Spanish songs translated to English with side-by-side lyrics and notes for Spanish learners
“Stupid”
Singer: Linda “La India” Viera Caballero
Style: Pop with salsa influence, about a lying boyfriend and feeling dumb for falling for them.
Country: Puerto Rico
Qué estúpida te ves.
Sera ingenuidad.
Hay cosas en la vida que
No se pueden aceptar.
How stupid you look.
It must be some ingenuity.
There are things in life that
Cannot be accepted.
“Friend Spider” (1942)
Songwritter: Francisco “Cri-Cri” Gabilondo Soler
Style: Children’s song about a musical spider who rallies other household bugs and animals for a dance party. Cri-Cri is unique for his elaborate children’s stories with advanced Spanish vocabulary. He does not speak down to children. The songs are fun without being overly repetitive.
Country: Mexico
Listen: Cri-Cri (children’s song); Eugenia León (ballad style)
Al fondo del barril desvencijado
Que alumbra un rayo de sol,
La araña en sus hilos baila tango
Con los acordes del bandoneón.
At the bottom of the crumbling barrel
That a ray of sunlight illuminates,
The spider on its strings dances tango
With the chords of the bandonion.
“The Call”
Style: Drama pop song about a cheater who wants to get back together. This person cheats, gets caught, gets dumped, and then won’t stop calling! Selena is just going to keep hanging up. Stop calling her. I love songs with stories.
Country: United States (Texas); Mexico
Listen: YouTube
[Sound of phone ringing]
-Bueno…
-Soy yo, mi amor, antes de que me cuelgues no’ más dejame explicar que…
-Hello…
-It’s me, my love, before you hang up on me just let me explain that…
[Sound of phone hanging up]
Continue reading ““La Llamada” (The Call) by Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, English translation”“Our Love Will Be Legend”, 2009
Style: Pop, love song, about long-distance relationships
Country: Spain (Madrid)
Listen: YouTube
No hay doctor que me retenga,
No hay dolor que me detenga,
No hay planeta que me eclipse,
O de tu lado me desvíe.
There is no doctor who can retain me,
There is no pain that can detain me,
There is no planet that can eclipse me,
Or from your side divert me.
“Barbie of the Suburbs”, 2010
Style: Rock, bitter ex song
Country: Spain
Listen: YouTube
En la guerra, como en el amor,
Todo vale y siempre queda un perdedor.
Normalmente, pierde el que quiere más,
Al igual que en una mesa de black jack.
In war, like in love,
All’s fair and there is always a loser.
Usually, the loser is the one who loves the most,
Just like in a black jack table.
“Thursday” Lyrics
Album: A Las Cinco En El Astoria (Five o’ Clock at the Astoria), 2008
Style: Bittersweet romance song tied to a historical event. Two train riders with mutual crushes finally confess their interest in each other. This song is dedicated to the victims of the 2004 Madrid train bombing. Per the band, news of tragedies often focuses on the statistics, but they wanted to humanize the individual lives lost.
Country: Spain
Listen: YouTube
Si fuera más guapa y un poco más lista,
Si fuera especial, si fuera de revista,
Tendría el valor de cruzar el vagón
Y preguntarte quién eres.
If I were more beautiful and a bit smarter,
If I were special, if I were from magazines,
I would have the courage to cross the passenger car
And ask you who you are.
“With Every Word” Lyrics
Style: Controlled slow pace, sultry, with string instruments, poetic lust song.
Country: United States (New York); Mexico
Listen: YouTube
Con toda palabra,
Con toda sonrisa,
Con toda mirada,
Con toda caricia.
With every word,
With every smile,
With every glance,
With every caress.
“Eighth Day”
Album: ¿Dónde Están Los Ladrones? (Where Are The Thieves?), 1998
Style: Emo rock, brunette Shakira. This song wonders what God did after creation, and what he’s doing now. Eleven years later, Lily Allen released a similarly speculative song called “Him”. Both songs have rather pessimistic world views.
Country: Colombia
Listen: YouTube
El octavo día, Dios,
Después de tanto trabajar,
Para liberar tensiones
Luego ya de revisar,
The eighth day, God,
After so much working,
To relieve stress [*lit. To free tensions]
After looking over His work,
“Treacherous Butterfly” Translated Lyrics
Album: Revolución de Amor (Revolution of Love), 2002
Style: Rock, butterfly as metaphor for a woman who isn’t serious, fluttering from guy to guy and leaving behind heartbreak. One of my most popular translations.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube
Eres como una mariposa,
Vuelas y te posas, vas de boca en boca,
Facil y ligera, de quien te provoca.
You are like a butterfly,
You fly and you land, jumping from mouth to mouth —
Easy and light — of anyone who excites you.
“Photograph”
Album: Un Día Normal (A Normal Day), 2002
Style: Soft rock, nostalgic, about long-distance love whether romantic or platonic. The love is there but they have a hard time getting in touch, so they look at photographs instead.
Country: Colombia (Juanes), Canada (Nelly Furtado)
Listen: YouTube
Cada vez que yo me voy,
Llevo a un lado de mi piel
Tus fotografías para verlas cada vez
Que tú ausencia me devora entero el corazón
Y yo no tengo remedio más que amarte.
Every time that I leave,
I carry by my skin [*lit. I carry to the side of my skin]
Your photographs, to see them every time
That your absence eats my heart whole
And I have no other choice but to love you.
“Nice Life”, literally “Pretty”
Album: Bonito, 2003
Style: Cheerful, repetitive and upbeat pop song about enjoying life. A little hypnotic. I can imagine he is singing this song to himself as he goes for a walk, greeting everything he meets.
Country: Spain
Listen: YouTube
Bonito, todo me parece bonito.
Nice, everything seems nice to me.
Bonita mañana,
Bonito lugar,
Bonita la cama,
Qué bien se ve el mar.
Pretty morning,
Pretty place,
Pretty bed,
How good the sea looks.
“I Don’t Believe” Translated Lyrics
Album: ¿Dondé Están Los Ladrones? (Where Are The Thieves?), 1998
Style: Rock, brunette Shakira, love song about believing in a person over anyone or anything else. Their love is the most true and real thing for them.
Country: Colombia
Listen: YouTube
Chorus 1:
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Sólo tú sabes bien quien soy
Y por eso es tuyo mi corazón.
Sólo tú doblas mi razón
Y por eso a donde tú quieras voy.
Only you know (well) who I am
And that’s why you have my heart.
Only you can break my reason
And that’s why where you want me to go, I go.
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