Spanish songs translated to English with side-by-side lyrics and notes for Spanish learners
“Ghosts”
Album: fantasmas (ghosts), 2023
About: Soft melancholy pop with mariachi and folk elements. A song of nostalgia, grief, and pain that pulls into the abyss. A serenade to saudade. Trigger warning for dark thoughts of wanting to join the ghosts.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube
Del gran sueño
No me quiero despertar,
Y me falla
Un poco más mi realidad.
From this great dream,
I don’t want to wake,
And it fails me
A bit more, my reality.
“Stop Insisting, Heart” Lyrics
Album: Juan Gabriel con Mariachi Vol. II (1976); Vicente Fernandez (1978)
Style: Mariachi serenade asking either for love to be reciprocated, or for one’s heart to stop feeling unrequited love. The song is directed at both the love interest and at one’s own heart. Composed by Alberto Aguilera Valadez.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube
Quiere el corazón, lo quieras como yo te quiero,
No seas cruel, no hagas más grande este sufrimiento,
Él para quererte solo está latiendo,
Quiérelo tan solo un poco, te lo está pidiendo.
The heart wants, for you to love it as I love you,
Don’t be cruel, don’t extend this suffering,
My heart, to love you, only needs a pulse,
Love it just a bit, it is pleading to you.
“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.
“You and the Clouds” Lyrics
Style: Ranchera, Mexican oldie from the mid-20th century. This unrequited love song was featured in the Mexican movie La Fiera (1956).
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube
Ay, ay, ay
(Cariño, mío, ríndete ya)
Ay, ay, ay
(My dear, hang your white flag)
Ando volando bajo,
Mi amor está por lo suelos,
Y tú tan alto, tan alto,
Mirando mis desconsuelos,
Sabiendo que soy un hombre
Que está muy lejos del cielo.
I am flying low,
My love is dragging the floors,
And you so high, so high,
Watching my grief,
Knowing that I am a man
Who is very far from heaven.
“A Little Mezcal Drink” Lyrics
Album: Pecados y milagros (Sins and miracles), 2011
Style: Joyful party mariachi rock. Song about drinking mezcal, an alcoholic drink made from agave (“maguey“) plants in Mexico, including a specific subtype called espadín or dobiji. Mezcal Day is next week, October 21st. Enjoy and drink responsibly.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube
Brinda con el pensamiento,
Gotita lluvia de calor.
Mi culpa, Dobiji,
Es por mi culpa, señor.
Toast with your thoughts,
Little rain droplet of heat.
My fault, Dobiji,
It is my fault, sir.
Bebí de tu memoria,
Aroma a tierra, agave y sol.
Yo soy la que le gusta
Este castigo mejor.
I drank of your memory,
Aroma of earth, agave, and sun.
I am the one who prefers
This punishment instead.
“The Great Woman”
Album: La Gran Señora (The Great Woman), 2009
Style: Mariachi from an older woman to a younger woman, telling her that this homewrecking attempt won’t work. She will defend her home and family.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube
Tenemos que hablar de mujer a mujer,
Hay que dejar unas cosas en claro,
Aunque no te guste tienes que entender,
Lo que es mío es mío y no voy a soltarlo.
We have to talk (from) woman to woman,
Let’s leave some things clear,
Even if you don’t like it, you have to understand,
What is mine is mine and I will not let it go.
“This Jealousy”
Album: Para Siempre (Forever), 2007
Style: Orchestral ranchera, mariachi, regional Mexican from Jalisco. Bittersweet love song about missing an ex who has moved on.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube
Te miré,
Estabas tan bonita,
Tan sensual,
Te imaginé ajena y me hizo mal.
I saw you,
You were so pretty,
So sensual,
I imagined you a stranger and it made me ill.
“Like How One Loses a Star”
Album: Que Seas Muy Feliz (May You Be Very Happy), 1995
Style: Wailing prayer and mourning after the loss of a lover (likely by breakup), with orchestral mariachi.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube
Te quiero,
Lo digo como un lamento,
Como un quejido que el viento
Se lleva por donde quiera.
I love you,
I say it like a lament,
Like a howl that the wind
Takes away wherever it goes.
“The Great Fall”
Album: Para Siempre (Forever), 2007
Style: Ranchera about the downfall of a relationship after infidelity, and the regret afterward.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube
¡Ay, ay, ay, ja, ja, ja!
Por darle rienda suelta a mis antojos,
Por no tener conciencia del abismo,
Por eso ayer hice llorar sus ojos,
Y hoy mis ojos también hacen lo mismo.
For giving my whims free reign,
For not being aware of the abyss,
For that yesterday I made her eyes cry,
And today my eyes also do the same.
“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.
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