“You Sure Know How to Love Me”
Album: Musas (Muses), 2017
Style: Folk music, romantic song telling a long-time suitor that you have the courage to reciprocate now. Happy Valentine’s Day!
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube
Lyrics Translation:
Ha pasado tanto tiempo,
Finalmente descubrí tus besos,
Me enredaste en tu mirada,
Me abrazaste con todos mis defectos.
So much time has passed,
Finally I discovered your kisses,
You tied me up with your eyes,
You hugged me with all my defects.
Tú sí sabes quererme,
Tú si sabes adorarme,
Mi amor no te vayas, quédate por siempre,
Para siempre, para siempre amarte.
You sure know how to love me,
You sure know how to adore me,
My love, don’t leave, stay forever,
So forever, so forever I can love you.
Corazón tú sí sabes quererme como a mí me gusta,
Soy la flor encendida que da color al jardín de tu vida.
Corazón tú sí sabes quererme como a mí me gusta,
Por favor no me dejes que soy valiente en corresponderte.
Sweetheart, you sure know how to love me how I like,
I am the flaming flower that gives color to the garden of your life.
Sweetheart, you sure know how to love me how I like,
Please don’t leave me, for I am brave and reciprocate.
[Musical interlude]
Ha pasado tanto tiempo,
Finalmente sé que estoy dispuesta.
Es tan difícil encontrar un amor
Que aquí me quedo con heridas bien abiertas.
So much time has passed,
Finally I know that I am willing.
It is so difficult to find a love
And here I am with wounds wide open.
Ya no me importa lo que piensan los demás,
Aquí me quedo para ser testigo siempre de la vida,
Aquí por siempre, para siempre,
Para siempre amarnos.
I don’t care anymore what others may think,
I stay here forever to be a witness to life.
Here forever, so forever,
So forever we can love each other.
Corazón tú sí sabes quererme como a mí me gusta,
Soy la flor encendida que da color al jardín de tu vida.
Corazón tú sí sabes quererme como a mí me gusta,
Por favor no me dejes que soy valiente en corresponderte.
(x2)
Sweetheart, you sure know how to love me how I like,
I am the flaming flower that gives color to the garden of your life.
Sweetheart, you sure know how to love me how I like,
Please don’t leave me, for I am brave and reciprocate.
(x2)
[Musical interlude]
[Final group singing of the chorus:]
Corazón, corazón, tú sí sabes (quererme como a mí me gusta),
Corazón tú si sabes quererme mi amor (quererme como a mí me gusta),
¡Ay! No te vayas, quédate por siempre (quererme como a mí me gusta),
Que soy valiente en corresponderte mi amor (quererme como a mí me gusta).
Sweetheart, sweetheart, you sure know how (to love me like I like),
Sweetheart, you sure know how to love me, my love (to love me like I like),
Ay! Don’t leave, stay forever (to love me like I like),
For I am brave and reciprocate, my love (to love me like I like).
Translation Notes:
Tú sí sabes quererme,
Tú si sabes adorarme
You sure know how to love me,
You sure know how to adore me
In Spanish, sí = yes, but here sí is being used as an affirmative emphasis. “You sure know” is the best translation. Other possibilities are “you really know” or “you do know”.
Mi amor no te vayas, quédate por siempre,
Para siempre, para siempre amarte.
My love, don’t leave, stay forever,
So forever, so forever I can love you.
por un minuto = for one minute
por hoy = for today
por esta semana = for this week
por siempre = for ever
para siempre… = so that forever…
Corazón tú sí sabes quererme como a mí me gusta
Corazón, {tú sí sabes} [quererme] como <a mí> (me gusta)
Sweetheart, you sure know how to love me how I like
Heart, {you sure know how} [to love me] how <to me> (I like)
Here, “a mí” is technically unnecessary to convey the literal meaning, but it adds to the poetic rhythm and beauty of the lyrics (sí… mí). It adds balance to the line by emphasizing the suitor first, then emphasizing herself.
Also, “como a mí me gusta” (“how I like it”) is not such an unusual phrase. It is used in regular Mexican Spanish speech. When talking about what “I like”, the “I” part is important and Spanish “me” (I) is so short that it could be misheard as “te” (you), so adding an extra “a mí” doesn’t hurt. For the same reason, English uses unnecessary repetitions like “ATM machine” when the M already means machine. This is called tautology.
Soy la flor encendida que da color al jardín de tu vida.
I am the flaming flower that gives color to the garden of your life.
On first reading, this line sounded strange and out of tone with the the rest of the lyrics. It sounds kind of narcissistic to say this to someone else, doesn’t it? But on reflection, I think this is the singer showing that she is accepting her suitor’s love. They said this to her, and she is now accepting it and repeating it back.
Por favor no me dejes que soy valiente en corresponderte.
Please don’t leave me, for I am brave and reciprocate.
Please don’t leave me, for I am bravely corresponding.
Please don’t leave me, for I am brave in my response.
She is saying that she is answering their affections and feels the same. She means, “wait! I feel the same!”
Ha pasado tanto tiempo,
Finalmente sé que estoy dispuesta.
Es tan difícil encontrar un amor
Que aquí {me quedo} con heridas bien abiertas.
So much time has passed,
Finally I know that I am willing.
It is so difficult to find a love
And here I am with wounds wide open.
That here {I am left} with wounds wide open.
That here {I stay} with wounds wide open.
The singer has been hurt in love before and is cautious. This person shows her love and she avoided reciprocating for a long time, but they won her over. This song is her opening her heart to them and admitting that she is also in love with them, and that she is ready for a relationship.
Ya no me importa lo que piensan los demás,
Aquí me quedo para ser testigo siempre de la vida,
Aquí por siempre, para siempre,
Para siempre amarnos.
I don’t care anymore what others may think,
I stay here forever to be a witness to life.
Here forever, so forever,
So forever we can love each other.
This stanza suggests that she was holding back because of public opinion, but I am not sure if it was about her or her suitor, or possibly about both of them if this is a same-sex relationship. The song lyrics do not specify the suitor’s gender. Either way, she decided to follow her feelings and commit to being in this relationship because she wants happiness. She wants to stay here with them.
“Tu Si Sabes Quererme” by Natalia Lafourcade, lyrics translation. (I put the song title here without accents so it’s found on WordPress search.)
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