“Fotografía” (Photograph) by Juanes ft. Nelly Furtado, English translation of lyrics

“Photograph”
Album: Un Día Normal (A Normal Day), 2002
Style: Soft rock, nostalgic, about long-distance love whether romantic or platonic. The love is there but they have a hard time getting in touch, so they look at photographs instead.
Country: Colombia (Juanes), Canada (Nelly Furtado)
Listen: YouTube

Translation:

Cada vez que yo me voy,
Llevo a un lado de mi piel
Tus fotografías para verlas cada vez
Que tú ausencia me devora entero el corazón
Y yo no tengo remedio más que amarte.

Every time that I leave,
I carry by my skin [*lit. I carry to the side of my skin]
Your photographs, to see them every time
That your absence eats my heart whole
And I have no other choice but to love you.

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“Dámelo” by Juanes, English translation of lyrics

“Give It To Me”
Album: Mi Sangre (My Blood), 2004
Style: Rock, shamelessly sleazy. Juanes wants to seduce a woman and “get to know her” tonight. Oh Juanes.
Country: Colombia
Listen: YouTube

Translation:

Intro whispers:

Ey… sí, tú… sí, sí, tú que está ahí. Escucha, ey…

Hey… yeah, you… yeah, yeah, you right there. Listen, hey…

¿Qué tengo que hacer para tener
En mi labios esos tus labiecitos bonitos?
¿Qué te tengo que hacer para tener
De tu sabor un poquito?

What do I have to do to have
In my lips those pretty little lips of yours?
What do I have to do to have
Of your taste a little?

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“Clase de Amor” by Juanes, English translation of lyrics

“A Type of Love”
Album: La Vida Es Un Ratico (Life is a Brief Moment), 2007
Style: Rock, bitter love, breakup. Juanes sings about a dysfunctional relationship at the point of breakup. If this is the type of love that is offered, Juanes doesn’t want it.
Country: Colombia
Listen: YouTube

Translation:

Tú ya lo sabes que nadie como yo te amó,
Que nadie nunca te entregó
El corazón de la manera como lo hice yo.

You already know it, that nobody loved you like me,
That nobody ever surrendered
His heart to you the way that I did.

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“A Dios Le Pido” by Juanes, English translation of lyrics

“I Ask God”
Album: Un Día Normal (A Normal Day), 2003
Style: Rock, hopeful for the future, love song
Country: Colombia
Listen: YouTube

Translation:

Que mis ojos se despierten
Con la luz de tu mirada, yo…
A Dios le pido.

That my eyes wake up
With the light of your gaze, I…
Ask God.

Que mi madre no se muera y
Que mi padre me recuerde,
A Dios le pido.

That my mother not die and
That my father remember me,
I ask God.

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“Sueños” (Dreams) by Juanes, English translation of lyrics

“Dreams” Song Translation
Album: Mi Sangre (My Blood), 2004
Style: Rock, politically aware
Country: Colombia
Listen: YouTube

Translation:

Sueño libertad
Para todos los que están secuestrados hoy
En medio de la selva.

I dream of liberty
For all those who are kidnapped today
In the middle of the jungle.

Y sueño con la paz
De mi pueblo desangrado,
Y con el final
De esta injusta guerra.

And I dream of peace
(For) my hemorrhaged village,
And with the end
Of this unjust war.

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“Tu Guardián” by Juanes, English translation of lyrics

“Your Guardian”
Album: Mi Sangre (My Blood), 2004
Style: Slow rock to a loved one, a soothing promise song saying you’ll protect them and telling them to sleep soundly. It sounds like a parent to a child, but the relationship isn’t specified so it could also be sung to a lover.
Country: Colombia
Listen: YouTube

Translation:

Duermete pronto, mi amor
Que la noche ya llegó,
Y cierra tus ojos que yo
De tus sueños cuidaré.

Go to sleep soon, my love
That the night has come,
And close your eyes sure that I
Will guard your dreams.

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“Rosario Tijeras” by Juanes, English translation of lyrics

“Rosario Tijeras”
Album: Mi Sangre (My Blood), 2004
Style: Pop/rock, wild west feel, biography of a (fictional) legend. The film Rosario Tijeras (2005) is the second highest grossing film in Colombia’s history. This song is the opening for one of the two novelas about Rosario Tijeras, a real tough lady.
Country: Colombia
Listen: YouTube

Translation:

En la calle,
En la esquina,
En la plaza,
En la cuadra, Papá.
Está de vuelta la Rosario Tijeras
Pa’ que se escondan.

On the street,
On the corner,
On the plaza,
On the block, Daddy.
Rosario Tijeras has come back
So you (should) all flee.

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“Nada Valgo Sin Tu Amor” by Juanes, English translation of lyrics

“I Am Not Worth Anything Without Your Love”
Album: Mi Sangre (My Blood), 2004
Style: Soft rock, love song about feeling weak without them and strong with them.
Country: Colombia
Listen: YouTube

Translation:

Cuando el tiempo pasa
Y nos hacemos viejos,
Nos empieza a parecer
Que pesan más los daños
Que los mismos años al final

When time passes
And we grow old,
It starts to seem to us
That the harms weigh more
Than the very years in the end

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“Para Tu Amor” by Juanes, English translation of lyrics

“For Your Love”
Album: Mi Sangre (My Blood), 2004
Style: Soft rock, sweet
Country: Colombia
Listen: YouTube

Translation:

Para tu amor lo tengo todo,
Desde mi sangre hasta la esencia de mi ser,
Y para tu amor que es mi tesoro,
Tengo mi vida toda entera a tus pies.

For you love I have it all,
Down from my blood up to the very essence of my being,
And for your love that is my treasure,
I have my life all complete at your feet.

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“Mala Gente” (Bad People) by Juanes, English translation and notes

“Bad People” Translation
Album: Un Día Normal (2003)
Style: Rock song. Bitter song to an ex who broke his heart and now wants him back. This song won the Latin Grammy Award for “Best Rock Song” in 2003.
Country: Colombia
Listen: YouTube

Translation:

Tú me pides que te deje ahora, ahora,
Ahora cuando más te necesito.

You ask me to leave you now, now,
Now when I need you most.

Tú me dices que este amor se fue al olvido, ahora,
Ahora cuando yo ya no te olvido.

You tell me that this love has fallen to oblivion, now,
Now when I cannot forget you anymore.

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“Nuestro Juramento” by Julio Jaramillo, cover by La Santa Cecilia, English translation of lyrics

“Our Vow” (1956) Lyrics
Composer: Benito de Jesús, famously sung by Julio Jaramillo.
Style: Pasillo, waltz-like originally. Many covers in different styles.
Country: Ecuador originally, but popular across Latin America.
Listen: Julio Jaramillo (Ecuador), José Feliciano (Puerto Rico), Javier Solis (Mexico), Vicente Fernández (Mexico) La Santa Cecilia (Mexican-American), Juanes (Colombia).

“Nuestro Juramento” is a well-known romance song across Latin America and arguably Julio Jaramillo’s most famous song. It is about human mortality and passion. It is two lovers who declare to continue loving each other forever, and to be devastated should the other die. The verb jurar means “to swear, to vow” and a juramento is an oath or a vow.

Continue reading ““Nuestro Juramento” by Julio Jaramillo, cover by La Santa Cecilia, English translation of lyrics” →

“La Camisa Negra” (The Black Shirt) by Juanes, English translation + meaning

“The Black Shirt” Song Translated
Album: Mi Sangre (My Blood), 2004
Style: Rock, grieving/bitter. Juanes mourns a bad relationship and how it affected him. The black shirt symbolizes mourning. This song has lots of wordplay explained in the notes.
Country: Colombia
Listen: YouTube

Translation:

(No por pobre y feo, pero por antojado…)

(Not for being poor or ugly, but for longing…)

Tengo la camisa negra.
Hoy mi amor está de luto.
Hoy tengo en el alma una pena [*pena, f. = pain (emotional); regret]
Y es por culpa de tu embrujo.

I wear the black shirt.
Today my love is mourning.
Today I have a regret weighing my soul
And it’s the fault of your witchcraft.

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