Spanish songs translated to English with side-by-side lyrics and notes for Spanish learners
“Pretty Woman”
Album: Más Futuro Que Pasado (More Future Than Past), 2019
Style: Pop love song about falling in love by accident after meeting a girl at a party. Lots of references to Colombian culture.
Country: Colombia
Listen: YouTube
No quería enamorarme
Y me fui de fiesta con mis amigos,
No pensé que encontrarte era mi destino.
I didn’t want to fall in love
And I went partying with my friends,
Didn’t think that finding you was my destiny.
“Remember Me” Lyrics Translation
Album: Balas perdidas (Stray bullets), 2018
About: Pop/rock, romantic, love song from a shy guy confessing his love and loyalty. This was a wedding request. Congrats to the happy couple!
Country: Colombia
Listen: YouTube
Quiero confesarte que ya tengo la certeza
De que tu recuerdo vive adentro de mi piel.
Tengo un corazón que está perdiendo la cabeza
Porque se dio cuenta que ha caído ante tus pies.
I want to confess to you that I am certain now
That memories of you live beneath my skin.
I have a heart that is losing its mind
Because it realized that it has fallen at your feet.
“Poison” Lyrics Translation
Album: Vida cotidiana (Daily life), 2023
Style: Pop/rock about dealing with toxic people, being over it, and not letting their poison affect you anymore.
Country: Colombia
Listen: YouTube
Antes de irte,
Te dije lo que sentía
Y lo entendiste mal.
Before you left,
I told you how I felt
And you took it wrong.
“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 Rebellion”
Album: Rebellion, 1986
Style: Salsa story-story about African slaves who rebel in Colombia. Billboard lists it as one of the “15 Best Salsa Songs Ever” and various publications have listed it among the greatest songs of Colombia. Joe Arroyo wrote this song to remember the history of his hometown.
Country: Colombia
Listen: YouTube
[Spoken:]
Quiero contarle, mi hermano,
Un pedacito de la historia negra,
De la historia nuestra, caballero,
Y dice así…
I want to tell you, my brother,
A little piece of black history,
Of our history, gentleman,
And it goes like this…
“You Don’t Owe Me, Nor I You”
Album: Comillo De Leche (Milk Fang), 2023
Style: Northern Mexican regional pop about a mutual breakup. Sad but accepting and not angry.
Country: Mexico, Colombia
Listen: YouTube
Tengo que irme porque me siento muy triste,
Aquí no hay nada, esta historia se acabó.
I have to leave because I feel so sad,
There is nothing here, this story has ended.
Te dejo libre,
Fuiste tú la que perdiste.
No es tan sencillo encontrarse
Un gran amor.
I leave you free,
It was you who lost.
It isn’t so easy to find oneself
A great love.
“There It Goes” Song Lyrics
Album: Fíjate Bien (Pay Attention), 2000
Style: Rock song about embracing your life, valuing your time on Earth, and working towards your own goals. Your time here is limited, so make the most of it. Happy New Year!
Country: Colombia
Listen: YouTube
Chorus:
———————————————–
No le huyas más al tiempo
Que la vida es una sola.
No le saques más a el cuerpo
Que la vida se te agota.
Do not continue fleeing time
Because you only have one life.
Do not continue sapping your body
Because your life wears out.
“Cecilia” Lyrics
Album: Vida Cotidiana (Daily Life), 2023
Style: Tropical pop. Peace and love song, singing to Cecilia that they shouldn’t fight and that they should dance instead.
Country: Colombia, Dominican Republic
Listen: YouTube
Cuando hablamos y peleamos,
No vamos a ningún lado.
Nos lastimamos
Y más y más
Y más y más nos apartamos.
When we talk and fight,
We don’t go anywhere.
We hurt each other
And more and more
And more and more we distance ourselves.
“Drops of Sweet Water” or “Drops of Freshwater”
Album: La Vida… es un Ratico (Life… Is a Moment), 2007
Style: Pop/rock, love song about a person being a breath of fresh air and important for life, like freshwater, like rays of sunshine. This would be a good wedding song.
Country: Colombia
Listen: YouTube
Hace mucho tiempo no me enamoraba
De unos ojos tan bonitos,
Comunes de lozano brillo.
It has been a long time since I fell in love
With a pair of eyes so beautiful,
So ordinary, with healthy brightness.
Era lo que menos en mi plan estaba
Aunque te admito que a veces soñaba
Con la belleza de tu mirada.
It was what was least in my plans
Though I admit to you that sometimes I dreamed
With the beauty of your gaze.
“Kisses in War”
Album: Balas Perdidas (Lost Bullets), 2018
Style: Latin rock about love
Country: Colombia
Listen: YouTube
¿Quién te dijo esa mentira?
Que eras fácil de olvidar.
No hagas caso a tus amigos,
Solo son testigos de la otra mitad.
Who told you that lie?
That you were easy to forget.
Don’t listen to your friends,
They’re just witnesses for the other side.
“Tie Me Up”
Album: La Trenza (The Braid), 2017
Style: Pop about the push and pull power play of a BDSM romance.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube
Ay, quiéreme de a poco
Pero que no me dé cuenta y que nadie sepa.
Ven y cuídame
Pero que parezca que me estás haciendo daño.
Amárrame.
Ay, love me little by little
But make it so I don’t figure it out and no one knows.
Come and take care of me
But make it seem that you are harming me.
Tie me up.
“If You Leave”
Album: ¿Dónde Están Los Ladrones? (Where Are the Thieves?), 1998
Style: Rock from Shakira’s brunette angry rocker days.
Country: Colombia
Listen: YouTube, Amazon
Cuéntame, ¿qué harás después que estrenes su cuerpo?
¿Cuando muera tu traviesa curiosidad?
¿Cuando memorices todos sus recovecos
Y decidas otra vez regresar?
Ya no estaré aquí en el mismo lugar.
Tell me, what will you do after you try out her body?
When your mischevious curiosity dies?
When you memorize all her curves
And decide to return (to me)?
You won’t find me in the same place then.
Songlations 
You must be logged in to post a comment.