“Te Vi Pasar” (I Saw You Pass) by Natalia Lafourcade, Agustín Lara cover, English translation of lyrics

“I Saw You Pass” Lyrics
Album: Musas (Muses), 2017
Style: Folk romance song about an unrequited love that you see from afar, but who doesn’t notice you.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube

Translation:

¡Un, dos, tres…!
Hoy te he mirado sin quererlo,
Te he mirado a mi lado pasar,
Pasar muy cerca de mí.

One, two, three…!
Today I’ve seen you without meaning to,
I’ve seen you passing by me,
Passing so close to me.

Aquellos ojos, dos cristales,
Que hace tiempo
Reflejaron su amor,
No se fijaron en mí.

Those eyes, two crystals,
That some time ago
Reflected their love,
Did not notice me.

Tenía tantas cosas que decirte,
Tanto que contarte que ya no te pude hablar.
Me tuve que callar mis sentimientos,
No supe de tu aliento; nomás te vi pasar.

I had so many things to say to you,
So much to tell you that I couldn’t speak.
I had to quiet my feelings,
I knew not of your breath; I just saw you pass.

Hoy te he mirado sin quererlo,
Te he mirado a mi lado pasar,
Pasar muy cerca de mí.

Today I’ve seen you without meaning to,
I’ve seen you passing by me,
Passing so close to me.

Tenía tantas cosas que decirte,
Tanto que contarte que ya no te pude hablar.
Me tuve que callar mis sentimientos,
No supe de tu aliento; nomás te vi pasar.

I had so many things to say to you,
So much to tell you that I couldn’t speak.
I had to quiet my feelings,
I knew not of your breath; I just saw you pass.

Hoy te he mirado sin quererlo,
Te he mirado a mi lado pasar,
Pasar muy cerca de mí.

Today I’ve seen you without meaning to,
I’ve seen you passing by me,
Passing so close to me.

Me dejaste llorando,
Llorando por ti.

You left me crying,
Crying for you.

Translation Notes:

Tenía [tantas cosas] que {decirte}

Literal, then more word-for-word literal translation:
I had [so many things] {to say to you}
I had [so many things] that (I wanted/needed) {to say to you}

---

[Tanto] que {contarte} (que ya no) te pude hablar

[So much] {to tell you} (that) I couldn’t speak
So much {to tell you} (that no longer) could I speak

---

{Me tuve que} callar [mis sentimientos]

{I had to} quiet [my feelings]

Here, both me and mis contribute to the translation of “my” in “my feelings”, but their meaning is slightly different. Me + verb means you’re doing verb to yourself, whereas mis literally means “my” before a plural noun.

Another correct grammatical way of saying the same thing would be:
Me tuve que callar los sentimientos

However, mis sentimientos (my feelings) makes it sound more personal than los sentimientos.

---

“Te Vi Pasar” by Natalia Lafourcade, Agustin Lara cover