Spanish song lyrics translated to English: side-by-side lyrics, song meanings, and translation notes for people learning Spanish.
“The Beach”
Album: El Viaje de Copperpot (The Journey of Copperpot), 2000
Style: Slow pop
Country: Spain
Listen: YouTube
No sé si aún me recuerdas,
Nos conocimos al tiempo
Tú, el mar y el cielo
Y quién me trajo a ti.
I do not know if you still remember me,
We met on time
You, the sea and the sky
And the one who brought me to you.
“On My Side of the Sofa” Lyrics
Album: Guapa (Good Looking), 2006
Style: Pop/rock song about devoted love, except it goes slightly too far and sounds like a stalker song. I find it funny. She says she will wait for him in the shadows!
Country: Spain
Listen: YouTube, Amazon
Te esperaré, no importa quien te bese.
Yo te esperaré, no importa que me quieras.
Yo te escucharé, si tú me has dado tanto,
Yo te esperaré y te daré mi vida entera.
I will wait for you, no matter who kisses you.
I will wait for you, it doesn’t matter if you want me.
I will listen to you, (how could I not) if you have given me so much,
I will wait for you and I will give you my whole life.
“It May Be”
Album: A Contracorriente (Against the Current), 2002
Style: Mellow pop rock, romantic duet, emphasis on vocals, few instruments. El Canto del Loco is a former Spanish pop rock band that I do not know very well yet. Amaia Montero is the former lead singer for the band La Oreja de Van Gogh (singing for them 1996-2007). I have translated several of LOVG’s songs. Amaia left LOVG to launch a solo career.
Country: Spain
Listen: YouTube
No sé si quedan amigos,
Ni si existe el amor,
Si puedo contar contigo
Para hablar de dolor.
I don’t know if friends remain,
Nor if love exists,
(Nor) if I can count on you
To talk about pain.
“Silence”
Group: Ojos de Brujo (Wizard Eyes)
Album: Techari, 2006
Style: Hip hop/flamenco fusion.
Country: Barcelona, Spain
Listen: YouTube. If you liked this song, you might also like “Papeles Mojados” by Chambao.
Silencio.
Cuando llama uno a la suerte
No comparece en ese momento,
En silencio.
Silence.
When one calls on luck
It doesn’t present itself in that moment,
In silence.
“The Peace of Your Eyes” Lyrics
Album: Lo Que Te Conté Mientras Te Hacías La Dormida (What I Told You When You Pretended to Sleep), 2003
Style: Pop with piano, about wanting to feel secure in a relationship and trying to allow oneself to do so.
Country: Spain
Listen: YouTube
No he podido esta vez,
Vuelvo a no ser,
Vuelvo a caer.
I have not been able this time,
I return to not being [*alt. not existing],
I fall again.
“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.
“Story of a Dream” Lyrics
Album: Lo Que Te Conte Mientras Te Hacias La Dormida (What I Told You When You Pretended to Sleep), 2003
Style: Bittersweet love song to a child, from a dead loved one who sends a message through dream to let them know that everything is ok. This song makes me tear up a bit. ♥
Country: Spain
Listen: YouTube
Perdona que entré sin llamar.
No es esta la hora y menos el lugar.
Tenía que contarte que en el cielo no se está tan mal.
Forgive me for entering without warning.
This isn’t the time and even less the place.
I had to tell you that it isn’t so bad up in heaven.
Mañana ni te acordarás,
“Tan sólo fue un sueño,” te repetirás.
Y en forma de respuesta, pasará una estrella fugaz.
Tomorrow you won’t even remember,
“It was only a dream,” you will repeat to yourself.
And in (form of an) answer, a shooting star will pass.
“Much Too Late”
Style: Emo alternative rock with folk music elements about unfulfilled potential and wanting to change
Country: Spain
Listen: YouTube
Rondaba los veinte años
Y sin darse cuenta ya era toda una mujer
Había empeñado su vida, aunque no lo sabia,
En hacerle feliz a él.
Pero nadie la escuchó,
Cuando en silencio gritó…
She was roaming those twenty years
And without realizing it she was fully a woman
She had pawned her life, though she didn’t know it,
To make him happy.
But nobody heard her,
When in silence she yelled…
“Todo Tiende”
Album: Techarí (Free), 2006
Style: Fast-paced flamenco/hip hop.
Country: Spain
Listen: YouTube
Mendigando eternidades,
Mendigos piden a mendigos
Lo que no tienen ni pueden darse.
Panhandling eternities,
Vagrants ask vagrants
For what they do not have nor can give each other.
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“The Book” Lyrics
Album: Dile al Sol (Tell the Sun)
Style: Jazzy
Country: Spain
Listen: YouTube
Qué distinto parece el mundo al girar,
Si sonríes sentada en cualquier bar,
Conversando sobre la eternidad.
How different the world looks as it spins,
If you smile sitting in any bar,
Speaking about eternity.
“Wet Papers” Lyrics Translation
Album: Con Otro Aire (With Another Air), 2007
Style: Romani-influenced Spanish music about the perils of immigration and fears of refugees.
Country: Spain
Listen: YouTube
Miles de sombras cada noche trae la marea.
Navegan cargaos de ilusiones que en la orilla se quedan. [*ilusiones = dreams, hopes, lit. illusions]
Historias del día día, historias de buena gente.
Se juegan la vida cansaos, con hambre y un frío que pela.
Every night, the tide brings in thousands of shadows.
They navigate laden with dreams left at the shore.
Stories of the day, the real day, histories of good people.
They gamble their lives fatigued, with hunger and a cold that hurts.
Songlations 
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