“Cuando Llora Mi Guitarra” (When My Guitar Weeps) by Augusto Polo Campo, Julio Jaramillo, English translation

“When My Guitar Weeps”
Composer: Augusto Polo Campos
Album: El Ruiseñor de América (Julio Jaramillo), 1962
Style: Early 20th century pasillo. Melancholy romance song calling out to a lost lover through music.
Country: Peru
Listen: YouTube has renditions by Los Morochucos, Julio Jaramillo (my favorite), Tania Libertad, Eva Ayllon, Juan Diego Florez, and more.

Translation:

Cansado de llamarte,
Con mi alma destrozada,
Comprendo que no vienes porque no quiere Dios.

Tired of calling you,
With my spirit shattered,
I understand that you do not come because God does not wish it.

Y al ver que inútilmente, te envío mis palabras,
Llorando mi guitarra, te deja oír su voz.
(x2)

And on seeing how futilely I send my words to you,
Weeping, my guitar lets you hear its voice.
(x2)

Llora guitarra porque eres mi voz de dolor.
Grita su nombre de nuevo si no te escuchó.

Weep my guitar because you are my voice of pain.
Yell her name once again if she didn’t hear you.

-Coda-
Y dile que aún la quiero,
Que aún espero que vuelva,
Que si no viene mi amor no tiene consuelo,
Que solitario sin su cariño me muero.

And tell her that even now I love her,
That even now I wait for her return,
That if she does not come my love has no consolation,
That lonely (lit. solitary) without her affection, I die.

Guitarra, tú que interpretas en tu vibrar mi quebranto,
Tú que recibes en tu madero mi llanto,
Llora conmigo si no la vieras volver.

Guitar, you that conveys (lit. interprets) in your vibration my affliction,
You that receives in your wood my cry,
Weep with me if you won’t see her return.

[Repeat from coda]

Translation Notes:

llorar = to cry, to weep

—

Llorando mi guitarra, te deja oír su voz.
Weeping, my guitar lets you hear its voice.

Alt. Llorando mi guitarra, se deja oír su voz.
Weeping, my guitar lets its voice be heard.