La Bicicleta

Nada means "nothing" so the whole line literally means "Nothing I'm going to do," or in more natural English, "I'm not going to do anything."

Rebuscando means "searching deeply" or "digging around." The re- prefix intensifies the action of the more common verb, buscar meaning "to search."

En las heridas is literally "in the wounds" but it translates in English better as "[searching] through the wounds."

Del pasado means "of the past" where del is the contraction of de el.

So in context, these first two lines mean that it doesn't do any good to dig through old wounds.

This line is a bit subjective in that it never says exactly what he's going to lose. He could just be saying this in a general sense, like "I'll never be defeated." It could be referencing the previous line, like "I won't dwell on old wounds, I won't lose, I won't give in and I'll stand strong." An alternative interpretation is that whatever he's "not going to lose" is implied, like "I'm not going to lose [something]," as in his hometown, culture, or even just his sense of self. This is a major theme throughout the song.

Tipo is a casual way to say "guy."

De otro lado literally means "from another side," but translates more naturally as "from somewhere else." In this line, he's saying he doesn't want to feel like an outsider. He wants to be true to who he is and where he's from.

A tu manera means “in your manner” or “in your own way.” Here it's referring to doing something in a particular way or style.

Descomplicado comes from complicar (to complicate) with the prefix des- which expresses negation. Here it means "uncomplicated" or "simple." This line describes someone who does things their own way while keeping life simple and easygoing.

Bici is just a shortening of bicicleta, like saying "bike" instead of "bicycle."

A todos lados literally means "to all sides," but here it's used to say "anywhere" or "everywhere."

Notice how lleve is in the subjunctive form. That's because this is part of an idealized, desired situation: riding around freely in a way that takes you everywhere. It expresses intent or aspiration instead of fact. Using the indicative (que te lleva a todos lados) would shift the meaning to something more concrete or factual: this bike takes you everywhere, which breaks the dreamy tone of the song.

Vallenato is a traditional Colombian music style.

Desesperado means "desperate," or full of longing and emotion, just like this song.

Cartica is the diminutive of carta (letter). The -ica ending makes it affectionate, like "little letter" or "dear letter."

Guardo comes from guardar which means "to keep" or "to save." Try to remember this word by relating it to the English word "guard," since saving something is like guarding it or protecting it.

So in this line, they're keeping a little letter in which they pour out their feelings for someone. It's a little ambiguous whether the tú throughout the song is an actual person, or if it's a personification of their hometown where they grew up (it's probably the latter).

This line starts with que because it connects to the previous line: "Where I wrote to you that I dream of you and that I love you so much."

Te sueño literally means "I dream you," but it's better expressed in English as "I dream of you."

Te quiero means "I love you" where querer can mean both "to want" and "to love," and here it's expressing more of an affectionate love.

Tanto means "so much," and intensifies the feelings.

This line also connects to the earlier line: "Where I wrote to you that for a while my heart's been beating for you."

Hace rato means "for a while." Spanish uses hacer (to make or do) to express time, since it thinks of time as being continuously made and not passed, like we do in English.

Latiendo comes from latir (to beat) and it's the gerund form meaning "beating."

La que means "the one that" and it's referring to the cartica, or little card" from the earlier line.

Ser is used here instead of estar because she's talking about being happy in general, not just in the moment.

Así means "like this" or "this way." She's saying she loves this person exactly as they are without wanting them to change, and she loves their relaxed, uncomplicated manner.

Me gustas literally means "you please me," but translates as "I like you" since Spanish flips the structure compared to English.

This line uses ser and not estar since she's talking about their essential character, not a temporary state.

Despelucado is a colorful word that is related to the word peluca (wig), and it means disheveled or messy-haired. Try to remember it by thinking about how messy and disheveled your hair is after removing a wig. Here it's used more metaphorically to refer to someone that's a bit wild and carefree.

This line is very similar to the one we saw earlier, except now we've switched from the subjunctive to the indicative. Earlier it said en una bici que te lleve a todos lados or "on a bike that can take you everywhere," but here it's en una bici que me lleva a todos lados or "on a bike that actually does take me everywhere." So now it's no longer hypothetical!

*La favorita means "the favorite" as in "the favorite one."

La que canta literally means "the one that sings" or "the one who sings."

La zona means "the area" and is related to the English word "zone." Here Carlos is saying that Shakira is the beloved singer of her community.

Se mueven literally means "they move themselves" and the se makes it reflexive.

Sus caderas means "her hips." So this is literally saying "her hips move themselves" or more naturally "her hips move."

Como un barco en las olas means "like a boat on the waves" and refers to the smooth, swaying motion of her hips. This line possibly a reference to Shakira's song "Hips Don't Lie."

Los pies means "the feet" but it's really referring to "her feet." In Spanish, body parts take the definite article, but they're understood as belonging to whoever we are talking about.

Pies descalzos means "barefoot feet," although the literal translation is more like "feet without shoes." In Spanish, calzar means to put on shoes, so descalzar means "to take off shoes." So descalzo is the adjective form, "without shoes."

Como un niño que adora literally means "like a child who adores," but the translation "like a child full of wonder" captures the meaning better to describe the amazed way that children experience the world. She's portrayed as someone who's innocent and experiences life with childlike wonder.

Cabellos literally means "hairs" but here it's just referring to her hair in general.

Que te antoja literally means "that makes you crave." This word functions like gustar in that it flips the usual English structure. The one that's causing the craving is the subject, and the person feeling the craving (te or "you") is the indirect object. So now her hair is being compared to the sun, like it's radiant and irresistibly attractive.

Le gusta que le digan literally means "it pleases her that they say to her" or more naturally "she likes it that they say to her." Digan is subjunctive because it expresses a wish or desire about something that is not necessarily a reality, but instead something she hopes or wants to be true.

La niña, la lola are nicknames, where the la before names in Spanish makes them sound like titles, like "the girl" or "the Lola" (where Lola is a nickname for a young girl). So this line explains that she likes being called by these endearing names, and shows how much her community loves her.

Just like the previous line, miren uses the subjective because it's about what she likes to happen, instead of a definite fact.

Sola means "alone" or "by herself", so she enjoys being watched even when she's dancing solo, which shows how confident she is and her love of attention.

Más la casa literally means "more the house" but it's really saying "she prefers home" or "she'd rather be at home."

Que no pasen las horas literally means "that doesn't pass the hours." Here it's referring to how time stands still when she's at home, or literally, "the house (i.e. home) doesn't pass the hours." Pasen continues to use the subjunctive because it's talking about what she likes.

This line is talking about how Shakira likes both cities. She likes Barranquilla where she grew up, and she likes Barcelona where she later moved to be with her (now ex-) partner Piqué.

Lleva-llévame is a fun repetition where lleva means "take" and llévame means "take me" and uses the command form of llevar (to take).

Óyeme comes from oír (to hear) and is the command form with me attached. It literally means "hear me," which is better translated as "listen to me."

Llévame is llevar in command form again with me attached, and says "take me." Spanish attaches pronouns directly to commands.

So she's calling out to Carlos by name, asking him to take her along on his bike, and it's personal and direct.

Notice the que in que recorramos. Spanish uses que plus the subjunctive because it's expressing a desire, not a fact, and recorramos is in the subjunctive because it's describing what she wants.

Recorramos comes from recorrer which means to travel through or explore a place thoroughly. It comes from the verb correr (to run) but has the re- prefix, originally meaning something like running back and forth across an area. Over time, the meaning shifted from the act of running back and forth to focus more on the space being covered during the movement.

Esa zona means "that area", so she wants to explore that special region together with him.

Santa Marta is a city on the coast of Colombia. In English, the name of the city translates to "Saint Martha" and it was named in honor of the biblical saint.

La Arenosa is a nickname for the Colombian city of Barranquilla. It comes from arena (sand) and -oso, a suffix used to form verbs, so arenoso means "sandy." It's also feminine (arenosa), because it's referring to a ciudad which is also feminine. Adding la to it makes this a sort of title: "the sandy one."

In this line, she's saying she wants to travel from Santa Marta to Barranquilla, two Colombian cities.

Pa' is a contraction of para, so para que means "so that", where she's giving the reason for the journey from the earlier line.

Jueguemos (we play) is in the subjunctive, and the phrase para que triggered the subjunctive because it's used to express the purpose of the action. You can think of it as referring to what someone wants to happen instead of what is actually happening, and that's exactly what the subjunctive is used for: something uncertain or hypothetical instead of real.

Bola 'e trapo is a contraction of bola de trapo meaning "ball of rag," or in English "rag ball." She's referring to a homemade ball made from cloth scraps.

En chancleta means "in flip-flops." She's painting us a picture of childhood games played in warm weather, and she wants to go there and play some nostalgic games together.

Notice how this line starts with the word que. In Spanish, que can be used to introduce an extra comment or idea, and it's often paired with commands. For example, Estudia, que mañana tienes examen means "Study, because you have a test tomorrow." In that case, the second part explains or justifies the command. But more broadly, Spanish uses que to add loosely connected ideas, and often just to continue the flow of thought. That's what's happening in this line, where the second part isn't really a reason to be taken on the bike and is more like an extra comment. It's saying "Take me on your bicycle… and hey, if you ever showed Piqué the Tayrona..."

A Piqué is Gerard Piqué, Shakira's ex-partner, where the a is needed in Spanish when showing something to someone.

Le muestres uses the subjunctive because it's hypothetical to say "if you ever show him," and the le refers back to Piqué.

El Tayrona is Tayrona National Park in Colombia.

So she's saying if Carlos ever shows Piqué this beautiful Colombian place, something will happen, which we'll see in the next line...

Querrá is the future tense of querer and means "he will want", but with no it becomes "he won't want."

Irse is the reflexive form of ir and means "to leave" or "to go away" by emphasizing departure from a place.

Pa' is a contraction of para, like saying "to" instead of "in order to.

She's saying that once Piqué experiences the beauty of Tayrona in Colombia, he won't want to return to Barcelona because Colombia will win his heart.

This line is pretty much the same as one of the lines we saw earlier, except here instead of a Piqué it says a mi Piqué which emphasizes that it's her Piqué.

Similarly instead of just le muestres el Tayrona, it's tú le muestres el Tayrona to say "if you ever show my Piqué the Tayrona."