Spanish songs translated to English with side-by-side lyrics and notes for Spanish learners
“Chaotic Beauty” Lyrics
Album: Caótica Belleza (Chaotic Beauty), 2015
Style: Alternative pop. A love song to the beauty of nature and rural landscapes, and their chaotic charm.
Countries: Colombia, Mexico
Listen: YouTube
Un lugar para estar
Y vivir lo que se hereda,
Una canción sin condición
Para sonar lo que nos queda.
A place to be
And live what one inherits,
A song without condition
To sound out what we have left.
“The Moving In of an Ant” Lyrics Translation
Album: Alquimia (Alchemy), 2022
Style: Pop, love song of a blossoming relationship that starts to solidify into a life partnership. It is about the slow migration of personal items as they slowly move in together.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube
¡Ja! Vas, leoncita (ja, ja, ja, ja)
¡Guaar! (Arre)
Ha! Go, lil lioness (ha ha ha ha)
Rawr! (Yeah)
Te dejo aquí en un rinconcito mi cepillo.
Entre tus cosas mi vestido amarillo,
Un par de tenis para caminar juntitos, por si se ofrece.
(Dale, Glo)
I leave you here in a little corner, my toothbrush.
Between your things, my yellow dress,
A pair of tennis shoes to walk together, in case one offers.
(Go, Glo)
Puede que exista un lugarcito ahí en tu casa
Para mis letras, mi guitarra y mi pijama.
Por si dormimos esta noche ahí en tu cama
Por si se ofrece. (¡Ah!)
There could exist a little space in you home
For my letters, my guitar, and my pajama.
In case we sleep tonight in your bed,
In case one offers. (Ah!)
“The Love of my Life” Lyrics
Album: Se Agradece (One Is Thankful), 2024
Style: Cumbia love song about being ready to start a life with someone. The lyrics have wordplay: ready to make love to you… I mean, to make you the love of my life!
Country: Mexico, Argentina
Listen: YouTube
Vámonos lejos de aquí,
Ay, papi, dime que sí,
Que ya yo estoy lista para amarte
Sin olvidarme de mí.
Let’s get away from here,
Oh daddy, tell me yes,
Because I’m ready to love you
Without forgetting about me.
“The Rowdy Bull” Lyrics
Album: Dreaming of You, 1995
Style: Ranchera written by Felipe Bermejo, sung by various including Selena Quintanilla. It’s a mariachi song about calming a charging bull while flirting with your sweetheart who watches from the sidelines.
Country: Mexico; USA (Texas)
Listen: YouTube
(A~)Aguas que ahí viene un toro,
Es el relajo,
Escóndete tras las trancas, chatita,
Que viene bravo.
Watch out, here comes a bull,
He’s the source of that commotion,
Hide yourself behind the fence bars, shortie,
Because he’s seeing red.
“We Were Doing So Well” Lyrics
Album: Camas Separadas (Separate Beds), 2018
Style: Pop/rock, soft rock. A woman is taken by surprise by a breakup. She thought they were okay and laments that she didn’t even get the chance to address issues in the relationship.
Country: Argentina
Listen: YouTube
Me lo has dicho mil veces,
Se ha clavado en mi mente,
Decidiste partir por razones urgentes.
You have told me a thousand times,
It has gotten stuck in my head,
You decided to leave for urgent reasons.
“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
¡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.
“Like the Olive Trees” Lyrics
Album: Pafuera Telarañas (Out with the Cobwebs), 2004
Style: Flamenco hip/hop, song about a passionate romance against the peaceful backdrop of Spain’s pastures.
Country: Spain
Listen: YouTube
Como los olivos
Sudan aceite,
Mi cuerpo resbala sobre tu piel.
Duerme hombre tranquilo en el jardín del edén
Que la humedad desprende sabor a miel.
Like the olives
Sweat oil,
My body slips over your skin.
Sleep, man, serenely in the garden of Eden
For the humidity gives off a taste of honey.
“The Alms”
Songwriter: Horacio Sanguinetti (pen name of Horacio Basterra)
Style: Tango ballad about charity and poverty. An orphan on the streets tries unsuccessfully to beg outside of a rich party. Help fight hunger by donating to Feeding America or your local food bank.
Country: Uruguay (Horatio Sanguinetti); Ecuador (Julio Jaramillo)
Listen: This is an old song that has many renditions, including one from the prolific early-mid 20th century singer Julio Jaramillo (YouTube). Also sung by Jose Manuel Calderon, Juan Bautista, Juan José Guichandut (music composer), and others.
[Alternative lyrics are shown for the underlined text. The alternative shown is for Julio Jaramillo’s version.]
En la puerta de un palacio, un pobre niño mendigaba:
“¡Tengo hambre, tengo frío, tenga usted de mí, piedad!*” [*underlined alt. piedad de mi!]
Era agosto, pleno invierno y la lluvia taladraba
A su débil cuerpecito que era carne de orfandad.
At the door of a palace, a poor boy begged:
“I am hungry, I am cold, have you for me, pity!*” [*underlined alt. pity for me!]
It was August, in the middle of winter and (with) the rain striking down
On his weak little body which was the flesh of orphanhood.
“Reminiscences” Lyrics
Style: Pasillo romance song from mid-20th century Ecuador about remembering a past lover. Pasillo is like Latin American bolero music (romantic lyrics) and European waltz (musical sound), but includes guitar, mandolin, and other string instruments in addition to piano. No one is better at romantic poetry than Julio Jaramillo.
Country: Ecuador
Listen: YouTube
Amada, es imposible borrar de mi memoria,
Me persigue el recuerdo de tu extraño mirar,
Esa risa tan tuya, tus labios tentadores,
Que dejaron su encanto prendido en mi ansiedad.
Beloved, it is impossible to erase from my memory,
It pursues me, the memory of your strange gaze,
That laugh so yours, your lips so tempting,
Who left their enchantment aflame in my restless mind.
“You and the Clouds” Lyrics
Style: Ranchera, Mexican oldie from the mid-20th century. This unrequited love song was featured in the Mexican movie La Fiera (1956).
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube
Ay, ay, ay
(Cariño, mío, ríndete ya)
Ay, ay, ay
(My dear, hang your white flag)
Ando volando bajo,
Mi amor está por lo suelos,
Y tú tan alto, tan alto,
Mirando mis desconsuelos,
Sabiendo que soy un hombre
Que está muy lejos del cielo.
I am flying low,
My love is dragging the floors,
And you so high, so high,
Watching my grief,
Knowing that I am a man
Who is very far from heaven.
“Of All the Flowers” Lyrics Translation
Album: De Todas Las Flores (Of All the Flowers), 2022
Style: Jazzy, folk, piano and string. Song reminiscing about a happy romance that ended.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube
De todas las flores que sembramos
Solo quedan unas encendidas.
Cada mañana se preguntan
Cuándo llegarás para cantarles.
Of all the flowers that we sowed
Only a few remain aflare.
Every morning they ask themselves
When will you come to sing to them.
“The Drunk Arrived Drunk” Lyrics Translation
Style: Corrido (storytelling country music style of Mexico). Song about two drunks keeping each other company and how an unfortunate and minor argument led to their deaths.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube
Llego borracho el borracho,
Pidiendo cinco tequilas,
Y le dijo el cantinero,
Se acabaron las bebidas.
Si quieres echarte un trago,
Vamonos a otra cantina.
The drunk arrived drunk,
Asking for five tequilas,
And the barman told him,
This bar has dried up.
If you want to have a drink,
Let’s go to another bar.
Songlations 
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