“Que Me Quedes Tú” by Shakira, English translation of lyrics

“As Long As I Have You”
Album: Laundry Service, 2001
Style: Pop/rock, love song bargain in an apocalypse scenario. She is willing to let a lot fall to ruin “as long as I have you.”
Country: Colombia
Listen: YouTube, Amazon

Translation:

Que se arruinen los canales de noticias,
Con lo mucho que odio la televisión.
Que se vuelvan anticuadas las sonrisas,
Y se extingan todas las puestas de sol.

Let the news station channels fall to ruins,
I hate television anyway.
Let smiles become ancient relics,
And let all the rays of sunlight be extinguished.

Continue reading ““Que Me Quedes Tú” by Shakira, English translation of lyrics”

“Tarde De Domingo Rara” by Amaral, English translation of lyrics

“Rare Sunday Afternoon” Lyrics
Album: La Barrera Del Sonido (The Sound Barrier), 2009
Style: Pop/rock, energetic, sounds cheerful, song about spending a weekend with a crush.
Country: Spain
Listen: YouTube, Amazon

Translation:

Domingo por la tarde
Me vienes a buscar
Y vamos a perder el tiempo un rato.

Sunday (by the) afternoon
You come to look for me
And we go to waste some time.

Continue reading ““Tarde De Domingo Rara” by Amaral, English translation of lyrics”

“El Mar” by Caramelos de Cianuro, English translation of lyrics

“The Sea” Lyrics
Album: Frisbee, 2002
Style: Rock
Country: Venezuela
Listen: YouTube, Amazon

Translation:

Yo no soy el Mar
Que es el agua y que es la sal.
Soy tan sólo una ola que
Vino, se rompió y después se fue.

I am not the Sea
That is the water and that is the salt.
I am nothing more than a wave that
Came, broke and then left.

Continue reading ““El Mar” by Caramelos de Cianuro, English translation of lyrics”

“Desapariciones” (Disappearances) by Rubén Blades, Maná, English translation lyrics

“Disappearances” Song Translation
AlbumBuscando America (Looking for America), 1984
Style: Political commentary, sad song
Countries: Panama, Mexico
Listen at YouTube: Rubén Blades, or Maná’s cover from their MTV Unplugged album

Translation:

Que alguien me diga si han visto a mi esposo,
Preguntaba la Doña.
Se llama Ernesto X. Tiene cuarenta años.
Trabaja de celador, en un negocio de carros.
Llevaba camisa oscura y pantalón claro.

Someone tell me if they have seen my husband,
Asked the madam.
His name is Ernesto X. He is forty years old.
He works as a guard, in a car dealership business.
He had a dark shirt and light pants.

Salió anteanoche y no ha regresado
Y no sé ya qué pensar,
Pues esto antes no me había pasado.
Oooo…

He went out the night before last night and he has not returned
And I don’t know what to think anymore,
Because this had never happened to me before.
Oooo…

Continue reading ““Desapariciones” (Disappearances) by Rubén Blades, Maná, English translation lyrics”

“Dolor y Pasion” (Pain and Passion) by Caramelos de Cianuro, English translation of lyrics

“Pain and Passion”
Album: Frisbee, 2002
Style: Emo rock about pain and wanting love.
Country: Venezuela
Listen: YouTube

Translation:

Dolor, eres todo lo que tengo, tuve o haya tenido.
Yo te pido que no me hagas nunca más sentir dolor.
Dolor, se separa del placer por una línea delgada.
Otra velada, confrontada con la autoflagelación.

Pain, you are all I have, had, or have had.
I ask you that you never again make me feel pain.
Pain, it is separated from pleasure by a thin line.
Another evening, confronted with self-flagellation.

Continue reading ““Dolor y Pasion” (Pain and Passion) by Caramelos de Cianuro, English translation of lyrics”

“El Universo Sobre Mi” (The Universe Over Me) by Amaral, English translation of lyrics

“The Universe Over Me”
Album: Pájaros en la cabeza (Birds on my head), 2005
Style: Folk pop/rock, about nostalgia and desire to find ones place in the world.
Country: Spain
Listen: YouTube

Translation:

Sólo queda una vela
Encendida en medio de la tarta,
Y se quiere consumir…

There is only one candle left
Lit in the middle of the cake,
And it wants to die out…

Continue reading ““El Universo Sobre Mi” (The Universe Over Me) by Amaral, English translation of lyrics”

“Falta Amor” (Love is Missing) by Maná, English translation of lyrics

“Love is Missing” Lyrics
Album: Maná MTV Unplugged, 1999
Style: Rock song, social commentary about homeless children and their difficult lives.
Country: Mexico
Listen: YouTube

Translation:

Hoy ya la libró de comer,
Pobre niño de la calle,
Pero hoy no la libró de dormir
Bajo la banca de un parque.

He got away not eating today,
Poor kid of the street,
But he didn’t get away not sleeping today
Below a bench in a park.

Continue reading ““Falta Amor” (Love is Missing) by Maná, English translation of lyrics”

“Sábanas Frías” (Cold Sheets) by Maná ft. Rubén Blades, English translation of lyrics

“Cold Sheets” Lyrics
AlbumRevolución de Amor (Revolution of Love), 2002
Style: Salsa, rock song about wanting a lover to come back, and about the bed being cold without them.
Countries: Mexico, Panama
Listen: YouTube

Translation:

Cómo me duele este frío
Aquí en mi cama.
Cómo yo extraño tus besos
En madrugada.

How it hurts me, this cold
Here in my bed.
How I miss your kisses
At the break of dawn.

Continue reading ““Sábanas Frías” (Cold Sheets) by Maná ft. Rubén Blades, English translation of lyrics”

“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.

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

“Te Necesito” by Amaral, English translation of lyrics

“I Need You” Translation
Album: Te necesito (I need you), 2002
Style: Emo rock song about desperate love.
Country: Spain
Listen: YouTube

Translation:

Oh, ¿cómo quieres que me aclare?
Si aún soy demasiado joven
Para entender lo que siento
.

Oh, how do you want me to clarify myself?
If I am still too young
To understand what I feel.

Continue reading ““Te Necesito” by Amaral, English translation of lyrics”

“Untados” (Tainted) by Aterciopelados, English translation of lyrics

“Tainted” Song Translation
Style: Slow rock, cynical but interesting. Song about corruption and crime.
Country: Colombia
Listen: YouTube

Translation:

En el país del sagrado corazón
A nadie se le puede dar la absolución,
Cuando el billete es emperador.

In the country of the sacred heart
Absolution can be given to nobody,
When the banknote is emperor.

Continue reading ““Untados” (Tainted) by Aterciopelados, English translation of lyrics”

“Malo” (Evil) by Bebe, English translation of lyrics

“Evil”
AlbumPafuera Telaraña (Outtahere, Spiderwebs), 2005
Style: Rock/flamenco/hip hop, wispy voice, anti-domestic violence. This artist won a Latin Grammy for Best New Artist in 2005.
Country: Spain
Listen: YouTube

Translation:

Apareciste una noche fría
Con olor a tabaco sucio y a ginebra,
El miedo ya me recorría
Mientras cruzaba los deditos tras la puerta.

You appeared one cold night
With the smell of dirty tobacco and of Ginebra, [*brand of alcohol]
The fear already ran through me
While I crossed my little fingers behind the door.

Continue reading ““Malo” (Evil) by Bebe, English translation of lyrics”