“Mezcalito” (A Little Mezcal) by Lila Downs, English translation of lyrics

“A Little Mezcal Drink” Lyrics
Album: Pecados y milagros (Sins and miracles), 2011
Style: Joyful party mariachi rock. Song about drinking mezcal, an alcoholic drink made from agave (“maguey“) plants in Mexico, including a specific subtype called espadín or dobiji. Mezcal Day is next week, October 21st. Enjoy and drink responsibly.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube

Lyrics Translation:

Brinda con el pensamiento,
Gotita lluvia de calor.
Mi culpa, Dobiji,
Es por mi culpa, señor.

Toast with your thoughts,
Little rain droplet of heat.
My fault, Dobiji,
It is my fault, sir.

Bebí de tu memoria,
Aroma a tierra, agave y sol.
Yo soy la que le gusta
Este castigo mejor.

I drank of your memory,
Aroma of earth, agave, and sun.
I am the one who prefers
This punishment instead.

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“A Quién Vas A Amar Más Que A Mí” (Who Will You Love More Than Me) by Vicente Fernández, English translation

“Who Will You Love More Than Me”
Album: Para Siempre (Forever), 2007
Style: Serenade to win back a former lover, reminding her that she loves him even though she broke up with him, and telling her that he loves her.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube

Lyrics Translation:

¿A quién vas a amar más que a mí?
Dime, para feliz, felicitarlo yo.

Who will you love more than me?
Tell me so I can, happily, congratulate him myself.

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“Si Tú Me Quisieras” (If You Loved Me) by Mon Laferte, English translation

“If You Loved Me” Lyrics Translated
Album: Mon Laferte Vol.1, 2015
Style: Pop rock, ballad. Post-breakup song about fighting to forget the other person, and also being upset that things would be fine if the other person just loved them.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube [song begins at 0:48]

Lyrics Translation:

Me despedí, pero te mentí,
No me quería alejar.
Disimulé, me aguanté,
Pero es que ya no puedo más.

I said my farewell, but I lied,
I didn’t want to distance myself.
I pretended, I bore it,
But it’s just that I can’t take it anymore.

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“Todo Fue Por Amor” (It Was All For Love) by Carla Morrison, English translation of the Spanish version

“It Was All For Love” / “Everything Was For Love” Spanish Lyrics Translation
Album: Todo Fue Por Amor (de la película “Con Esta Luz”), It Was All For Love (from the movie With This Light), 2023
Style: Alternative/indie, wholesome long about love. This song is part of the soundtrack for a 2023 movie about the life of a nun, Sister María Rosa Leggol, who helped 87,000 children in Honduras out of poverty and/or abusive situations. [Trailer for With This Light at YouTube]
Country: Mexico, USA (Arizona)
Listen: YouTube

Lyrics Translation:

Dentro de mí fue que nació
En cada impulso, mi corazón.
Buscando el camino,
La luz me guió,
La luz me guió.

It was within me that it was born
With every impulse, my heart.
Searching for the way,
The light guided me,
The light guided me.

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“Pan y Miel” (Bread and Honey) by Los Tigres Del Norte, English translation of lyrics

“Bread and Honey” Lyrics Translated
Album: Pan y Miel (Bread and Honey), 2023
Style: Duet ranchera recounting the first conversation between two friends, discussing the same woman and trying to figure out each other’s intentions. It is a cute song.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube

Lyrics Translation:

Me gusta recordar la historia de como nos conocimos.
Yo bien preguntón y aqui mi compa’ tan enojón.

I like to recount the story of how we met.
I very full of questions and here my guy so irritable.

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“Maria la Curandera” (Maria the Healer) by Natalia Lafourcade, English translation + meaning

“Maria the Healer” Lyrics
Album: De Todas Las Flores (Of All The Flowers), 2022
Style: Jazzy world music about women healing themselves.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube

Lyrics Translation:

Cúrate mijita el dolor con nuestra luz del sol
Y los rayos de la luna.
Cúrate mijita el dolor con el sonido del río,
La cascada y la espuma.

Heal your pain, my daughter, with our sunlight
And the moon’s rays.
Heal your pain, my daughter, with the sound of the river,
The waterfall, and the foam.

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“Ya No Vuelvas” (Don’t Return Anymore) by Lupita Infante, English translation

“Don’t Return Anymore” Lyrics
Album: Amor Como en las Películas de Antes (Love Like in the Old Movies), 2023
Style: Ranchera about a heartbroken woman at a bar, singing to her no good ex that he should not seek her out again. Lupita Infante is the granddaughter of famous Mexican performers Pedro Infante and Lupita Torrentera.
Country: USA (Los Angeles, CA); Mexico
Listen: YouTube

Lyrics Translation:

Sirvanme otra pa’ olvidarlo
Porque aqui lo traigo adentro
Y de mi quiero arrancarlo.

Serve me another to forget him
Because I carry him here inside me
And from inside me I want to tear him out.

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“Clavado En Un Bar” (Nailed to a Bar) by Maná, English translation

“Nailed to a Bar (In Love)”
Album: Sueños Líquidos (Liquid Dreams), 1997
Style: Latin Rock song about someone pining for the love of a specific woman, drowning his sorrow in drinks.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube

Lyrics Translation:

¡Oye!
Aquí me tiene
Bien clavado,
Soltando las penas en un bar,
Brindando por su amor.

Hey!
Here she has me
Really nailed down (madly in love),
Letting my regrets out at a bar,
Toasting for her love.

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“Supermercado” (Supermarket) by Mon Laferte, English translation

“Supermarket” Lyrics Translation
Album: 1940 Carmen, 2021
Style: Alternative rock song about a couple shopping at a supermarket after a fight, avoiding looking at each other, and suffering.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube

Lyrics Translation:

Pasillo 2 me invita a comprar
Cosas que no hacen falta,
Y el alivio comercial, y la risa falsa.

Aisle two invites me to buy
Things that aren’t needed,
And the consumerist relief, and false laughter.

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“Dile Que Por Mí No Tema” (Tell Them Not To Fear Me) by Celia Cruz, English translation

“Tell Them Not To Fear Me”
Album: Dile Que Por Mi No Tema / Bajo La Luna Vinyl, 1972; Boleros, 1993
Style: Bolero, which is both a dance style and a story-telling lyrics style. Song telling an ex that you have a new (better) sweetheart and that your ex should tell their own new lover not to worry about you, because you’ve moved on. Also an example of a gender neutral Spanish song.
Country: Cuba
Listen: YouTube

Lyrics Translation:

Dile a tu nuevo querer
Que no hay nada que temer
Porque hace ya mucho tiempo
Que te borré de mi mente
Y no me acuerdo de ti…

Tell your new beloved
That there is nothing to fear
Because it’s been a long time now
Since I erased you from my mind
And I don’t remember you…

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“El Presente” (The Present) by Julieta Venegas, English translation

“The Present”
Album: MTV Unplugged, 2008
Style: Alternative rock with accordions. Song celebrating the gift of time and the joy of being present with a loved one. It works as a song for one’s lover or one’s child.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube

Lyrics Translation:

Ya sé lo que te diga
No va a ser suficiente, ay ya-ya-ya ya,
Y lo que tu me entregues
Dejará pendientes, ay ya-ya-ya ya.

I know that what I tell you
Will not be enough, ay ya-ya-ya ya,
And what you give me
Will leave worries, ay ya-ya-ya ya.

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“Siboney” by Ernesto Lecuona, covers by Xiomara Alfaro, Concha Buika, various; English translation

“Siboney” or “Canto Siboney” Lyrics
Composer: Ernesto Lecuona, 1927
Style: Jazz, romance, love song to Siboney. Xiomara Alfaro’s version was the composer’s favorite.
Country: Cuba, with several covers from Spain
Listen: Xiomara Alfaro (Cuba, 1957); Plácido Domingo (Spain, opera, 2012); Concha Buika (Spain, jazz, 2013)

Lyrics Translation:

Siboney, yo te quiero,
Yo me muero por tu amor.

Siboney, I love you,
I am dying for your love.

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