Spanish songs translated to English with side-by-side lyrics and notes for Spanish learners
“Barbie of the Suburbs”, 2010
Style: Rock, bitter ex song
Country: Spain
Listen: YouTube
En la guerra, como en el amor,
Todo vale y siempre queda un perdedor.
Normalmente, pierde el que quiere más,
Al igual que en una mesa de black jack.
In war, like in love,
All’s fair and there is always a loser.
Usually, the loser is the one who loves the most,
Just like in a black jack table.
“Thursday” Lyrics
Album: A Las Cinco En El Astoria (Five o’ Clock at the Astoria), 2008
Style: Bittersweet romance song tied to a historical event. Two train riders with mutual crushes finally confess their interest in each other. This song is dedicated to the victims of the 2004 Madrid train bombing. Per the band, news of tragedies often focuses on the statistics, but they wanted to humanize the individual lives lost.
Country: Spain
Listen: YouTube
Si fuera más guapa y un poco más lista,
Si fuera especial, si fuera de revista,
Tendría el valor de cruzar el vagón
Y preguntarte quién eres.
If I were more beautiful and a bit smarter,
If I were special, if I were from magazines,
I would have the courage to cross the passenger car
And ask you who you are.
“Nice Life”, literally “Pretty”
Album: Bonito, 2003
Style: Cheerful, repetitive and upbeat pop song about enjoying life. A little hypnotic. I can imagine he is singing this song to himself as he goes for a walk, greeting everything he meets.
Country: Spain
Listen: YouTube
Bonito, todo me parece bonito.
Nice, everything seems nice to me.
Bonita mañana,
Bonito lugar,
Bonita la cama,
Qué bien se ve el mar.
Pretty morning,
Pretty place,
Pretty bed,
How good the sea looks.
“Free Love” Lyrics Translation
Album: Poesía Difusa (Wordy Poetry), 2003
Style: Slow rap love song, similar to spoken word. This is an open love poem that declares how much their love means to them, and how it makes them feel free.
Country: Spain
Listen: YouTube
Sigo siendo libre.
Nada es complicado a tu lado.
Tú me haces libre.
I keep being free.
Nothing is complicated by your side.
You make me free.
“Revolution”
Album: Pájaros en la cabeza (Birds in my head), 2005
Style: Rock. A song about wanting freedom and to be heard.
Country: Spain
Listen: YouTube
Somos demasiados y no podrán pasar
Por encima de los años que tuvimos que callar,
Por los libros prohibidos y las entradas secretas.
We are many and they will not be able to pass
Over the years that we had to keep quiet,
Because of the forbidden books and the secret entrances.
“My World Without You” Lyrics Translation
Style: Pop/techno, breakup song. The song starts with the singer asking what her world will be like without her ex, then answering that it will be extremely better, “the opposite of the desert of your love” and “a garden where I can breathe.”
Album: Corazón de fuego (Heart of fire), 2005
Country: Spain
Listen: YouTube
“I Am Not Like You” Lyrics Translation
Album: Pájaros En La Cabeza
Style: Emo rock, piano, war. Song lyrics paint a picture of a post-nuclear war world and a character who feels alone.
Country: Spain
Listen: YouTube
“Nobody Like You” Lyrics
Album: Lo que te conté mientras te hacías la dormida (What I told you when you pretended to sleep), 2003
Style: Pop, sweet, love song telling a long-term romantic partner about how much they are valued. They are irreplaceable and their shared memories are a treasure of the heart.
Country: Spain
Listen: YouTube
Nadie como tú
Para hacerme reír.
Nadie como tú
Sabe tanto de mí.
Nobody like you
To make me laugh.
Nobody like you
Knows so much about me.
“Soul, Heart and Life”
Style: Waltz, bolero, various adaptions. Translation of a classic song about a person very much in love. They sing about the three things they offer their lover: their soul to woe them, their heart to love them, and their life to spend with them. It is a sweet love song.
Countries: Many
Listen: Various versions. Trío Los Panchos (USA/Mexico), Dyango (Spain; live, slow performance), Los Embajadores Criollos (Peru), Soledad Pastorutti (Argentina, live, deep voice), Tania Libertad (Peru), and more on YouTube.
Recuerdo aquella vez
Que yo te conocí
Recuerdo aquella tarde
Pero no recuerdo ni como te vi.
I remember that time
When I first met you
I remember that afternoon
But I don’t even remember how I saw you.
“Your Silence” Lyrics Translation
Album: Pafuera Telarañas (Get Outta Here, Cobwebs), 2004
Style: Melancholy sound
Country: Spain
Listen: YouTube
Como quien tira de una cuerda que se romperá,
Tirar, tirar, tirar, tirar, tirar…
Como sin darse cuenta rozar un poco más,
Los ojos aún cerrados para no afrontar.
Like someone pulls on a rope that will break,
Pulling, pulling, pulling, pulling, pulling…
Like without realizing it, brushing a bit more,
Eyes still closed to avoid confronting.
“The Law of Retirement” Lyrics Translation
Album: Eusebio, 2008
Style: Slow, soft song with accordions in the background. This song was used in the soundtrack of a romantic comedy-drama film titled Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008).
Country: Spain (Barcelona)
Listen: YouTube
La ley del retiro
Y en el olvido, olvidé
Qué yo había sido.
The law of retirement
And in oblivion, I forgot
What I had been.
“Rare Sunday Afternoon” Lyrics
Album: La Barrera Del Sonido (The Sound Barrier), 2009
Style: Pop/rock, energetic, sounds cheerful, song about spending a weekend with a crush.
Country: Spain
Listen: YouTube, Amazon
Domingo por la tarde
Me vienes a buscar
Y vamos a perder el tiempo un rato.
Sunday (by the) afternoon
You come to look for me
And we go to waste some time.
Songlations 
You must be logged in to post a comment.