Spanish song lyrics translated to English: side-by-side lyrics, song meanings, and translation notes for people learning Spanish.
“Our Love Will Be Legend”, 2009
Genre: Pop, love song, about long-distance relationships
Country: Spain (Madrid)
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
Genre: Rock, bitter ex song
Country: Spain
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
Genre: 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
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
Genre: Controlled slow pace, sultry, with string instruments, poetic lust song.
Country: United States (New York); Mexico
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
Genre: 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
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
Genre: 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
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
Genre: 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)
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
Genre: 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
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
Genre: 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
Chorus 1:
————————————————————1
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.
————————————————————/1
“Something About You” Lyrics Translation
Genre: Electric pop, catchy. This song’s background sounds like the Kill Bill soundtrack, maybe with hints of Mamma Mia. Anyway, it got stuck in my head.
Country: Mexico
Cierro los ojos sin mirar atrás.
Las cosas buenas pasan más y más
Y tus errores tienen la virtud
De hacerme mal.
I close my eyes without looking back.
Good things happen more and more
And your mistakes have the power
To do me harm.
“Scouting Your Corner”
Genre: 1945 Tango
Countries: Argentina (Enrique), Ecuador (Julio)
Listen: Renditions by Julio Jaramillo at YouTube (my favorite) and Enrique Cadícamo at a tango site (original composer).
Esta noche tengo ganas de buscarla,
De borrar lo que ha pasado y perdonarla.
This night I feel the urge to search for her,
To erase what happened and forgive her.
Ya no me importa el qué dirán
Ni de las cosas que hablarán…
¡Total la gente siempre habla!
It does not matter to me anymore what they will say
Nor the things they will talk about…
People always talk anyway!
“Hu, Hu, Hu”
Album: Hu, Hu, Hu (2009)
Genre: Light, airy, pop/rock. The singers control the song metric really well. They almost put me in a trance. I call the style “airy,” but that is more about the mood. The singing voices are quite strong.
Country: Mexico
Intro:
————————————————————–
Quiero regalarte las estrellas, [*regalar = lit. gift (verb)]
Sol, la luna entera,
Una hora extra para respirar.
I want to give you the stars,
The sun, the full moon,
An extra hour to breathe.
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