Spanish songs translated to English with side-by-side lyrics and notes for Spanish learners
“I Saw You Pass” Lyrics
Album: Musas (Muses), 2017
Style: Folk romance song about an unrequited love that you see from afar, but who doesn’t notice you.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube
¡Un, dos, tres…!
Hoy te he mirado sin quererlo,
Te he mirado a mi lado pasar,
Pasar muy cerca de mí.
One, two, three…!
Today I’ve seen you without meaning to,
I’ve seen you passing by me,
Passing so close to me.
“Like the Olive Trees” Lyrics
Album: Pafuera Telarañas (Out with the Cobwebs), 2004
Style: Flamenco hip/hop, song about a passionate romance against the peaceful backdrop of Spain’s pastures.
Country: Spain
Listen: YouTube
Como los olivos
Sudan aceite,
Mi cuerpo resbala sobre tu piel.
Duerme hombre tranquilo en el jardín del edén
Que la humedad desprende sabor a miel.
Like the olives
Sweat oil,
My body slips over your skin.
Sleep, man, serenely in the garden of Eden
For the humidity gives off a taste of honey.
“Reminiscences” Lyrics
Style: Pasillo romance song from mid-20th century Ecuador about remembering a past lover. Pasillo is like Latin American bolero music (romantic lyrics) and European waltz (musical sound), but includes guitar, mandolin, and other string instruments in addition to piano. No one is better at romantic poetry than Julio Jaramillo.
Country: Ecuador
Listen: YouTube
Amada, es imposible borrar de mi memoria,
Me persigue el recuerdo de tu extraño mirar,
Esa risa tan tuya, tus labios tentadores,
Que dejaron su encanto prendido en mi ansiedad.
Beloved, it is impossible to erase from my memory,
It pursues me, the memory of your strange gaze,
That laugh so yours, your lips so tempting,
Who left their enchantment aflame in my restless mind.
“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.
“You Sure Know How to Love Me”
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.
“Love, Love of My Loves” Lyrics for Different Versions
Lyrics Author: María Teresa Lara
Album, original: Noche de ronda (Night out), 1936
Album, cover: Mujer divina, homenaje a Agustín Lara (Divine woman, an homage to Agustín Lara), 2012
Style: Romantic, tango, indie. Romantic song to one’s true love.
Country: Mexico
Listen: Agustín Lara, Pedro Infante, Natalia Lafourcade
Poniendo la mano sobre el corazón,
Quisiera decirte al compás de un son
Que tú eres mi vida,
Que no quiero a nadie,
Que respiro el aire, que respiro el aire,
Que respiras tú.
(x2)
Putting a hand over my heart,
I would like to tell you to the beat of a pleasant sound
That you are my life,
That I don’t want anyone else,
That I breathe the air, that I breathe the air,
That you breathe.
(x2)
“Set Fire To It” or “Set It On Fire” Lyrics
Album: Autopoiética (Autopoietic), 2023
Style: Jazzy pop full of not very subtle sexual euphemisms. Very sensual.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube
Qué goce cortarte el pelo,
Me encanta que me chupes como caramelo,
Me gusta que estés como roca,
Extraño tanto con la cola taparte la boca.
I rejoice in cutting your hair,
I love it when you suck me like caramel candy,
I love it when you are like a rock,
I really miss shutting your mouth with my tail.
“Kiss” Lyrics
Album: Háblate de Mí (Tell Yourself About Me), 2016
Style: Indie pop romantic song asking for a kiss.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube
Beso, tan simple como eso,
Tan simple como un beso,
Todo puede cambiar.
A kiss, as simple as that,
As simply as a kiss,
Everything can change.
“Who Will You Love More Than Me”
Album: Para Siempre (Forever), 2007
Style: Serenade to win back a former lover, reminding her that she loves him even though she broke up with him, and telling her that he loves her.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube
¿A quién vas a amar más que a mí?
Dime, para feliz, felicitarlo yo.
Who will you love more than me?
Tell me so I can, happily, congratulate him myself.
“The Present”
Album: MTV Unplugged, 2008
Style: Alternative rock with accordions. Song celebrating the gift of time and the joy of being present with a loved one. It works as a song for one’s lover or one’s child.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube
Ya sé lo que te diga
No va a ser suficiente, ay ya-ya-ya ya,
Y lo que tu me entregues
Dejará pendientes, ay ya-ya-ya ya.
I know that what I tell you
Will not be enough, ay ya-ya-ya ya,
And what you give me
Will leave worries, ay ya-ya-ya ya.
“Siboney” or “Canto Siboney” Lyrics
Composer: Ernesto Lecuona, 1927
Style: Jazz, romance, love song to Siboney. Xiomara Alfaro’s version was the composer’s favorite.
Country: Cuba, with several covers from Spain
Listen: Xiomara Alfaro (Cuba, 1957); Plácido Domingo (Spain, opera, 2012); Concha Buika (Spain, jazz, 2013)
Siboney, yo te quiero,
Yo me muero por tu amor.
Siboney, I love you,
I am dying for your love.
“Cecilia” Lyrics
Album: Vida Cotidiana (Daily Life), 2023
Style: Tropical pop. Peace and love song, singing to Cecilia that they shouldn’t fight and that they should dance instead.
Country: Colombia, Dominican Republic
Listen: YouTube
Cuando hablamos y peleamos,
No vamos a ningún lado.
Nos lastimamos
Y más y más
Y más y más nos apartamos.
When we talk and fight,
We don’t go anywhere.
We hurt each other
And more and more
And more and more we distance ourselves.
Songlations 
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