo.
Toda esta falsedad ha roto mis adentros.
Entregué mi todo, olvidé mi centro,
Cedí por apostar, soy infeliz, es cierto.
It ended, now the lie is on my body.
All this falseness has broken my insides.
I gave my all, I forgot my center,
I yielded for a chance, I am unhappy, it’s true.
“By Your Side”
Album: Siempre Pensando en Ti (Always Thinking of You), 2001
About: Country, romantic song telling a lover that they are your best friend, that life is good with them, and that you want to be with them forever.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube
Cuando estoy a tu lado
Se detiene todo el tiempo,
Me entretengo con tus besos,
Despiertas mis sentimientos.
When I am by your side
All time stops,
I get distracted with your kisses,
You wake up my emotions.
“The Great Woman”
Album: La Gran Señora (The Great Woman), 2009
Style: Mariachi from an older woman to a younger woman, telling her that this homewrecking attempt won’t work. She will defend her home and family.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube
Tenemos que hablar de mujer a mujer,
Hay que dejar unas cosas en claro,
Aunque no te guste tienes que entender,
Lo que es mío es mío y no voy a soltarlo.
We have to talk (from) woman to woman,
Let’s leave some things clear,
Even if you don’t like it, you have to understand,
What is mine is mine and I will not let it go.
“Down to The Roots”
Album: Hasta La Raíz (Down to Your Roots), 2015
Style: Folk rock, alternative rock. Natalia toldNational Public Radio that she wanted to sing about her roots, in her case about Mexico. The album won Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album (58th Grammy Awards), Best Alternative Music Album (16th Latin Grammy Awards), and Best Engineered Album (16th Latin Grammy Awards). This particular song won Song of the Year and Best Alternative Song (16th Latin Grammy Awards).
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube
Sigo cruzando ríos,
Andando selvas, amando el sol.
Cada día sigo sacando espinas
De lo profundo del corazón.
I keep crossing rivers,
Passing jungles, loving the sun.
Every day I keep pulling thorns
From the depths of my heart.
En la noche sigo encendiendo sueños
Para limpiar
Con el humo sagrado,
Cada recuerdo.
At night I keep lighting dreams on fire
To clean,
With the sacred smoke,
Every memory.
“She Who Got Away”
Album: Ella… La Que Se Fue (She… Who Got Away), 1958
Style: Ranchera. Regretful song about the one who got away.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube
¡Ay, amor, amor mío, uy-ya!
Oh, love, my love, uh-ya!
Tengo dinero en el mundo,
Dinero maldito que nada vale.
Aunque me miren sonriendo,
La pena que traigo
Ni Dios la sabe.
I have money in this world,
Damn money worth nothing.
Though they see me smiling,
The sorrow I carry
Not even God knows it.
Songlations 
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