Spanish song lyrics translated to English: side-by-side lyrics, song meanings, and translation notes for people learning Spanish.
“Because You Leave” Lyrics
Album: Porque Te Vas (Because You Leave), 1974
Genre: Sad girl ballad. Yearning romantic ballad. She is sad about her lover leaving the city, worried that they will forget her.
Country: Spain
Hoy en mi ventana brilla el sol
Y el corazón se pone triste
Contemplando la ciudad,
Porque te vas.
Today into my window shines the sun
And the heart turns sad,
Contemplating the city,
Because you leave.
“He Died of Love” Lyrics
Album: Enséñame (Teach Me), 1996
Style: Romantic country song. Love song declaring that he wants to be with his sweetheart forever, that his sweetheart made him so happy, and that their absence makes him feel so alone. He wants to be with them forever, even if it leads to future pain. When the time comes, let them write on his tomb that he died of love.
Country: USA (Texas)
Llévame contigo,
Aunque tenga que sentir dolor,
Si en mi tumba yo quiero que diga,
Este hombre se murió de amor.
Take me with you,
Even if I will feel pain,
Because on my tomb, I want it to say,
This man died of love.
“Flowers” Lyrics
Album: Vendrán Suaves Lluvias (Soft Rain Will Come), 2025
Style: Alternative/indie pop, slow soft pop. Bittersweet farewell song from a girl who was The Other Woman, understanding that the relationship was not serious for the one she loved, and that she was merely a soul passing briefly through their life.
Country: Mexico
Ya no puedo más con esta espera,
Viviendo a la sombra de otro amor.
Si yo para ti soy un problema,
Si escondes a la luna, no brilla el sol.
I can’t anymore, with this waiting,
Living in the shadow of another love.
If I, for you, am a problem,
If you hide the moon, the sun won’t shine.
“Accounts of the Soul”
Album: Escenas (Scenes), 1985
Style: Storytelling salsa, salsa consciente (socially conscious salsa). Story of a boy who watches his mother waste her life away pining for his father who left them.
Country: Panama
Siempre en la noche
Mi mamá buscaba el sueño
Frente a la televisión,
Y me pedía que por favor,
No la apagara.
Always at night
My mother sought sleep
In front of the television,
And she’d ask me please,
Don’t turn it off.
“Brown Eyes” Lyrics
Album: Eva, 2023
About: Pop song about a new relationship that seems perfect, but the singer can’t commit because he is not over his ex.
Country: Venezuela
Listen: YouTube
Es la primera vez
Que invito a alguien desde que te fuiste
Y estoy bien.
It’s the first time
That I ask someone out since you left
And I’m fine.
“She”
Album: Joel Nava (Joel Nava), 1995
About: Soft, slow melancholy song about accepting the end of a relationship. Acoustics and vocals only, very raw. It would be a good song for students to sing. It’s slow enough and will let you practice pronunciation.
Country: USA (Texas)
Listen: YouTube
Me cansé de rogarle,
Me cansé de decirle que yo sin ella
De pena muero.
I got tired of begging her,
I got tired of telling her that I, without her,
Of grief would die.
“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.
“What Will Become of Me” Lyrics
Album: Epicentro (Epicenter), 2021
Style: Soft pop song about a being in a turbulent and hot/cold relationship with a bad boy. She loves him but he ignores her and that makes her mad.
Country: Spain
Listen: YouTube
Jugamos a dejar las cosas claras,
No fue suficiente.
Ven y mírame de frente.
No despiertes a la fiera.
We played at making things clear,
It wasn’t enough.
Come and see me face to face.
Don’t wake up in a foul mood.
Dejémonos de hablar de forma rara,
No sé lo que sientes.
Yo sé que siempre fuiste un delincuente
Y aunque me digas que no soy cualquiera,
Me quema.
“Everything Happens” Lyrics Translation
Album: Amor Supremo (Supreme Love), 2015
Style: Pop/rock/emo with soft vocals. Melancholy love song to oneself about the struggle with depression, and about feeling awful when you think you should feel fine. It is a very personal song from Carla Morrison, and ultimately a hopeful song about wanting to fight through the darkness instead of giving up.
Country: USA (Arizona); Mexico
Listen: YouTube
Mi vista es distinta,
Es muy triste y contamina.
Quiero dejar de creer,
Estarme sola y no ver.
My sight is different,
It is so sad and contaminated.
I want to stop believing,
To be alone and not see.
“I’ll See You At the Exit” Lyrics
Album: Puro Teatro (Pure Theater), 2020
Style: 1980s-style pop/rock about a forbidden or unconventional relationship. The singer wants to end the secrecy and come out into the open.
Country: Argentina
Listen: YouTube
No, ya no quiero soñar con tu sombra
Y tener que olvidarla de día.
Sé que es difícil, lo sé,
Que hay peligro también,
Que es historia prohibida.
No, I don’t want to dream of your shadow
And have to forget it by day.
I know it is difficult, I know,
That there’s danger also,
That it is a forbidden story.
“Solitude and the Sea” Lyrics
Album: Musas (Muses), 2017
Style: Folk sentimental romantic, bolero song about being alone with the sea, feeling lonely but also relaxed, enjoying the ocean air. The music rises and falls like the waves.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube
[Intro dialogue:]
¿Otra? ¿Nos echamos otra?
Another? Should we do another?
[Lyrics:]
En el canto de las olas,
Encontré un rumor de luz.
Por un canto de gaviotas
Supe que allí estabas tú.
In the song of the waves,
I found the rumor of a light.
By the cry of the seagulls
I knew you were there.
“The Alms”
Songwriter: Horacio Sanguinetti (pen name of Horacio Basterra)
Style: Tango ballad about charity and poverty. An orphan on the streets tries unsuccessfully to beg outside of a rich party. Help fight hunger by donating to Feeding America or your local food bank.
Country: Uruguay (Horatio Sanguinetti); Ecuador (Julio Jaramillo)
Listen: This is an old song that has many renditions, including one from the prolific early-mid 20th century singer Julio Jaramillo (YouTube). Also sung by Jose Manuel Calderon, Juan Bautista, Juan José Guichandut (music composer), and others.
[Alternative lyrics are shown for the underlined text. The alternative shown is for Julio Jaramillo’s version.]
En la puerta de un palacio, un pobre niño mendigaba:
“¡Tengo hambre, tengo frío, tenga usted de mí, piedad!*” [*underlined alt. piedad de mi!]
Era agosto, pleno invierno y la lluvia taladraba
A su débil cuerpecito que era carne de orfandad.
At the door of a palace, a poor boy begged:
“I am hungry, I am cold, have you for me, pity!*” [*underlined alt. pity for me!]
It was August, in the middle of winter and (with) the rain striking down
On his weak little body which was the flesh of orphanhood.
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