Tag: Genre: Melancholy

“Labios Compartidos” (Shared Lips) by Maná, English translation of lyrics

“Shared Lips” Lyrics Translation
Album: Amar Es Combatir (To Love is to Fight), 2006
Style: Rock, unhappy love song about an unfaithful lover or a lover who doesn’t commit to you. The album won a 2007 Grammy Award for “Best Latin Rock/Alternative Album”.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube

Translation:

Amor mío,
Si estoy debajo del vaivén de tus piernas,
Si estoy hundido en un vaivén de caderas,
Esto es el cielo, es mi cielo.

My love,
If I am beneath the see-saw of your legs,
If I am sunken in a see-saw of hips,
This is heaven, it is my heaven.

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“Sin Ti No Soy Nada” by Amaral, English translation of lyrics

“Without You I Am Nothing”
Album: Estrella de Mar (Sea Star), 2002
Style: Emo pop/rock song about desperate love. After the breakup, she does not know what to do with herself.
Country: Spain
Listen: YouTube

Translation:

Sin ti no soy nada,
Una gota de lluvia mojando mi cara,
Mi mundo es pequeño y mi corazón pedacitos de hielo.

Without you I am nothing,
A drop of rain wetting my face,
My world is small and my heart little pieces of ice.

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“Días De Verano” (Summer Days) by Amaral, English translation of lyrics

“Summer Days” or “Days of Summer” Song Translation
Album: Pájaros en la cabeza (Birds in my head), 2005
Style: Rock song about feeling like there aren’t enough summer days left to repair a relationship.
Country: Spain
Listen: YouTube. Those things that look like trees at 0:39 are maguey (agave) stalks.

Translation:

No quedan días de verano para pedirte perdón,
Para borrar del pasado el daño que te hice yo,
Sin besos de despedida y sin palabras bonitas,
Porque te miro a los ojos y no me sale la voz.

There are no summer days left to ask for your forgiveness,
To erase from the past the harm that I did to you,
Without farewell kisses and without pretty words,
Because I look into your eyes and my voice does not come out.

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“Vivir Sin Aire” by Maná, English translation of lyrics

“To Live Without Air”
Album: ¿Dónde Jugarán los Niños? (Where Will The Children Play?), 1992
Style: Rock
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube

Translation:

Cómo quisiera… Poder vivir sin aire.
Cómo quisiera… Poder vivir sin agua.
Me encantaría… Quererte un poco menos.

How I would love… To (be able to) live without air.
How I would love… To (be able to) live without water.
It would delight me… To love you a bit less.

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“Te Lloré un Río” (I Cried You A River) by Maná, English translation of lyrics

“I Cried You A River”
Album: ¿Dónde Jugarán los Niños? (Where Will The Children Play?), 1992
Style: Slow rock song about heartbreak, acceptance, and moving on.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube

Translation:

Yo aquí llorándote un río,
Mandándome al olvido,
Qué cosa más injusta, amor.

Me here crying you a river,
Sending myself to oblivion,
What a most unjust thing, my love.

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“Hermanita” by Aventura, English translation (anti-domestic violence song)

“Dear Sister” Lyrics
Album: Love & Hate, 2003
Style: Bachata, sorrowful. It’s a sad song about a man seeing his sister suffer domestic violence. He sings about his observations, how he fears for her, and how he wishes she left the monster.
Country: USA (New York); Dominican Republic
Listen: YouTube

Translation:

Cómo pasan los años. Ayer eramos niños.
Mami y papi luchaban por nuestro porvenir.
Tú cuidabas de mí; hoy yo velo por ti.
Hermanita, te adoro. Sé que no eres feliz.

How the years pass. Yesterday we were children.
Mom and Dad struggled for our future.
You took care of me; today I stay awake for you.
Sister, I adore you. I know you are not happy.

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“Pobre Diabla” by Don Omar, English translation of lyrics

“Poor Woman” / “Poor Devil”
Album: The Last Don, 2003
Style: Bachata. Sad song about a woman who cries for a man who doesn’t value her.
Country: Puerto Rico
Listen: YouTube

Translation:

Verse 1:
Pobre diabla
Se dice que se te ha visto por la calle vagando,
Llorando por un hombre que no vale un centavo,
Pobre diabla y llora por un pobre diablo.
(x2)

Poor woman
It is said that you have been seen wandering the streets,
Crying for a man who is not worth a cent,
Poor woman and she cries for a poor devil.
(x2)

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“Cuando Llora Mi Guitarra” (When My Guitar Weeps) by Augusto Polo Campo, Julio Jaramillo, English translation

“When My Guitar Weeps”
Composer: Augusto Polo Campos
Album: El Ruiseñor de América (Julio Jaramillo), 1962
Style: Early 20th century pasillo. Melancholy romance song calling out to a lost lover through music.
Country: Peru
Listen: YouTube has renditions by Los Morochucos, Julio Jaramillo (my favorite), Tania Libertad, Eva Ayllon, Juan Diego Florez, and more.

Translation:

Cansado de llamarte,
Con mi alma destrozada,
Comprendo que no vienes porque no quiere Dios.

Tired of calling you,
With my spirit shattered,
I understand that you do not come because God does not wish it.

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“París” by La Oreja De Van Gogh, English translation

“Paris” Lyrics
Album: El Viaje de Copperpot (Copperpot’s Voyage), 2000
Style: Pop, reminiscent of a romantic relationship.
Country: Spain
Listen: YouTube

Translation:

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.

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“Inevitable” by Shakira, English translation of lyrics

“Inevitable”
Album: ¿Dónde Están Los Ladrones? (Where Are The Thieves?), 1998
Style: Rock, confessions love song.
Country: Colombia
Listen: YouTube

Translation:

Si es cuestión de confesar,
No sé preparar café
Y no entiendo de fútbol.

If it’s a matter of confessing,
I don’t know how to prepare coffee
And I don’t understand soccer.

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“Huele a Tristeza” (Smells of Sadness) by Maná, English translation

“Smells of Sadness” Lyrics Translation
Album: Luna (Moon), 2003
Style: Slow rock, Latin rock. Melancholy song about missing a lover and not knowing where they are.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube

Translation:

Sólo huele a tristeza,
Huele a soledad.
En mis ojos perdidos
Sólo hay humedad.

It smells only of sadness,
It smells of loneliness.
In my lost eyes
There is only moisture (lit. humidity).

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“Hoy Es Adios” by Santana and Alejandro Lerner, English translation of lyrics

“Today is Goodbye” Lyrics
Album: Shaman, 2002
Style: Blues rock, Chicano rock, sad song about losing people across the USA-Mexico border. It is from the perspective of a person left behind, singing about their loved one who left with the intent of crossing the border, then time passing and not knowing what happed to them, but continuing to wait.
Country: Mexico, Argentina
Listen: YouTube

Translation:

Él se fue con el invierno.
Él se ha ido a trabajar.
No me ha escrito en mucho tiempo;
Él dijo que volverá.

He left with the winter.
He has gone to work.
Hasn’t written to me in a long time;
He said he would return.

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