Spanish songs translated to English with side-by-side lyrics and notes for Spanish learners
“She Who Got Away”
Album: Ella… La Que Se Fue (She… Who Got Away), 1958
Style: Ranchera. Regretful song about the one who got away.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube
¡Ay, amor, amor mío, uy-ya!
Oh, love, my love, uh-ya!
Tengo dinero en el mundo,
Dinero maldito que nada vale.
Aunque me miren sonriendo,
La pena que traigo
Ni Dios la sabe.
I have money in this world,
Damn money worth nothing.
Though they see me smiling,
The sorrow I carry
Not even God knows it.
“I Am Not For You”
Album: 1940 Carmen, 2021
Style: Rock song about a relationship ending due to a loss of feelings from shared sadness (possibly infertility), and breaking up so they can find happiness somewhere else.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube
¿Cuánto amor desaparecerá?
¿Cuánto tiempo más tendremos que llorar?
Mejor que acabe aquí, mejor dejarte ir.
Si nos queremos tanto, ¿para qué sufrir?
How much love will disappear?
How much more time will we need to cry?
Better to end it here, better to let you go.
If we love each other so much, why suffer?
“It Is Never Enough”
Album: Esto sí es cumbia (Now this is cumbia), 2018
Style: Folk pop, melancholy, about wanting a serious and exclusive relationship with a flighty partner who isn’t used to that.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube
Nunca es suficiente para mí
Porque siempre quiero más de ti.
Yo quisiera hacerte más feliz,
Hoy, mañana, siempre, hasta el fin.
It is never enough for me
Because I always want more from you.
I would like to make you more happy,
Today, tomorrow, always, until the end.
“The Farewell”
Album: Bullet Train, 2022
Style: Melancholy song about dealing with unexpected loss. This is the Spanish song in the action/comedy movie Bullet Train (2022).
Country: Spain
Listen: YouTube
Voy sin saber,
Sin tu amor.
¿Cómo hacer, con tanto dolor?
Una vez más, apaga las luces,
Y canta conmigo,
Así me olvido de la despedida.
I go without knowing,
Without your love.
What to do, with so much pain?
One more time, turn off the lights,
And sing with me,
That is how I forget the farewell.
“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.
“May Things Go Beautifully For You”
Style: Sorrowful mariachi love song. This is a post-breakup song, with the narrator wishing his former lover nothing but good things. It sounds like he ended the relationship due to outside circumstances.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube, Amazon. The song was also used for a 1978 Mexican film, but there is little information available online.
Ojalá que te vaya bonito.
Ojalá que se acaben tus penas,
Que te digan que yo ya no existo,
Y conozcas personas más buenas...
I hope that things go beautifully for you.
I hope that your sorrows end,
That they tell you that I no longer exist,
And that you meet better people…
“Lining the Sun”
Album: Maná MTV Unplugged, 1999
Style: Rock song about pining for love. It’s a common theme in Maná’s songs. He is desperate and melancholy for her love. She doesn’t pay attention to him. He can’t forget her. He claims it would be easier to reach the sun than her heart.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube, Amazon
Rayando el sol,
Rayando por ti,
Esta pena me duele,
Me quema sin tu amor.
Lining the sun,
Lining (it) for you,
This sorrow hurts me,
It burns me without your love.
No me has llamado;
Estoy desesperado.
Son muchas lunas las que te he llorado.
You have not called me;
I am getting desperate.
I have cried you many a moon.
“You Can Count On Me”
Album: Lo Que Te Conté Mientras Te Hacías La Dormida (What I Told You While You Pretended to Sleep), 2003
Style: Pop/rock, nostalgic love song about seeing the end of a relationship and feeling sad, thinking of the good times they had in the past, and asking if they will remember them fondly also.
Country: Spain
Un café con sal,
Ganas de llorar,
Mi mundo empezando a temblar,
Presiento que se acerca el final.
A coffee with salt,
Wanting to cry,
My world starting to tremble,
I feel that the end draws near.
“Eighth Day”
Album: ¿Dónde Están Los Ladrones? (Where Are The Thieves?), 1998
Style: Emo rock, brunette Shakira. This song wonders what God did after creation, and what he’s doing now. Eleven years later, Lily Allen released a similarly speculative song called “Him”. Both songs have rather pessimistic world views.
Country: Colombia
Listen: YouTube
El octavo día, Dios,
Después de tanto trabajar,
Para liberar tensiones
Luego ya de revisar,
The eighth day, God,
After so much working,
To relieve stress [*lit. To free tensions]
After looking over His work,
“Shadow of You” Lyrics
Album: ¿Dondé Están Los Ladrones? (Where Are The Thieves?), 1998
Style: Late 90’s rock, melancholy song about post-breakup sadness. Very mellow, sort of haunting.
Country: Colombia
Listen: YouTube
Voy a dejar
Que mi guitarra diga todo lo que yo
No sé decir por mí.
I am going to let
My guitar say everything that I
Cannot say for myself.
“The Problem” Lyrics Translation
Album: Santo Pecado (Blessed Sin), 2002
Style: Pop, romantica, foolish adoration. This guy adores a girl who is not serious about the relationship and he is leaving himself very vulnerable.
Country: Guatemala
Listen: YouTube
El problema no fue hallarte,
El problema es olvidarte.
El problema no es tu ausencia,
El problema es que te espero.
The problem was not finding you,
The problem is forgetting you.
The problem is not your absence,
The problem is that I wait for you.
“Ana” Lyrics Translation
Album: Maná: MTV Unplugged, 1999
Style: Accoustic rock. Story of teen tragedy. Ana is a teen with an unplanned pregnancy, she knows her parents won’t support her, and she’s feeling real desperate.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube
Ana tiene quince.
Niña se le vino un problemón.
Algo está creciendo,
En su vientre hay algo en expansión.
Ana is fifteen.
Girl finds herself with a huge problem.
Something is growing,
In her womb something expanding.
Songlations 
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