Year: 2023

“Diamantes” (Diamonds) by Carla Morrison, English translation and meaning

“Diamonds”
Album: El Renacimiento (The Rebirth), 2022
Style: Indie/alternative. Love song with drums and great vocals about finding love and joy. I’m so happy for Carla Morrison. Compare this to her 2012 emo single, “Dejenme Llorar” (Everybody Let Me Cry). Her happy songs are so beautiful.
Country: Mexico, USA (Arizona)
Listen: YouTube

Lyrics Translation:

Despertar junto a ti es ya no tener miedo
A tanto desconsuelo
Que una vez tuve en mí.

Waking up next to you is no longer feeling fear
Of so much distress
That I once had in me.

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“No Soy Para Ti” (I Am Not For You) by Mon Laferte, English translation and meaning

“I Am Not For You”
Album: 1940 Carmen, 2021
Style: Rock song about a relationship ending due to a loss of feelings from shared sadness (possibly infertility), and breaking up so they can find happiness somewhere else.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube

Lyrics Translation:

¿Cuánto amor desaparecerá?
¿Cuánto tiempo más tendremos que llorar?
Mejor que acabe aquí, mejor dejarte ir.
Si nos queremos tanto, ¿para qué sufrir?

How much love will disappear?
How much more time will we need to cry?
Better to end it here, better to let you go.
If we love each other so much, why suffer?

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“Nunca Es Suficiente” (It Is Never Enough) by Los Ángeles Azules ft. Natalia Lafourcade, English translation

“It Is Never Enough”
Album: Esto sí es cumbia (Now this is cumbia), 2018
Style: Folk pop, melancholy, about wanting a serious and exclusive relationship with a flighty partner who isn’t used to that.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube

Lyrics Translation:

Nunca es suficiente para mí
Porque siempre quiero más de ti.
Yo quisiera hacerte más feliz,
Hoy, mañana, siempre, hasta el fin.

It is never enough for me
Because I always want more from you.
I would like to make you more happy,
Today, tomorrow, always, until the end.

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“La Despedida” by Alejandro Sanz (Bullet Train 2022 Spanish song), English translation

“The Farewell”
Album: Bullet Train, 2022
Style: Melancholy song about dealing with unexpected loss. This is the Spanish song in the action/comedy movie Bullet Train (2022).
Country: Spain
Listen: YouTube

Lyrics Translation:

Voy sin saber,
Sin tu amor.
¿Cómo hacer, con tanto dolor?
Una vez más, apaga las luces,
Y canta conmigo,
Así me olvido de la despedida.

I go without knowing,
Without your love.
What to do, with so much pain?
One more time, turn off the lights,
And sing with me,
That is how I forget the farewell.

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“La Ingrata” (Ingrate) by Café Tacvba, cover by La Santa Cecilia and Mon Laferte, English translation

“Ingrate”
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)

Lyrics 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.

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“Estos Celos” (This Jealousy) by Vicente Fernández, English translation

“This Jealousy”
Album: Para Siempre (Forever), 2007
Style: Orchestral ranchera, mariachi, regional Mexican from Jalisco. Bittersweet love song about missing an ex who has moved on.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube

Lyrics Translation:

Te miré,
Estabas tan bonita,
Tan sensual,
Te imaginé ajena y me hizo mal.

I saw you,
You were so pretty,
So sensual,
I imagined you a stranger and it made me ill.

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“Como Quien Pierde Una Estrella” (Like How One Loses a Star) by Alejandro Fernández, English translation

“Like How One Loses a Star”
Album: Que Seas Muy Feliz (May You Be Very Happy), 1995
Style: Wailing prayer and mourning after the loss of a lover (likely by breakup), with orchestral mariachi.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube

Lyrics Translation:

Te quiero,
Lo digo como un lamento,
Como un quejido que el viento
Se lleva por donde quiera.

I love you,
I say it like a lament,
Like a howl that the wind
Takes away wherever it goes.

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“Contigo” (With You) by Carla Morrison, English translation + meaning

“With You”
Album: El Renacimiento (The Rebirth), 2022
Style: Alterinative/indie. Love song about finding your soulmate, your true love. This would be a good wedding song. It can also be interpreted as a self-love song or the welcoming song for a newborn baby.
Country: Mexico, USA (Arizona)
Listen: YouTube

Lyrics Translation:

Hoy en ti brilla el sol,
La razón de mi vida llegó.
Veo en ti la ilusión,
Tu mirada me inunda en calor.

Today on you shines the sun,
The reason for my life has arrived.
I see in you hope and dreams,
Your eyes drown me in warmth.

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“Sueño Con Ella” (I Dream of Her) by Concha Buika, English translation

“I Dream of Her”
Album: In My Skin (In My Skin), 2011; La Noche Más Larga (The Longest Night), 2013
Style: Piano jazz, dreaming and reminiscing about a lost relationship.
Country: Spain
Listen: YouTube

Lyrics Translation:

Frente a las olas del mar y bajo las estrellas,
Yo… sueño con ella, yo sueño con ella.
(x4)

Before the waves of the sea and below the stars,
I… dream of her, I dream of her.
(x4)

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“Te Regalo” (I Gift To You) by Carla Morrison, English translation

“I Gift to You”
Album: Amor Supremo Desnudo (Supreme Naked Love), 2017
Style: Romantic indie pop with a slow melancholy tone. Love song about dedicating your life to someone. This would be good first dance song for a wedding reception.
Country: Mexico, USA (Arizona)
Listen: YouTube

Lyrics Translation:

Déjame tomarte de la mano,
Déjame mirarte a los ojos,
Déjame, a través de mi mirada,
Darte todo mi esplendor.

Let me take you by the hand,
Let me look you in the eyes,
Let me, through my gaze,
Give you all my splendor.

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“Ojalá Te Animes” (Hopefully You Dare) by Bobby Pulido, English translation

“Hopefully You Dare”
Album: Vive (Live), 2005
Style: Ranchera about pulling a crush out of their shyness to start a relationship.
Country: USA (Texas), with Mexican slang
Listen: YouTube

Intro and Lyrics Translation:

[Intro]

–Oye comp’re, hay una güerita que – no, hombre – me está cayendo, ‘ira. Aqui dentro del corazón.

-¿A poco? ¿En serio? Pues conquístala.

-Pero pues ¿cómo le hago?

-Flores, chocolates a veces.

–M’no, pues yo andaba pensando más una serenata.

-¿Una serenata?

–Una serenata.

-¡Pero tú no cantas!

-¡Pero TÚ sí!

[Intro translation]

-Hey compadre, there’s this blonde girl who – no, man – she catching on me, look. Here inside my heart.

-Really? Serious? Well, get her!

-But then, how do I do it?

-Flowers, chocolate sometimes.

-Uh no, see I was thinking more a serenade.

-A serenade?

-A serenade.

-But you don’t sing!

-But YOU do!

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“La Derrota” (The Great Fall) by Vicente Fernández, English translation

“The Great Fall”
Album: Para Siempre (Forever), 2007
Style: Ranchera about the downfall of a relationship after infidelity, and the regret afterward.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube

Lyrics Translation:

¡Ay, ay, ay, ja, ja, ja!

Por darle rienda suelta a mis antojos,
Por no tener conciencia del abismo,
Por eso ayer hice llorar sus ojos,
Y hoy mis ojos también hacen lo mismo.

For giving my whims free reign,
For not being aware of the abyss,
For that yesterday I made her eyes cry,
And today my eyes also do the same.

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