“Bonita” (Pretty Woman) by Juanes and Sebastián Yatra, English translation

“Pretty Woman”
Album: Más Futuro Que Pasado (More Future Than Past), 2019
Style: Pop love song about falling in love by accident after meeting a girl at a party. Lots of references to Colombian culture.
Country: Colombia
Listen: YouTube

Lyrics Translation:

No quería enamorarme
Y me fui de fiesta con mis amigos,
No pensé que encontrarte era mi destino.

I didn’t want to fall in love
And I went partying with my friends,
Didn’t think that finding you was my destiny.

Yo te dije corazón, acércate, por favor.
Vos tenés esa faldita, todos pierden la razón.
Si te está gustando mucho, te pido perdón
Y después de un vallenato, nos vamos los dos.

I told you, my love, get close to me please.
You’ve got that skirt, makes everyone lose their mind.
If you’re liking this, I ask your forgiveness,
And after a vallenato song, we’ll leave, the two of us.

Porque tú tienes esa cara bonita,
Yo enloquecido con tu cuerpo, ¿qué voy a hacer?
Sin darme cuenta, me perdí en tu boquita,
Que no me busquen que yo nunca quiero volver.

Because you have that pretty face,
I’m crazy over your body, what can I do?
Without realizing it, I lost myself in your mouth,
No one search for me because I don’t want to be found.

Solo un idiota va a dejarte solita,
Con esas ganas de besarte, bonita,
No seas tan mala, ven dame una vueltita,
Tú tienes eso que mi cuerpo necesita.

Only an idiot would leave you all alone,
With this deep desire to kiss you, pretty,
Don’t be so mean, come give me a twirl,
You’ve got that “It” that my body needs.

Ay, mujer bonita,
Ay, mujer bonita,
Ay, mujer bonita,
Tú tienes eso que mi cuerpo necesita.

Ay, pretty woman,
Ay, pretty woman,
Ay, pretty woman,
You’ve got that It that my body needs.

De Colombia para el mundo…

From Colombia to the world…

Tú eres una de esas que te rompen la cabeza,
Mamamasota, mamacita, lo que quiera princesa,
Yo a ti te llevo a Medallo, tomamos guaro y cerveza
Y dale…

You’re one of those that breaks heads,
Big momma, lil’ momma, whatever you want, princess,
You, I’ll take up to Medellín [city], we’ll drink guaro liquor and beer
And go…

Déjame ver cómo lo, cómo lo mueves tú y tú,
Cómo lo, cómo lo bailas tú y tú,
Cómo lo, cómo lo mueves tú y tú,
Cómo lo, cómo lo bailas.
(x2)

Let me see how you, how you move it, you move it,
How you, how you dance it, and you dance it,
How you, how you move it, and you move it,
How you, how you dance it.
(x2)

Porque tú tienes esa cara bonita,
Yo enloquecido con tu cuerpo, ¿qué voy a hacer?
Sin darme cuenta me perdí en tu boquita,
Que no me busquen que yo nunca quiero volver.

Because you have that pretty face,
I’m crazy over your body, what can I do?
Without realizing it, I lost myself in your mouth,
No one search for me because I don’t want to be found.

Solo un idiota va a dejarte solita,
Con esas ganas de besarte, bonita,
No seas tan mala, ven dame una vueltita,
Tú tienes eso que mi cuerpo necesita.

Only an idiot would leave you all alone,
With this deep desire to kiss you, pretty,
Don’t be so mean, come give me a twirl,
You’ve got that “It” that my body needs.

Ay, mujer bonita
Ay, mujer bonita
Ay, mujer bonita
Tú tienes eso que mi cuerpo necesita.
(x2)

Ay, pretty woman,
Ay, pretty woman,
Ay, pretty woman,
You’ve got that It that my body needs.
(x2)

Translation Notes:

Vos tenés esa faldita… todos pierden la razón.

You’ve got that skirt… makes everyone lose their mind.

You’ve got that skirt… everyones lose their reasoning. [*word-for-word literal]

Vos = alternative tú = you (second person singular subject pronoun)

Vos is used in some Spanish speaking countries regularly, e.g. Argentina, Colombia. In other Spanish speaking countries where it isn’t normally used, it is still understood but sounds archaic, similar to English “thou”. This reddit thread explains more: “What on earth is vos” (r/Spanish, 2024)

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Y después de un vallenato, nos vamos los dos.

And after a vallenato song, we’ll leave, the two of us.

Vallenato is a folk music genre in Colombia. “Un vallenato” (a vallenato) would be one song in this genre, like saying “a ballad” or “a tango”. The singer says they should stay to enjoy a song, then leave together to enjoy each other’s company.

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Sin darme cuenta, me perdí en tu [boquita],
Que no <me busquen> {que} yo {nunca} quiero volver.

Without realizing it, I lost myself in your [mouth],
No one <search for me> {because} I {don’t} want to be found.

More literal:
Without realizing it, I got lost in your [little mouth],
Let no one search for me, {for} I {never} want to return.

The word “que” is very versatile and can begin several different types of phrases. Pay attention to the verb conjugations to understand the context.

The first “que” is giving an order and uses the imperative conjugation of buscar (to search).

The second “que” is giving an explanation and uses present tense.

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Solo un idiota va a dejarte solita

Only an idiot would leave you all alone

Using sola (alone) with the –ita (small) diminutive makes solita sound extra solitary, therefore “all alone”.

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Tú tienes eso que mi cuerpo necesita.

You’ve got that “It” that my body needs.

Usually eso (that _____) would refer to something that was already mentioned previously or something that was being pointed to. Since eso is not defined, it becomes “that it” or “that thing”.

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Mamamasota, mamacita, lo que quiera princesa

Big momma, lil’ momma, whatever you want, princess

The singer is experimenting with pet names, e.g. adding the suffixes –sota (big, large) and –cita (little).

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Yo a ti te llevo a Medallo, tomamos guaro y cerveza

You, I’ll take up to Medellín [Colombian city], we’ll drink guaro liquor and beer

“Medallo” is slang for “Medellín”, the second largest city in Colombia.

Guaro is a “soft liquor” made of sugar cane in Central and South America. It has less alcohol than vodka, usually about 30% alcohol by volume.

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Déjame ver cómo lo, cómo lo mueves tú y tú,
Cómo lo, cómo lo bailas tú y tú,
Cómo lo, cómo lo mueves tú y tú

Let me see how you, how you move it, you move it,
How you, how you dance it, and you dance it,
How you, how you move it, and you move it

I think the repetition of “tú y tú” is a reference to classic Latin American love song, “Piel Canela” (Cinnamon Skin). It is a linguistic quirk of that 1950s song that isn’t commonly used otherwise.

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“Bonita” by Juanes and Sebastian Yatra