“La Ingrata” (Ingrate) by Café Tacvba, cover by La Santa Cecilia and Mon Laferte, English translation

“Ingrate”
Albums: Re, 1994; Amar y Vivir (To Love and To Live), 2017
Style: Original version is a mix of a Mexican corrido norteño and grunge rock. The cover song starts as a ballad and becomes a tango. Song to an “ungrateful” ex-lover who keeps coming back and causing pain. Warning: violent end.
Countries: Mexico City (Café Tacvba); USA, Mexico, Chile (La Santa Cecilia and Mon Laferte)
Listen: Café Tacvba (original); Duet by La Santa Cecilia and Mon Laferte (cover)

Lyrics Translation:

Ingrata,
No me digas que me quieres,
No me digas que me adoras,
Que me amas,
Que me extrañas,
Que ya no te creo nada
.

Ingrate,
Don’t tell me that you care for me,
Don’t tell me that you adore me,
That you love me,
That you miss me,
For I no longer believe anything you say.

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“Se Me Olvido Otra Vez” (I Forgot Again) by Juan Gabriel, Maná, English translation

“I Forgot Again”
Composer: Juan Gabriel (1974)
Albums: Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán (1990); Maná MTV Unplugged (1999)
Genre: Mariachi, ranchera; bolero; rock; lost love song; always guitar. A classic Mexican ranchera song full of emotion, soulfully mourning still being in love with someone who doesn’t love them back. Good pick for a karaoke song.
Country: Mexico

About:

YouTube has renditions by: Maná (MTV live album, rock), Juan Gabriel (recorded mariachi style), Alejandro Fernández (live traditional mariachi), Lucero (woman mariachi live), Pedro Vargas (recorded ranchera), Chavela Vargas (slow and hoarse ranchera, woman), Julio Jaramillo (bolero version), and more.

Wikipedia originally said that Juan Gabriel wrote and released it in 1990, but that time can’t be right because Julio Jaramillo sung it also and Julio died in 1978. Anyway, Juan Gabriel re-released it in 1999 around the same time that Maná released their version. It won Maná a Latin Grammy in 2000.

Update: English Wikipedia now says 1975, but Spanish Wikipedia says Juan Gabriel released this song in 1974 in his collaboration with the famous and transgenerational Mariachi Vargas.

Lyrics Translation:

Probablemente ya
De mí te has olvidado
Y sin embargo yo
Te seguiré esperando.

Probably, by now
You’ve forgotten about me
And nevertheless, I
Will continue to wait for you.

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

“Hate Me” Lyrics
Style: Pasillo, post-breakup song, asking for anything but indifference. Julio Jaramillo’s lyrics are always emotional poetry.
Country: Ecuador
Listen: Julio Jaramillo (original), La Santa Cecilia ft. Noel Schajris (live cover)

Translation:

Ódiame por piedad, yo te lo pido.
Ódiame sin medida ni clemencia.
Odio quiero más que indiferencia,
Porque el rencor quiere menos que el olvido.

(x2)

Hate me for mercy’s sake, I ask (this of) you.
Hate me without measure or clemency.
I want hate more than indifference,
Because resentment asks less than oblivion.
(x2)

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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.

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“La Historia de un Amor” sung by many, English lyrics translation of a Mexican classic

“The Story of a Love” Lyrics, also. “A Lovestory”
Written by Carlos Eleta Almaran, sung by many.
Style: Romantic classic from Mexico
Country: Mexico
Listen: Ana Gabriel (Mexico), Eydie Gormé y Trio Los Panchos (USA & Mexico), Guadalupe Pineda (Mexico), Pedro Infante (Mexico), Luis Miguel (Mexico), Luz Casal (Spain), Laura Fygi (Netherlands)

Translation:

Ya no estás más a mi lado, corazón.
En el alma sólo tengo soledad,
Y si ya no puedo verte,
¿Por qué Dios me hizo quererte?
Para hacerme sufrir más
.

You are no longer at my side, my love.
In my soul I have only loneliness,
And if I can no longer see you,
Why did God make me love you?
To make me suffer more.

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