“Pan y Miel” (Bread and Honey) by Los Tigres Del Norte, English translation of lyrics

“Bread and Honey” Lyrics Translated
Album: Pan y Miel (Bread and Honey), 2023
Style: Duet ranchera recounting the first conversation between two friends, discussing the same woman and trying to figure out each other’s intentions. It is a cute song.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube

Lyrics Translation:

Me gusta recordar la historia de como nos conocimos.
Yo bien preguntón y aqui mi compa’ tan enojón.

I like to recount the story of how we met.
I very full of questions and here my guy so irritable.

Hola mi brother, que tal, hablame de esa chica de ayer en la fiesta.
La de los ojos bonitos, el pelo rizado y sonrisa traviesa.
Disculpa la pregunta, pero antes de ti, yo bailaba con ella,
Y sería tan genial que un día pudiera ser de mi cielo mi estrella.

Hello my brother, how’s it going, tell me about that chick from yesterday at the party.
She of the pretty eyes, the wavy hair and the mischievous smile.
Forgive the question, but before you, I was dancing with her,
And it would be so great if one day she would be the star of my sky.

¿Qué onda, qué transa, ponqué la pregunta, porqué te interesa?
Ella no es del montón si es lo que andas pensando.
A ella me la respetas.

What’s up, what’s your con, why the question, why does she interest you?
She isn’t an average run of the mill girl if that’s what you’re thinking.
Her, you respect her for me.

No te molestes, mi amigo, es verdad lo que digo,
¿Apoco no es bella?
Y si tú no vas enserio, te ruego carnal,
Dame chance con ella.

Do not get offended, my friend, it is true what I say,
Or isn’t she beautiful?
And if you are not going in seriously, I beg you my brother,
Give me a chance with her.

Si es que tú estas pensando
Que es un pan de miel para libidinosos,
Vas acabar probando lo que yo cocino
Y no es nada sabroso.

If you are thinking
That she is some honey bread for the libidinous,
You are going to end up tasting what I cook
And it won’t be anything tasty.

Pero cálmate amigo, controla tus nervios
Que no es para tanto.

But calm down my friend, control your nerves,
There’s no need to be like that.

Yo por ella me juego la vida completa
Y estas avisado.

I, for her, will gamble my whole life
And you are warned.

[Musical interlude]

Creo que tomaste las cosas del lado contrario, carnal, yo no juego.
Esa criatura me gusta pero te confieso que voy muy enserio.
Yo pretendo tratarla, cuidarla, mimarla y hacerla dichosa,
Y si se dan las cosas, la llevo a la iglesia y la vuelvo mi esposa.

I think you took things the wrong way, my brother, I don’t play.
I like that creature (of God) but I confess to you that I’m going in very seriously.
I intend to treat her, take care of her, pamper her and make her happy,
And if things work out, I take her to the church and I make her my wife.

Para, para, mi amigo, comento otra vez eso
Que estás diciendo.

Stop, stop, my friend, I tell you again
What are you saying.

Por supuesto carnal que yo voy muy enserio,
El amor no es un juego.

Of course, my brother, my intentions are serious,
Love is not a game.

Ahora sí ya entendí, me callo bien el veinte, tu onda no es mala.
Yo te libro el camino, hasta te la presento…
Ella es mi carnala.

Now I do understand, I got the message, your vibe is not bad.
I will clear your path, I will even present her to you…
She is my sister.

Translation Notes:

Yo bien preguntón y aqui [mi compa’] tan enojón.

I very full of questions and here [my guy] so irritable.

In Spanish, the suffix –ón is used to mean someone is filled with or has a lot of something. Someone who is preguntón is someone who asks a lot of questions (preguntas), and adding bien in front is a way to emphasize that like English “really” or “very”.

Someone who is enojón is full of enojo (anger, irritation, annoyance).

Compa‘ is short for compadre, which here means buddy, friend, pal, fellow human.

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Hola mi brother, que tal, hablame de esa chica de ayer en la fiesta.

Hello my brother, how’s it going, tell me about that chick from yesterday at the party.

The bold is Spanglish, not Spanish. The most commonly studied second language in Mexico is English, and Mexicans borrows English words for casual speech sometimes.

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Y sería tan genial que [un día pudiera ser] {de mi cielo} mi estrella.

And it would be so great if one day she would be the star of my sky.
And it would be so great if one day she would be the star of my heavens.
And it would be so great if [one day she could be] {of my sky}, my star. [*literal]

In Spanish, el cielo means both “the sky” (literally) and “the heavens”. The star references the guiding star, or a special star that is especially important.

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[A ella] {me} la respetas.

You respect her for me.
[To her] {for me} you respect her.

There is an implied “or else” due to the “me [direct object] [verb]” structure. He is saying, do this for me or there will be consequences.

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Y si tú no vas enserio, te ruego carnal,
Dame chance con ella.

And if you are not going in seriously, I beg you my brother,
Give me a chance with her.

The noun carnal means “carnal” and literally refers to a blood relative. It is way of referring to family members and a slang way of referring to other people very close to you (platonically). If you are trying to be especially friendly, then you can use it for non-family that you are trying to remind of shared roots (same hometown, same background, etc). You see this second use a lot in this song, with one guy trying to keep the conversation friendly with another guy while he tries to learn more about the woman who caught his eye.

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{Esa criatura} [me gusta] (pero te confieso) que voy muy enserio.

[I like] {that creature of God} (but I confess to you) that I’m going in very seriously.
[I like] {that child} (but I confess to you) that I enter this situation very seriously.

Guy #1 uses this Christian religion-inspired wording here make it clear that he is not seeing the woman he is interested in as a possible one-night stand or short fling. He is seeing her with benevolent intentions, or at least that is what he is trying to convey to Guy #2.

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Yo pretendo tratarla, cuidarla, mimarla y hacerla dichosa,
Y si se dan las cosas, la llevo a la iglesia y la vuelvo mi esposa.

I intend to treat her, take care of her, pamper her and make her happy,
And if things work out, I take her to the church and I make her my wife.

Guy #1 is emphasizing that he wants a relationship and that he will be a good partner.

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Por supuesto carnal que yo voy muy enserio, el amor no es un juego.

Of course, my brother, my intentions are serious, love is not a game.
Of course, blood relative, for I go in very serious, love is not a game.

Guy #1 is using carnal informally here (Guy #2 is not actually his blood relative). He is reiterating again that his intentions are sincere and that he is looking for love.

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Ahora sí ya entendí, me callo bien el veinte, tu onda no es mala.

Now I do understand, I got the message, your vibe is not bad.

The phrase “me callo el veinte” is a Mexican colloquialism meaning “I understood” or “I get it now”. It isn’t a phrase I use myself, but I found an explanation on the forum Quora:

En la segunda mitad del siglo pasado, los teléfonos públicos en México funcionaban con monedas de 20 centavos. Para hacer una llamada telefónica, se introducía una moneda de veinte centavos en la ranura, discabas el número telefónico al que querías marcar y si te contestaban del otro lado de la línea, la moneda de 20 centavos caía dentro de la caja y podías iniciar tu conversación. De ahí que cuando se establecía la comunicación y ya podías hablar con tu interlocutor del otro lado de la línea, era porque ya había caído la moneda de 20 centavos. Por extensión, cuando queríamos decir que ya habíamos entendido lo que alguien nos quería decir, la forma de dar a entender que ya habíamos comprendido o que ya por fin habíamos establecido una comunicación correcta, era decir: “Ya me cayó el veinte” para dar a entender “Ya te entendí”.

Fernando R. Serranía, Quora answer to ¿Qué significa la expresión mexicana: ‘Caer el veinte’?

My translation:

In the second half of the past century [20th century], the public telephones in Mexico worked with coins of 20 cents. To make a phone call, one placed a coin of twenty cents into the slot, dialed the desired phone number and if they answered you on the other side of the line, the coin of 20 cents fell into the coin box and you were able to start your conversation. Thus when the connection initiated and you were able to speak to the person on the other end of the line, it was because the 20 cents coin had already fallen. By extension, when we wanted to say that we had understood what someone wanted to tell us, the way to make clear that we had comprehended or that finally we had made the correct connection, we said: “My twenty fell in now” to mean “I understood you now.”

Cairaguas Gonzalez’ English translation of Fernando R. Serranía’s Spanish language answer to What does the Mexican expression ‘Caer el veinte’ (‘Make fall the twenty’) mean?

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Yo te libro el camino, hasta te la presento…
Ella es mi carnala.

I will clear your path, I will even present her to you…
She is my sister.

Here, Guy #2 reveals that the reason he was so defensive of the woman is that the woman is his actual sister. Here, carnala (the feminine of carnal) is literal.