Spanish songs translated to English with side-by-side lyrics and notes for Spanish learners
“For Your Love”
Album: Mi Sangre (My Blood), 2004
Style: Soft rock, sweet
Country: Colombia
Listen: YouTube
Para tu amor lo tengo todo,
Desde mi sangre hasta la esencia de mi ser,
Y para tu amor que es mi tesoro,
Tengo mi vida toda entera a tus pies.
For you love I have it all,
Down from my blood up to the very essence of my being,
And for your love that is my treasure,
I have my life all complete at your feet.
“Bad People” Translation
Album: Un Día Normal (2003)
Style: Rock song. Bitter song to an ex who broke his heart and now wants him back. This song won the Latin Grammy Award for “Best Rock Song” in 2003.
Country: Colombia
Listen: YouTube
Tú me pides que te deje ahora, ahora,
Ahora cuando más te necesito.
You ask me to leave you now, now,
Now when I need you most.
Tú me dices que este amor se fue al olvido, ahora,
Ahora cuando yo ya no te olvido.
You tell me that this love has fallen to oblivion, now,
Now when I cannot forget you anymore.
“Our Vow” (1956) Lyrics
Composer: Benito de Jesús, famously sung by Julio Jaramillo.
Style: Pasillo, waltz-like originally. Many covers in different styles.
Country: Ecuador originally, but popular across Latin America.
Listen: Julio Jaramillo (Ecuador), José Feliciano (Puerto Rico), Javier Solis (Mexico), Vicente Fernández (Mexico) La Santa Cecilia (Mexican-American), Juanes (Colombia).
“Nuestro Juramento” is a well-known romance song across Latin America and arguably Julio Jaramillo’s most famous song. It is about human mortality and passion. It is two lovers who declare to continue loving each other forever, and to be devastated should the other die. The verb jurar means “to swear, to vow” and a juramento is an oath or a vow.
“The Black Shirt” Song Translated
Album: Mi Sangre (My Blood), 2004
Style: Rock, grieving/bitter. Juanes mourns a bad relationship and how it affected him. The black shirt symbolizes mourning. This song has lots of wordplay explained in the notes.
Country: Colombia
Listen: YouTube
(No por pobre y feo, pero por antojado…)
(Not for being poor or ugly, but for longing…)
Tengo la camisa negra.
Hoy mi amor está de luto.
Hoy tengo en el alma una pena [*pena, f. = pain (emotional); regret]
Y es por culpa de tu embrujo.
I wear the black shirt.
Today my love is mourning.
Today I have a regret weighing my soul
And it’s the fault of your witchcraft.
“I Am Leaving You Madrid”
Album: Laundry Service, 2001
Style: Pop/rock, upbeat
Country: Colombia
Listen: YouTube, Amazon
Sí, ya es hora de esconder
Del mundo, el dolor
Bajo la piel.
Más sé que estaré bien.
Los gatos como yo caen de pie.
Yes, the time has come to hide
From the world, the pain
Under my skin.
But I know I’ll be fine.
Cats like me fall on their feet.
“We Can Cause Each Other Harm” Lyrics
Album: Fíjate Bien (Pay Good Attention), 2000
Style: Pop rock, about the potential of new relationships
Country: Colombia
Listen: YouTube, Amazon
Ya es tarde para que te vea
Igual que lo hacía
En los días lejanos de mi cotidiano eterno.
It is late now for me to see you
The (same) way I used to
In those far away days of my everyday eternity.
Mira que ya todo es tan distinto,
Estamos explotando,
Uno tan cerca del otro y de pronto mi amor —
Look, see that everything is so different now,
We are exploding,
One so close to the other and all of a sudden, my love —
“Inevitable”
Album: ¿Dónde Están Los Ladrones? (Where Are The Thieves?), 1998
Style: Rock, confessions love song.
Country: Colombia
Listen: YouTube
Si es cuestión de confesar,
No sé preparar café
Y no entiendo de fútbol.
If it’s a matter of confessing,
I don’t know how to prepare coffee
And I don’t understand soccer.
“Pay Attention”, alt. “Look Closely”
Album: Fíjate Bien, 2000
Style: Pop/rock, anti-war song raising awareness to the conflict in Colombia. It won Best Rock Song at the 2001 Latin Grammy Awards.
Country: Colombia
Listen: YouTube
Te han quitado lo que tienes,
Te han robado el pan del día,
Te han sacado de tus tierras
Y no parece que termina aquí.
They have taken away what you have,
They have stolen your daily bread,
They have taken you out of your lands
And it doesn’t look like it stops here.
“Anthology”
Album: Pies Descalzos, Sueños Blancos (Bare Feet, White Dreams), 1995
Style: Ballad about the impact of a first love on someone’s life. Shakira sings “Antología” (Anthology) to reflect on the positive impact of a past relationship and everything she learned from it.
Country: Colombia
Listen: YouTube
Para amarte
Necesito una razón
Y es difícil creer
Que no exista una más
Que este amor.
To love you
I need a reason
And it is difficult to believe
That there wouldn’t exist one more
Than this love.
“It Makes Me Fall In Love”
Album: La Vida Es Un Ratico (Life is a Brief Moment), 2007
Style: Pop, electric influence, infatuation song
Country: Colombia
Listen: YouTube
Cada blanco en mi mente
Se vuelve color con verte
Y el deseo de tenerte,
Es más fuerte, es más fuerte.
Every white (blank) in my mind
Turn to color on seeing you
And the desire to have you,
Is more strong, is more strong.
“That You Return”
Album: ¿Dónde Están Los Ladrones? (Where Are The Thieves?), 1998
Style: Ballad/rock about wanting someone to return.
Country: Colombia
Listen: YouTube
¿Y qué voy a hacer con mi despiste selectivo,
Y con mi sueño frustrado de aprender a cocinar?
¿Y qué voy a hacer con los domingos y feriados?
Ningún plan es apropiado
Cuando intento no pensar.
And what am I going to do with my selective tangents
And my frustrated dream of learning how to cook?
And what am I going to do with Sundays and holidays?
No plan is appropriate
When I try to stop thinking.
“Moon”
Album: Un Día Normal (A Normal Day), 2002
Style: Pop/rock, sweet, singing to the moon about love
Country: Colombia
Listen: YouTube
Luna de todas la noches,
Iluminame esta noche.
Dime si ella es la reina
Y la dueña de todo mi amor.
Moon of all nights,
Illuminate this night for me.
Tell me if she is the queen
And the owner of all my love.
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