Spanish songs translated to English with side-by-side lyrics and notes for Spanish learners
“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
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.
“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
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.
“She Was Different”
Album: Realidades (Deluxe), Realities (Deluxe), 2014
Style: Corrido norteño, regional Mexican. LGBTQ acceptance song about realizing a neighborhood girl is not interested in any of the boys, but rather her best friend (another girl).
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube
Eras más linda,
Más bella que luna de octubre.
Su voz era tan dulce, trino de gorrión.
She was more lovely,
More beautiful than the October moon.
Her voice was so sweet, trill of a sparrow.
Era la chica más tierna de aquel viejo barrio.
Los hombres se peleaban su fiel corazón.
Ellos hacían su apuestas para conquistarla,
Pero ningún muchacho se ganó su amor.
She was the most tender girl of that old neighborhood.
The men fought each other for her loyal heart.
They made their bets to win her over,
But no guy ever won her heart.
“Finding Myself”
Album: El Renacimiento (The Rebirth), 2022
About: Pop. Carla’s heartfelt song about reckoning with depression and her journey for mental health.
Country: Mexico, USA (Arizona)
Listen: YouTube
Se acabó, ya la mentira está en mi cuerpo.
Toda esta falsedad ha roto mis adentros.
Entregué mi todo, olvidé mi centro,
Cedí por apostar, soy infeliz, es cierto.
It ended, now the lie is on my body.
All this falseness has broken my insides.
I gave my all, I forgot my center,
I yielded for a chance, I am unhappy, it’s true.
“By Your Side”
Album: Siempre Pensando en Ti (Always Thinking of You), 2001
About: Country, romantic song telling a lover that they are your best friend, that life is good with them, and that you want to be with them forever.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube
Cuando estoy a tu lado
Se detiene todo el tiempo,
Me entretengo con tus besos,
Despiertas mis sentimientos.
When I am by your side
All time stops,
I get distracted with your kisses,
You wake up my emotions.
“The Great Woman”
Album: La Gran Señora (The Great Woman), 2009
Style: Mariachi from an older woman to a younger woman, telling her that this homewrecking attempt won’t work. She will defend her home and family.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube
Tenemos que hablar de mujer a mujer,
Hay que dejar unas cosas en claro,
Aunque no te guste tienes que entender,
Lo que es mío es mío y no voy a soltarlo.
We have to talk (from) woman to woman,
Let’s leave some things clear,
Even if you don’t like it, you have to understand,
What is mine is mine and I will not let it go.
“Down to The Roots”
Album: Hasta La Raíz (Down to Your Roots), 2015
Style: Folk rock, alternative rock. Natalia toldNational Public Radio that she wanted to sing about her roots, in her case about Mexico. The album won Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album (58th Grammy Awards), Best Alternative Music Album (16th Latin Grammy Awards), and Best Engineered Album (16th Latin Grammy Awards). This particular song won Song of the Year and Best Alternative Song (16th Latin Grammy Awards).
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube
Sigo cruzando ríos,
Andando selvas, amando el sol.
Cada día sigo sacando espinas
De lo profundo del corazón.
I keep crossing rivers,
Passing jungles, loving the sun.
Every day I keep pulling thorns
From the depths of my heart.
En la noche sigo encendiendo sueños
Para limpiar
Con el humo sagrado,
Cada recuerdo.
At night I keep lighting dreams on fire
To clean,
With the sacred smoke,
Every memory.
“She Who Got Away”
Album: Ella… La Que Se Fue (She… Who Got Away), 1958
Style: Ranchera. Regretful song about the one who got away.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube
¡Ay, amor, amor mío, uy-ya!
Oh, love, my love, uh-ya!
Tengo dinero en el mundo,
Dinero maldito que nada vale.
Aunque me miren sonriendo,
La pena que traigo
Ni Dios la sabe.
I have money in this world,
Damn money worth nothing.
Though they see me smiling,
The sorrow I carry
Not even God knows it.
“Diamonds”
Album: El Renacimiento (The Rebirth), 2022
Style: Indie/alternative. Love song with drums and great vocals about finding love and joy. I’m so happy for Carla Morrison. Compare this to her 2012 emo single, “Dejenme Llorar” (Everybody Let Me Cry). Her happy songs are so beautiful.
Country: Mexico, USA (Arizona)
Listen: YouTube
Despertar junto a ti es ya no tener miedo
A tanto desconsuelo
Que una vez tuve en mí.
Waking up next to you is no longer feeling fear
Of so much distress
That I once had in me.
“I Am Not For You”
Album: 1940 Carmen, 2021
Style: Rock song about a relationship ending due to a loss of feelings from shared sadness (possibly infertility), and breaking up so they can find happiness somewhere else.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube
¿Cuánto amor desaparecerá?
¿Cuánto tiempo más tendremos que llorar?
Mejor que acabe aquí, mejor dejarte ir.
Si nos queremos tanto, ¿para qué sufrir?
How much love will disappear?
How much more time will we need to cry?
Better to end it here, better to let you go.
If we love each other so much, why suffer?
“It Is Never Enough”
Album: Esto sí es cumbia (Now this is cumbia), 2018
Style: Folk pop, melancholy, about wanting a serious and exclusive relationship with a flighty partner who isn’t used to that.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube
Nunca es suficiente para mí
Porque siempre quiero más de ti.
Yo quisiera hacerte más feliz,
Hoy, mañana, siempre, hasta el fin.
It is never enough for me
Because I always want more from you.
I would like to make you more happy,
Today, tomorrow, always, until the end.
“Ingrate”
Albums: Re, 1994; Amar y Vivir (To Love and To Live), 2017
Style: Original version is a mix of a Mexican corrido norteño and grunge rock. The cover song starts as a ballad and becomes a tango. Song to an “ungrateful” ex-lover who keeps coming back and causing pain. Warning: violent end.
Countries: Mexico City (Café Tacvba); USA, Mexico, Chile (La Santa Cecilia and Mon Laferte)
Listen: Café Tacvba (original); Duet by La Santa Cecilia and Mon Laferte (cover)
Ingrata,
No me digas que me quieres,
No me digas que me adoras,
Que me amas,
Que me extrañas,
Que ya no te creo nada.
Ingrate,
Don’t tell me that you care for me,
Don’t tell me that you adore me,
That you love me,
That you miss me,
For I no longer believe anything you say.
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