“Pídeme la Luna” (Ask Me For the Moon) by Cali Carranza, English translation

“Ask me for the moon”, 1993
About: Tejano romantica. Love song dedicated to a life partner or long-term sweetheart on the way to becoming a life partner.
Country: USA (Texas)
Listen: YouTube

Lyrics Translation:

Las horas más lindas,
Las paso contigo, sí.
No quiero ni pensar si un día me faltas tú,
No quiero ni pensarlo, amor.

The most beautiful hours,
I pass them with you, yes.
I don’t even want to think about a day when you’re gone,
I don’t even want to think about it, my love.

Tú me acostumbraste
A ser como un niño,
No quiero ni pensar si un día me faltas tú,
No quiero ni pensarlo, amor.

You got me used to
Being like a child,
I don’t even want to think about a day when you’re gone,
I don’t even want to think about it, my love.

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[Chorus:]

Pídeme la luna y te la bajaré,
Pídeme una estrella y hasta allá me iré,
Mas nunca me digas: “no te quiero más”,
Porque esas palabras me hacen mucho mal.

Ask me for the moon and I will lower it for you,
Ask me for a star and I’ll go even that far,
But never tell me, “I don’t love you anymore,”
Because those words would cause me so much harm.

Pídeme la vida y te demostraré
Cuánto yo te quise y cuánto te amaré,
Tú fuiste y has sido, para mí, el amor,
Regalo más lindo que me ha dado Dios.

Ask me for my whole life and I’ll show you
How much I loved you and how much more I will love you, [*past and future tenses]
You were and have been, for me, true love,
The most beautiful gift that I’ve received from God.

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Quisiera esta noche
Tenerte conmigo, amor,
No quiero ni pensar si un día me faltas tú,
No quiero ni pensarlo, amor.

I would like, tonight,
To have you with me, my love,
I don’t even want to think about a day when you’re gone,
I don’t even want to think about it, my love.

Tú me acostumbraste
A ser como un niño,
No quiero ni pensar si un día me faltas tú,
No quiero ni pensarlo, amor.

You got me used to
Being like a child,
I don’t even want to think about a day when you’re gone,
I don’t even want to think about it, my love.

[Chorus x2]

Pídeme la luna y te la bajaré,
Pídeme una estrella y hasta allá me iré,
Mas nunca me digas: “no te quiero más”,
Porque esas palabras me hacen mucho mal.

Ask me for the moon and I will lower it for you,
Ask me for a star and I’ll go even that far,
But never tell me, “I don’t love you anymore,”
Because those words would cause me so much harm.

Translation Notes:

No quiero <ni> pensar {si} un día me faltas tú

I don’t <even> want to think {about} a day when you’re gone

I don’t want to <even> think {if/about} a day that I lack you [*extra literal]

The word ni is often used in dual negative phrases, usually “ni… ni…” (not… nor…). Here, it is used as an intensifier for the negative phrase.

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Tú me acostumbraste
A ser como un niño

You got me used to
Being like a child

The singer means that his sweetheart takes such good care of him that he is almost like a child, with all his needs met, with nothing to ever worry about. Mexican Spanish uses the phrase “ser como un niño” in contexts where English might say “to be without a care in the world”.

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Mas nunca me digas: “no te quiero más”,
Porque esas palabras me hacen mucho mal.

But never tell me, “I don’t love you anymore,”
Because those words [would] cause me so much harm.

The translation is more word-for-word literal without “would” because the bold line is in present tense, but that translation would be incorrect and misleading. It would sound like the singer’s sweetheart was breaking up with him, but that is not what the lyrics mean. Their relationship is good. The singer is telling his sweetheart to never say “I don’t love you anymore” to him because those words would be like poison to him. That scenario has not actually happened, but it makes him feel ill to even think about it.

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(“Pideme la luna” by Cali Carranza. Whenever the title or artist has accented letters, I need to place the no-accent version somewhere in the post so that WordPress search finds it.)

Happy upcoming Valentine’s Day!