Spanish lyrics for the dance floor
Our bodies embody the music, but our minds and mouths should embody the song.
As a beginning leader, all you care about in the music is the count. Yet, as David Linares blogged about almost a decade ago, and as was recently reiterated by Steven Messina and Robin Campbell, a good leader conditions his figures and positions on the energy of the music. I will go one step further and argue that true musicality requires that your dance follows the emotion expressed by the lyrics. So, let’s learn some Spanish lyrics.
- Brujeria (El Gran Combo De Puerto Rico)
- Qué Pasa Loco (Issac Delgado)
- Abre Que Voy (Miguel Enriquez)
- Marcando la Distancia (Manolito y Su Trabuco)
- Mira Como Se Mueve (Manolito Simonet y su Trabuco)
- Me liberé (El Gran Combo De Puerto Rico)
- Después de todo (Juan Formell y Los Van Van)
- Ya Tu No Coronas (Maykel Blanco Y Su Salsa Mayor)
- Pastilla de Menta (Havana D’Primera)
- Conclusion
Below, I’ve selected several popular salsa songs which I also like dancing to. For each of them, I want to document the story it tells, and also give you the key lines (usually a chorus or exclamations) which you can sing on the floor – without losing count, which is trickier than you’d think even if you have no issue finding count on these songs.
Of course, I don’t speak Spanish, and because I don’t want to bother the handful of Spanish-speaking friends I have, I will paste the lyrics into ChatGPT so it has all the context it needs for a lyrical analysis (a task which is not uncommon, just like the Spanish language, so it should have no problem understanding what to do and doing it correctly). My initial prompt:
I’m going to give you the lyrics to several Spanish songs. Your job is to tell me, in English, the story the song is telling us. You don’t have to translate the entire song, but please do cite the key phrases that indicate what the rest of the song revolves around.
Brujeria (El Gran Combo De Puerto Rico)
Story
According to ChatGPT:
This song tells the story of a man who believes he has been enchanted—or cursed—by a woman. He is completely captivated by her, to the point of obsession, and suspects that she has used some kind of magic or witchcraft to make him fall for her.
Key lyrics
Tu m’hiciste brujeria.
- Grammar: m’ is short for me. hiciste is the past 2nd singular of hacer (“to do”).
- Translation: “You did witchcraft to me.”
Qué Pasa Loco (Issac Delgado)
Story
According to ChatGPT:
This song tells the story of a man who is deeply attracted to a young woman, to the point of obsession. Despite being “mature and conscious” of his situation, he finds himself losing control and experience when it comes to her. However, his friends (or his own inner voice) are warning him to stop, insisting that she is not for him.
I slightly disagree with this; I believe the song is about the narrator telling another guy to back off from a woman he is interested in himself. Hence the line Es un consejo de amigo, lo que te voy a decir: que no te vuelvas medio-loco con esa niña, que no es para ti, la quiero para mí. (“It is friendly advice, that which I’m going to tell you: don’t become half-crazy with that girl, since she’s not for you, her I want for myself.”)
Key lyrics
Loco,
que pasa loco?
Controlate muchacho,
que esa niña n’ e’ pa’ti.
- Grammar: n’ e’ pa’ in the song is pronounced “nwepa” and is short for no es para (“is not for”).
- Translation:
“Madman,
what’s up madman?
Control yourself dude,
because that girl is not (meant) for you.”
Musicality
This song fools every leader the first couple times. It has four different points where it pretends to end: 2:47, 3:08, 4:44, and most deviously, 5:10. Remember that this song ends with a fade-out. It does not end by stopping dead in its tracks. Keep dancing when it does, because there’s more to come!
Abre Que Voy (Miguel Enriquez)
Story
According to ChatGPT:
It seems like he’s speaking to someone at the party or event where salsa is going to take place, (…) inviting them to open the door (literally or metaphorically) and let him in. (…) He’s asking the door to be opened because he’s ready to enter with excitement or force. The phrase is a playful, metaphorical way to say, “I’m coming in strong and full of energy—let me in!”
Key lyrics
Salseros: si llaman, yo vengo!
- Translation: “Salsa dancers: when they call, I come!”
Yo se que te gusta, t’estoy encantando.
Abreme la puerta, que vengo gozando.
Yo se que te gusta, yo se que t’encanta.
Abreme la puerta, que vengo ‘pretando.
- Grammar: que here doesn’t refer to la puerta, but means “‘cause”. The gerund gozando comes from gozar (“to have a great time”). Meanwhile, ‘pretando is short for apretrando, about which ChatGPT says: “The word “apretando” comes from “apretar”, which generally means “to tighten” or “to put pressure”. However, in this context, it is often used colloquially in music, especially in genres like salsa, to imply that he’s coming with a strong or powerful presence – he’s bringing a lot of intensity, excitement, and rhythm.”
- Translation:
“I know that you like it, I’m enchanting to you.
Open the door for me, because I come with excitement.
I know that you like it, I know that I enchant you.
Open the door for me, because I come with force.”
Abre, que voy!
- Translation: “Open up, here I come!”
Tun tun. Quien es?
- Translation: “Knock knock. Who’s there?”
Marcando la Distancia (Manolito y Su Trabuco)
Story
According to ChatGPT:
This song is about a confrontation between the narrator and someone (likely an ex [of his girlfriend]) who has come to his house, trying to reclaim a woman who is no longer his. (…) The narrator is saying “Tu pa’ lla’ y yo pa’ ca’ para marcar la distancia”, and he’s saying it to the ex. The phrase translates to “You go that way, and I go this way to mark the distance,” meaning the narrator is telling the ex to leave and establish a clear separation between them. He is asserting boundaries and marking that the ex is no longer involved in the woman’s life.
Key lyrics
Tu pa’lla, y yo pa’ca.
- Grammar: pa’lla and pa’ca are short for para allá and para acá. Spanish has the words aqui/acá for “here exactly” and “around here”, and the words ahi/alli/alla for “there, a couple steps away” and “there, where I’m pointing” and “there, in those faraway lands”.
- Translation: “You (go) over there, and I (stay) over here.”
Pa’ la calle, fuera de mi casa.
- Translation: “Into the street, out of my house.”
Mira Como Se Mueve (Manolito Simonet y su Trabuco)
Story
Based on just the chorus, ChatGPT says:
The chorus is describing a girl who’s dancing wildly and passionately, impressing those around her with her moves. The narrator is reacting with surprise and admiration.
Key lyrics
There exist no lyrics for this song anywhere, so I had to piece them together with help from an Argentinian friend.
Ai dios,
la niña ‘sta violenta.
Mira como se mueve,
mira como calienta.
- Grammar: violenta is used figuratively to mean something like “coming at you hard”, “striking”. calienta is not an adjective or an adverb (that would be caliente), but a verb form, from calentar (“to heat”).
- Translation:
“Oh God,
the girl is wild.
Look at how she moves,
look at how she heats it up.”
Pa’ la pista, pa’ la pista, todo el que vino pa’ la pista.
Pa’ la pista, pa’ la pista, bailadores pa’ la pista.
- Translation:
“To the dance floor, to the dance floor, everyone who came, to the dance floor.
To the floor, to the floor, dancers, to the dance floor.
Muevelo, muevelo.
- Grammar: mueve is the imperative of mover (“to move”).
- Translation: “Move it, move it.”
Muevelo, muevelo, muevelo.
Mirala, mirala, mirala.
- Translation:
“Move it, move it, move it.
Look at her, look at her, look at her.”
Me liberé (El Gran Combo De Puerto Rico)
Story
According to ChatGPT:
The narrator expresses relief and gratitude for freeing himself from various women who caused him emotional or relational stress, (…) breaking free from complicated relationships, particularly with women who are demanding or possessive.
Although the song sounds like it’s a cry for help to non-Spanish-speakers (“Free me!”), it’s actually euphorically in past tense (“I freed myself!”).
Key lyrics
Me liberé, me liberé,
gracias a Dios, me liberé.
Me liberé, me liberé,
gracias al cielo, me liberé.
- Grammar: liberé is the 1st-person singular simple past of liberar.
- Translation:
“I freed myself, I freed myself,
thank God, I freed myself.
I freed myself, I freed myself,
thank heavens, I freed myself.”
Que yo no quiero más complicaciones, por eso me liberé.
Me libére, me libére.
- Translation:
“That I don’t want more complications, for that I freed myself.
I freed myself, I freed myself.”
Musicality
The last excerpt above appears towards the end of the song. Between the two lines, there is a burst of the orchestra. Try to anticipate this hit (which you can’t do by the lyrics alone, because the first line appears earlier in the song) and exaggerate your movement at that moment.
Después de todo (Juan Formell y Los Van Van)
Story
The singer decries that she was broken up with. In the first half of the song, she asks why. When the song opens up, she tries to make the statement that “fine, if this is what you want, I don’t want you anymore anyway”.
Key lyrics
Y despues de todo que,
roto el sentimiento.
Para que, y por que, mi amor?
Di por mi: “Lo siento.”
- Grammar: despues de means “after”. roto is the past participle of romper (“to break”). Lo siento means “I’m sorry”.
- Translation:
“And after all of that,
broken (is) the feeling.
For what, and why, my love?
Say sorry for me.”
Y despues de todo que,
todo es amargura.
Tu de cama en cama y yo,
y yo durmiendo sola.
- Translation:
“And after all of that,
everything has become bitter.
You from bed to bed, and I,
I’m sleeping on my own.”
No se vig’len – no s’atormenten más,
que cada cual tiene s’suplente ya.
- Grammar: In Latin-American Spanish, the plural imperative (unlike the singular imperative) always addresses the formal “you”, regardless of the situation. Like with German’s Sie, this formal “you” uses the third-person conjugation of a verb. That means that in Latin America, a plural imperative uses the third-person plural of a verb, despite being meant for the people being addressed: se vig’len is short for se vigilen, the 3rd-person plural of vigilar (“to watch closely”), here reflexively “don’t introspect for too long”. Same holds for se atornmenten and atormentar (“to torment”). In Spain, people would use the 2nd-person plural imperatives no os vigiléis and no os atornmentéis instead. cada cual means “every one”. suplente is a noun meaning “replacement”.
- Translation:
“Don’t worry – don’t torment yourselves any more,
‘cause everyone has their replacement already.”
Lo que pasó, pasó, ‘ta bueno ya –
no comenten más, ya pasó.
- Grammar: esta bueno ya literally means “it is good already” but is said when you are annoyed by something and want it to end. In my native language, we would say nu is het wel geweest which translates to “now it has been good”.
- Translation:
“That which has happened, happened, that’s enough –
don’t comment any more, it’s happened already.
Ya Tu No Coronas (Maykel Blanco Y Su Salsa Mayor)
Story
According to ChatGPT:
The phrase “Ya tú no coronas” is key to understanding the song’s meaning. In this context, “coronar” is Caribbean slang for “to succeed” or “to win”, especially in romantic or sexual conquests. So the title roughly means “You don’t win anymore” or “You’re not the champion anymore.”
The song is about a love triangle where the narrator taunts another man, telling him that the woman he thinks he has isn’t truly his. She still thinks about the narrator and even fakes affection for the other guy.
Key lyrics
Si te gu’tó como te besó,
entérate que’l que l’enseñó fui yo.
Ell’ e’ práctica, e’ viva,
y no ‘tá pa’la bobería.
- Translation:
“If you liked how she kissed you,
understand that the one who taught her was me.
She’s experienced, she’s sharp,
and she’s not here for silly games.”
Ay ay ay, coge la cola
Ay ay ay, ya tú no coronas
- Translation:
“Ay ay ay, get to the back of the line.
Ay ay ay, no longer do you prevail.”
Pastilla de Menta (Havana D’Primera)
Story
According to ChatGPT:
The narrator is defending and celebrating his music (his timba), despite gossip or criticism. (…) The phrase “pastilla de menta” (a breathmint) may be a metaphor, possibly for something refreshing, soothing, or spicy, depending on context. Could be slang for his musical flavor — like saying, “Here’s something fresh for you.”
Key lyrics
Mira mi timba, que bien se ve.
Ven, tirat’ una foto.
- Translation:
“Look at my timba, how good it looks.
Come, take yourself a photo.”
Prepárate,
apúntate,
menéate.
Un, dos, tres, camina!
- Translation:
“Prepare yourself,
join in,
sway your body.
One, two, three, let’s go!”
Heh, hah, agítala,
jala por aquí, jala por allá,
levanta la mano y mueva la cintura,
salta! Dale pa’que vuelv’a ‘mpezar.
- Grammar: The last sentence is hard to translate. It starts with dale (literally “give it”), a phrase that means “go for it”, and then pa’que (para que, “for the reason that”), vuelva (“it comes back around”) and a empezar (“to start”).
- Translation:
“Hey, hah, shake it,
pull over here, pull over there,
raise your hand and move your waist,
jump! Do it now, so we can start over.”
Musicality
The final excerpt describes a little dance routine which you can try to integrate into your dance. To get an idea, here is Havana D’Primera performing the song in concert. It repeats four times back-to-back after the bridge, and you can have a lot of fun even with the “salta!” alone.
Conclusion
Practice these lyrics when listening to the songs. Close your position when the music is calmer (the start and the end, and sometimes during the bridge). And, whenever you can, dance like the protagonist in these songs.
I will keep this article updated as I learn more lyrics myself.
