Spanish songs translated to English with side-by-side lyrics and notes for Spanish learners
“She”
Album: Joel Nava (Joel Nava), 1995
About: Soft, slow melancholy song about accepting the end of a relationship. Acoustics and vocals only, very raw. It would be a good song for students to sing. It’s slow enough and will let you practice pronunciation.
Country: USA (Texas)
Listen: YouTube
Me cansé de rogarle,
Me cansé de decirle que yo sin ella
De pena muero.
I got tired of begging her,
I got tired of telling her that I, without her,
Of grief would die.
“Everything Happens” Lyrics Translation
Album: Amor Supremo (Supreme Love), 2015
Style: Pop/rock/emo with soft vocals. Melancholy love song to oneself about the struggle with depression, and about feeling awful when you think you should feel fine. It is a very personal song from Carla Morrison, and ultimately a hopeful song about wanting to fight through the darkness instead of giving up.
Country: USA (Arizona); Mexico
Listen: YouTube
Mi vista es distinta,
Es muy triste y contamina.
Quiero dejar de creer,
Estarme sola y no ver.
My sight is different,
It is so sad and contaminated.
I want to stop believing,
To be alone and not see.
“Stop Your Suffering” or “Stop Making Yourself Suffer” Lyrics Translation
Album: La Movida, 2006 (likely recorded in the 1980s)
Style: Romantica. Slow, melancholy, longing, romantic. It is a “come back” song to an ex-lover, declaring that they still love each other and breaking up was a mistake. Thanks to The Strachwitz Frontera Collection for preserving these historical recordings.
Country: USA (Texas)
Listen: La Movida; Lisa Lopez
Mi amor sufre por ti
Porque te quiere.
Y tú, sin comprender,
Te alejaste.
My love suffers for you
Because it loves you.
And you, without understanding,
Distanced yourself.
“The Miracles of Life” Lyrics
Album: Sin Pecado (Without Sin), 1996
Style: Cumbia love song telling a partner to take it slow so the relationship has time to mature.
Country: Mexico, USA
Listen: YouTube
Amor, no quisiera herirte,
Pues tú bien sabes cuánto te quiero.
Necesitamos darle tiempo al tiempo
Porque no quiero que empecemos mal.
Love, I would not want to hurt you,
After all, you know how much I love you.
We need to give time to time
Because I don’t want us to start off wrong.
“Let’s Go” Translated Lyrics
Album: Buenaventura (Good Adventure), 2016
Style: Pop. Cheerful and hopeful love song about taking the leap with another person, sharing the journey of life together. The translation is less literal than usual to keep a similar energy.
Country: USA
Listen: YouTube
Te busco
Porque eres mi corazón, mi amor, te busco
Porque a los placeres no le encuentro gusto,
Nada es igual si tú no estás.
I seek you out
Because you’re my heart, my love, I seek you out
Because the pleasures [of life] don’t interest me,
Nothing is the same if you aren’t around.
“The Rowdy Bull” Lyrics
Album: Dreaming of You, 1995
Style: Ranchera written by Felipe Bermejo, sung by various including Selena Quintanilla. It’s a mariachi song about calming a charging bull while flirting with your sweetheart who watches from the sidelines.
Country: Mexico; USA (Texas)
Listen: YouTube
(A~)Aguas que ahí viene un toro,
Es el relajo,
Escóndete tras las trancas, chatita,
Que viene bravo.
Watch out, here comes a bull,
He’s the source of that commotion,
Hide yourself behind the fence bars, shortie,
Because he’s seeing red.
“Foreign Land” Lyrics
Album: Amor Supremo (Supreme Love), 2015
Style: Alternative rock song about wanting to be chaste, but struggling with new and foreign feelings and desires.
Country: Mexico; USA
Listen: YouTube
Y tú, ¿quién te crees?
Enamorandome así,
Sin pedirle permiso a Dios,
Enredándome en locura.
And you, who do you think you are?
Making me fall for you like this,
Without asking God for permission,
Entangling me in lunacy.
“It Was All For Love” / “Everything Was For Love” Spanish Lyrics Translation
Album: Todo Fue Por Amor (de la película “Con Esta Luz”), It Was All For Love (from the movie With This Light), 2023
Style: Alternative/indie, wholesome long about love. This song is part of the soundtrack for a 2023 movie about the life of a nun, Sister María Rosa Leggol, who helped 87,000 children in Honduras out of poverty and/or abusive situations. [Trailer for With This Light at YouTube]
Country: Mexico, USA (Arizona)
Listen: YouTube
Dentro de mí fue que nació
En cada impulso, mi corazón.
Buscando el camino,
La luz me guió,
La luz me guió.
It was within me that it was born
With every impulse, my heart.
Searching for the way,
The light guided me,
The light guided me.
“Don’t Return Anymore” Lyrics
Album: Amor Como en las Películas de Antes (Love Like in the Old Movies), 2023
Style: Ranchera about a heartbroken woman at a bar, singing to her no good ex that he should not seek her out again. Lupita Infante is the granddaughter of famous Mexican performers Pedro Infante and Lupita Torrentera.
Country: USA (Los Angeles, CA); Mexico
Listen: YouTube
Sirvanme otra pa’ olvidarlo
Porque aqui lo traigo adentro
Y de mi quiero arrancarlo.
Serve me another to forget him
Because I carry him here inside me
And from inside me I want to tear him out.
“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.
“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.
“With You”
Album: El Renacimiento (The Rebirth), 2022
Style: Alterinative/indie. Love song about finding your soulmate, your true love. This would be a good wedding song. It can also be interpreted as a self-love song or the welcoming song for a newborn baby.
Country: Mexico, USA (Arizona)
Listen: YouTube
Hoy en ti brilla el sol,
La razón de mi vida llegó.
Veo en ti la ilusión,
Tu mirada me inunda en calor.
Today on you shines the sun,
The reason for my life has arrived.
I see in you hope and dreams,
Your eyes drown me in warmth.
Songlations 
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