Spanish songs translated to English with side-by-side lyrics and notes for Spanish learners
“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.
“El Gavilán Pollero” (The Chicken Hawk) sung by Pedro Infante
Style: Ranchera about a man who lost his favorite hen and is in the bargaining stage of grief. This is a popular Mexican oldie and the title of a film from the golden age of Mexican cinema [YouTube link to the full film].
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube
[Knocking sounds]
¡Cantinero! ¡Cantinero!
Barman! Barman!
Infeliz gavilán,
Se llevo la polla más linda que tenia en mi gallinero.
Wretched chicken hawk,
He took the most lovely hen I had in my chickenhouse.
“Let Our Love Be Known”
Album: SEIS (SIX), 2021
Style: Love song, mariachi serenade, romantic and public declaration of love.
Country: Chile, Mexico
Listen: YouTube
Desde que estoy a tu lado no sé concentrarme.
Pierdo noción de las horas, no sé a dónde voy.
Since I have been by your side, I cannot concentrate.
I lose track of time, don’t know where I’m going.
Cuando me ven mis amigos, suelen preguntarme,
Qué es lo que pasa conmigo, no saben quién soy.
When my friends see me, they often ask me,
What’s going on with me, they don’t know who I am.
“Beautiful Beloved”
Album: Personalidad (Personality), 1992
Style: Mariachi, regional Mexican, love song, romantic serenade
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube
Hermoso cariño,
Hermoso cariño
Que Dios me ha mandado
A ser destinado nomás para mí.
Beautiful beloved,
Beautiful beloved
That God has sent me
To be destined only for me.
Precioso regalo,
Precioso regalo
Del cielo ha llegado
Y que me ha colmado de dicha y amor.
Precious gift,
Precious gift
From heaven has arrived
And it fills me with bliss and love.
“Forever”
Album: Para Siempre (Forever), 2007
Style: Romantic mariachi serenade to a lover after a rough relationship spot. Relationships take work, but their love is forever.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube
Vale más, un buen amor
Que mil costales de oro.
Vale más, un buen amor
Por eso eres mi tesoro.
It’s worth more, a good love,
Than a thousand sacks of gold.
It’s worth more, a good love,
That’s why you are my treasure.
“A Million Springs”
Album: Para Siempre (Forever), 2007; Un Azteca en el Azteca (An Aztec in The Aztec), 2016
Style: Regional Mexican from Jalisco, with cello, guitar, and accordion. Song about unrequited love and serenades.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube
Te molesta si te hablo de mi amor,
Y me pides, por favor, olvide el tema,
Y que cambie la letra de mis canciones,
Y tu nombre, quite ya, de aquel poema.
It bothers you if I talk to you about my love,
And you ask me, please, to forget the topic,
And to change the lyrics of my songs,
And your name, to remove now, from that poem.
“If They Let Us”
Style: Ranchera, romantic song about leaving to a happy new beginning with your lover.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube
Si nos dejan,
Nos vamos a querer toda la vida.
Si nos dejan,
Nos vamos a vivir a un mundo nuevo.
If they let us,
We will love each other our whole lives.
If they let us,
We will go live in a new world.
“Bad Weed” or “Bad Plant”
Album: Quiero Verte Feliz (I Want to See You Happy), 2021
Style: Cumbia pop song about a bad person who lies and isn’t good to be around. The Marisoul has a great voice!
Country: USA (Los Angeles, CA)
Listen: YouTube
No quiero escucharte ya.
No vale ni un peso,
Tus palabras que se van
Como hojas en el viento.
I do not want to listen to you anymore.
They aren’t worth even a dollar,
Your words that fly
Like leaves in the wind.
“You”
Album: Tú (You), 2020
Style: Love song of the Música Norteña genre, with a focus on vocals, accordions, and bass.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube
Eres más de lo que espero.
Si estos ojos no te miran, yo me desespero.
Si mis manos no te tocan, siento que me muero.
Necesito dosis diaria de tu dulce pelo.
You are more than I hoped for.
If those eyes don’t look at me, I get desperate.
If my hands don’t touch you, I feel that I die.
I need a daily dose of your sweet hair.
“Even If You’re Dying to Return”
Album: SEIS (SIX), 2021
Style: Operatic pop, post-breakup power fantasy, I’m fine but you’re not song.
Country: Chile, Mexico
Listen: YouTube
Ay, amor, amor,
Te quiero confesar que no hay rencor.
Yo siempre te querré sin condición.
Después de todo un año, yo te he perdonado.
Oh, love, love,
I want to confess to you that there is no resentment.
I will always love you without condition.
After a whole year, I have forgiven you.
Ay, qué mal que tú
Seguro has de pensar seguido en mí.
Te duele recordar quién soy, quién fui,
Yo sé, sigues amándome. Seguro, con el tiempo…
Oh, how awful that you
For sure think regularly of me.
It hurts you to remember who I am, who I was,
I know, you continue loving me. Surely, with time…
“Democracy”
Album: SEIS (Six), 2021
Style: Cumbia about politics in Latin America, lamenting poor conditions and atrocities done in the name of democracy.
Country: Chile, Mexico
Listen: YouTube
Tú no tienes la culpa de que la plata a nadie le alcanza.
Tú no tienes la culpa de la violencia y de la matanza.
Así el mundo nos recibió: con muchas balas, poca esperanza.
Quiero que todo sea mejor, que se equilibre esa balanza.
It’s not your fault that money doesn’t stretch out far enough for anyone.
It’s not your fault, the violence and the killings.
This is how the world received us: with many bullets, little hope.
I want everything to be better, for that scale to balance.
“The Fall” Lyrics, lit. “The Impact” or “The Blast of Wind”
Style: Mariachi
Countries: United States (Texas), Mexico
Listen: This song is full of life advice and metaphors. It speaks about the fall of a great tree. It was so large, and it fell so hard. The song is covered on Selena Quintanilla-Pérez’s anthology album, disc 2. Listen to Flor Silvestre’s original version on YouTube.
Deja amistades pa’ cuando caigas,
Te den la mano.
Brinde una copa pa’ cuando llores,
Te den un trago.
Keep friendships so that when you fall,
They give you a hand.
Raise your glass (to others’ happiness) so that when you cry,
They give you a drink.
Songlations 
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