Spanish song lyrics translated to English: side-by-side lyrics, song meanings, and translation notes for people learning Spanish.
“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
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.
“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
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.
“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
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)
“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.
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.
“Paris” Lyrics
Album: El Viaje de Copperpot (Copperpot’s Voyage), 2000
Style: Pop, reminiscent of a romantic relationship.
Country: Spain
Listen: YouTube
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.
“Inevitable”
Album: ¿Dónde Están Los Ladrones? (Where Are The Thieves?), 1998
Style: Rock, confessions love song.
Country: Colombia
Listen: YouTube
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.
“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
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).
“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
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.
Subscribe to get access to the rest of this post and other subscriber-only content.
“Tear Out My Heart” Song Translation
Album: Amar Es Combatir (To Love is To Fight), 2006
Style: Rock song asking their sweetheart to tear out their heart if they leave. The album won a Grammy Award for Best Latin Rock/Alternative Album.
Country: Mexico
Yo sigo solo.
Aquí en la habitación, solo.
Ya anunciaste que te ibas a marchar de mi lado.
I continue alone.
Here in my room, alone.
You already declared you were leaving me.
Songlations 