Spanish songs translated to English with side-by-side lyrics and notes for Spanish learners
“Silence”
Group: Ojos de Brujo (Wizard Eyes)
Album: Techari, 2006
Style: Hip hop/flamenco fusion.
Country: Barcelona, Spain
Listen: YouTube. If you liked this song, you might also like “Papeles Mojados” by Chambao.
Silencio.
Cuando llama uno a la suerte
No comparece en ese momento,
En silencio.
Silence.
When one calls on luck
It doesn’t present itself in that moment,
In silence.
“The Peace of Your Eyes” Lyrics
Album: Lo Que Te Conté Mientras Te Hacías La Dormida (What I Told You When You Pretended to Sleep), 2003
Style: Pop with piano, about wanting to feel secure in a relationship and trying to allow oneself to do so.
Country: Spain
Listen: YouTube
No he podido esta vez,
Vuelvo a no ser,
Vuelvo a caer.
I have not been able this time,
I return to not being [*alt. not existing],
I fall again.
“Paris” Lyrics
Album: El Viaje de Copperpot (Copperpot’s Voyage), 2000
Style: Pop, reminiscent of a romantic relationship.
Country: Spain
Listen: YouTube
Ven, acércate.
Ven y abrázame.
Vuelve a sonreír, a recordar París,
A ser mi angustia.
Déjame pasar… una tarde más.
Come, draw near me.
Come and hug me.
Return to smiling, to remembering Paris,
To being my anguish.
Let me spend… one more afternoon.
“Story of a Dream” Lyrics
Album: Lo Que Te Conte Mientras Te Hacias La Dormida (What I Told You When You Pretended to Sleep), 2003
Style: Bittersweet love song to a child, from a dead loved one who sends a message through dream to let them know that everything is ok. This song makes me tear up a bit. ♥
Country: Spain
Listen: YouTube
Perdona que entré sin llamar.
No es esta la hora y menos el lugar.
Tenía que contarte que en el cielo no se está tan mal.
Forgive me for entering without warning.
This isn’t the time and even less the place.
I had to tell you that it isn’t so bad up in heaven.
Mañana ni te acordarás,
“Tan sólo fue un sueño,” te repetirás.
Y en forma de respuesta, pasará una estrella fugaz.
Tomorrow you won’t even remember,
“It was only a dream,” you will repeat to yourself.
And in (form of an) answer, a shooting star will pass.
“Much Too Late”
Style: Emo alternative rock with folk music elements about unfulfilled potential and wanting to change
Country: Spain
Listen: YouTube
Rondaba los veinte años
Y sin darse cuenta ya era toda una mujer
Había empeñado su vida, aunque no lo sabia,
En hacerle feliz a él.
Pero nadie la escuchó,
Cuando en silencio gritó…
She was roaming those twenty years
And without realizing it she was fully a woman
She had pawned her life, though she didn’t know it,
To make him happy.
But nobody heard her,
When in silence she yelled…
“Todo Tiende”
Album: Techarí (Free), 2006
Style: Fast-paced flamenco/hip hop.
Country: Spain
Listen: YouTube
Mendigando eternidades,
Mendigos piden a mendigos
Lo que no tienen ni pueden darse.
Panhandling eternities,
Vagrants ask vagrants
For what they do not have nor can give each other.
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“The Book” Lyrics
Album: Dile al Sol (Tell the Sun)
Style: Jazzy
Country: Spain
Listen: YouTube
Qué distinto parece el mundo al girar,
Si sonríes sentada en cualquier bar,
Conversando sobre la eternidad.
How different the world looks as it spins,
If you smile sitting in any bar,
Speaking about eternity.
“Wet Papers” Lyrics Translation
Album: Con Otro Aire (With Another Air), 2007
Style: Romani-influenced Spanish music about the perils of immigration and fears of refugees.
Country: Spain
Listen: YouTube
Miles de sombras cada noche trae la marea.
Navegan cargaos de ilusiones que en la orilla se quedan. [*ilusiones = dreams, hopes, lit. illusions]
Historias del día día, historias de buena gente.
Se juegan la vida cansaos, con hambre y un frío que pela.
Every night, the tide brings in thousands of shadows.
They navigate laden with dreams left at the shore.
Stories of the day, the real day, histories of good people.
They gamble their lives fatigued, with hunger and a cold that hurts.
“Cuídate” (Take Care) by La Oreja de Van Gogh (LODVG)
Album: El Viaje de Copperpot (Copperpot’s Voyage), 2000
Style: Pop/rock, upbeat song about two people spending time together, catching up, and enjoying each other’s company.
Country: Spain
Listen: YouTube
Detrás del tiempo me instalé.
Ya ves, ni me quejo ni me quejaré.
Mi ser, mis recuerdos y alguna canción
Son hoy mi premio de consolación.
I parked myself behind the time
You see now, I don’t complain nor will I.
My being, my memories and some song
Are today my consolation prize.
“Sky Eyes” / “Heavenly Eyes”
Album: El Sueño de Morfeo (The Dream of Morpheus), 2005
Style: Pop
Country: Spain
Listen: YouTube
Juegan los momentos,
Heridas sin palabras,
Heridas con palabras
Sin apenas decir nada.
The moments play,
Wounds without words,
Wounds with words
After hardly saying anything.
“Roses” Lyrics
Group: La Oreja de Van Gogh (Van Gogh’s Ear)
Style: Pop, sweet melancholy, romantic song
Country: Spain
Listen: YouTube
En un día de estos en que suelo pensar
“Hoy va a ser el día menos pensado.”*
Nos hemos cruzado, has decidido mirar,
A los ojitos azules que ahora van a tu lado.
In one of those days when I happened to think
“Today is going to be an unremarkable day.”
We’ve crossed (paths), you’ve decided to look,
Into the little blue eyes that are by your side now.
Songlations 
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