“Ya No Insistas Corazón” (Stop Insisting, Heart) by Juan Gabriel, Vicente Fernández, English translation

“Stop Insisting, Heart” Lyrics
Album: Juan Gabriel con Mariachi Vol. II (1976); Vicente Fernandez (1978)
Style: Mariachi serenade asking either for love to be reciprocated, or for one’s heart to stop feeling unrequited love. The song is directed at both the love interest and at one’s own heart. Composed by Alberto Aguilera Valadez.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube

Translation:

Quiere el corazón, lo quieras como yo te quiero,
No seas cruel, no hagas más grande este sufrimiento,
Él para quererte solo está latiendo,
Quiérelo tan solo un poco, te lo está pidiendo.

The heart wants, for you to love it as I love you,
Don’t be cruel, don’t extend this suffering,
My heart, to love you, only needs a pulse,
Love it just a bit, it is pleading to you.

Quiérelo tan solo un poco, no te pide tanto.
No te importe que me humille si eso estás pensando.
Es mi corazón el que lo está necesitando,
Quiérelo tan solo un poco, no le importa cuanto.

Love it just a bit, it doesn’t ask you much.
Don’t let it matter to you that I humble myself, if that’s what you’re thinking.
It is my heart that needs this,
Love it just a bit, it doesn’t care how much.

Mi corazón, me está haciendo pedazos el alma.
Hay corazón, ya me dijo, que no, no me ama.
Hay corazón, ya no insistas, [que] me partes el alma.
Hay corazón, si no entiendes, ¿por qué no te callas?

My heart, it is breaking my soul into pieces.
Oh heart, she told me that, no, no she does not love me.
Oh heart, don’t insist anymore, you are breaking my soul.
Oh heart, if you don’t understand, why won’t you quiet down?

[Musical interlude]

Quiérelo tan solo un poco, no te pide tanto.
No te importe que me humille si eso estas pensando.
Es mi corazón el que lo esta necesitando,
Quiérelo tan solo un poco, no le importa cuanto.

Love it just a bit, it doesn’t ask you much.
Don’t let it bother you that I humble myself, if that’s what you’re thinking.
It is my heart who needs this,
Love it just a bit, it doesn’t care how much.

Mi corazón, me está haciendo pedazos el alma.
Hay corazón, ya me dijo, que no, no me ama. [Pero…]
Hay corazón, ya no insistas, me partes el alma.
Hay corazón, si no entiendes, ¿por qué no te callas?

My heart, it is breaking my soul into pieces.
Oh heart, she told me that, no, no she does not love me. [But…]
Oh heart, don’t insist anymore, you are breaking my soul.
Oh heart, if you don’t understand, why won’t you quiet down?

Si no entiendes, ¿por qué no te callas?

If you don’t understand, why won’t you quiet down?

Translation Notes:

Quiere el corazón {que} lo quieras como yo te quiero

The heart wants {for} you to love it as I love you
The heart wants {that} you love it like I love you [*more literal]

The singer talks about their heart in third person, as if the heart were a separate entity. This allows the singer to advocate for their own heart’s desire as if they were advocating for a friend. It is dramatic and poetic.

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No seas cruel, no hagas más grande este sufrimiento

Don’t be cruel, don’t extend this suffering
Don’t be cruel, don’t make this suffering greater [*more literal]

The singer’s love is unrequited and rejected. This song is a serenade asking the woman to reconsider. The singer calls the rejection cruel and tries to guilt-trip the woman.

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Él para quererte solo está latiendo

My heart, to love you, only needs a pulse [*literal to the meaning]
He [the heart], to love you, is only pulsing [*word-for-word literal]

This line poetically says that loving this woman is part of the heart’s very being and it just needs to be alive to continue loving her. As long as it has a pulse, it will love her.

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Quiérelo tan solo un poco, no te pide tanto.
No te importe que {me humille}
<Si eso> estás pensando.

Love it just a bit, it doesn’t ask you much.
Don’t let it matter to you that {I humble myself},
<If that’s> what you’re thinking.

Love it at least a little, it doesn’t ask you much.
Don’t let it matter to you that {I embarrass myself},
<If that> is what you are thinking.

The singer is seranading a woman who already rejected him. He wants her to reconsider and he is telling her that she can do so out of pity if she wants, and not to worry if that hurts his social standing. If his serenade is a success, he doesn’t care if he’s humbled.

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Es mi corazón el que lo está necesitando

It is my heart that needs this
It is my heart that is needing this [*more literal]

The singer tells the woman that he is doing this serenade on behalf of his heart, because his heart needs him to try again. Later, he tells her that it’s ok if she just loves him a little bit. A little is better than nothing.

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Mi corazón, me está haciendo pedazos el alma.
Hay corazón, ya me dijo, que no, no me ama.

My heart, it is breaking my soul into pieces.
Oh heart, she told me (now) that, no, no she does not love me.

At this point, the lyrics switch focus and the singer begins to focus inward. The woman again rejected him, the seranade failed to change her mind, and the singer breaks the news to his heart. The ya here suggests that this is something that just happened again. Ya me dijo could also mean “she already told me”, but that was true before the serenade began.

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Hay corazón, ya no insistas, [que] me partes el alma.
Hay corazón, si no entiendes, ¿por qué no te callas?

Oh heart, don’t insist anymore, you are breaking my soul.
Oh heart, if you don’t understand, why won’t you quiet down?

Oh heart, don’t insist anymore, [for] you are breaking my soul.
Oh heart, if you don’t understand, why won’t you shut up?

The singer pleads with his own heart to stop insisting, to stop with the heartbreak feelings. If his heart won’t understand that “no” means “no”, then can’t it at least shut up and feel numb, instead of constantly, figuratively yelling at him? The intensity of the “shut up” translation is more correct, but it sounds too casual next to the other poetic language. The best translation would be somewhere between “shut up” (intense) and “quiet down” (polite). The singer isn’t angry at his heart. He just knows that the woman won’t be convinced to love him back, and he needs his heart to find some kind of acceptance, even if it will never understand.

Other Renditions:

Juan Gabriel, soulful, with full orchestra:

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“Ya No Insistas Corazon” (Stop Insisting, Heart), composed by Alberto Aguilera, popularized by singer Juan Gabriel, covered by singer Vicente Fernandez.