Spanish to English song translations with side-by-side lyrics
“You Sure Know How to Love Me” Lyrics
Album: Musas (Muses), 2017
Style: Folk music, romantic song telling a long-time suitor that you have the courage to reciprocate now. Happy Valentine’s Day!
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube
Ha pasado tanto tiempo,
Finalmente descubrí tus besos,
Me enredaste en tu mirada,
Me abrazaste con todos mis defectos.
So much time has passed,
Finally I discovered your kisses,
You tied me up with your eyes,
You hugged me with all my defects.
“Maria the Healer” Lyrics
Album: De Todas Las Flores (Of All The Flowers), 2022
Style: Jazzy world music about women healing themselves.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube
Cúrate mijita el dolor con nuestra luz del sol
Y los rayos de la luna.
Cúrate mijita el dolor con el sonido del río,
La cascada y la espuma.
Heal your pain, my daughter, with our sunlight
And the moon’s rays.
Heal your pain, my daughter, with the sound of the river,
The waterfall, and the foam.
“Down to The Roots” Lyrics
Album: Hasta La Raíz (Down to Your Roots), 2015
Style: Folk rock, alternative rock. Natalia told National 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.
“Smaragdos Margara (Claviceps Purpura)”, 1995
Album: Si Buscabas (If You Searched), 1985
Singers: Salvador Cardenal and Katia Cardenal
Style: Soft folk music, strong vocals; hauntingly pretty and ambiguous. I like how music travels the world. I actually first heard this song as a cover on Une Histoire de Famille, a French language album by the Montreal band Hart-Rouge.
Country: Nicaragua
Listen: original by Dúo Guardabarranco (softly spoken) on YouTube or Amazon.
Con una aguja con hilo blanco,
Con la carrucha en tu regazo,
Cóseme el flanco, la herida aguda,
La negra llaga de mi costado.
With a needle with white thread,
With the spool on your lap,
Sew up my side, my acute wound,
The black ulcer on my side.
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