Dele Gracias a la Vida – Bilingual Lyrics Spanish/English

• By: José José

Lyrics & Translation

Embark on a linguistic and emotional journey with José José's "Dele Gracias a la Vida." This powerful ballad offers a unique opportunity to immerse yourself in Spanish, exploring themes of hope, resilience, and gratitude in the face of adversity. Its poignant lyrics and José José's emotive delivery make it a special song for understanding rich cultural expressions and the beauty of the Spanish language through a deeply moving narrative.

[English]

I know you're right

And that it’s all true

That things aren’t going well

With so many needs

That in the struggle to live

One loses faith

That love alone isn’t enough

To put food on the table

But don’t lose hope

And don’t give up

Give thanks to life, my friend

Give thanks to the Lord

Give thanks to life, my dear

It could be worse

Give thanks to life for everything

Because life is love

It’s not her fault

For all that’s happened

Give thanks to life

It’s a gift from God

...

I know you're right

And that it’s all true

That things aren’t going well

With so many needs

That in the struggle to live

One loses faith

That love alone isn’t enough

To put food on the table

But don’t lose hope

And don’t give up

Give thanks to life, my friend

Give thanks to the Lord

Give thanks to life, my dear

It could be worse

Give thanks to life for everything

Because life is love

It’s not her fault

For all that’s happened

Give thanks to life

It’s a gift from God

Give thanks to life, my friend

Give thanks to the Lord

Give thanks to life, my dear

It could be worse

Give thanks to life, my friend

Give thanks to the Lord

Give thanks to life, my dear

It could be worse

Give thanks to life, my friend

Give thanks to the Lord

...

[Spanish]

Sé que tiene usted razón

Y que son puras verdades

Que las cosas no andan bien

Con tantas necesidades

Que en la lucha por vivir

Uno pierde la confianza

Que con el amor no alcanza

Para sentarse a comer

Pero, no pierda la fe

Ni abandone la esperanza

Déle gracias a la vida, compadre

Déle gracias al Señor

Déle gracias a la vida, comadre

Que podría ser peor

Déle gracias a la vida por todo

Que la vida es amor

Que ella no tiene la culpa

De todo lo que pasó

Déle gracias a la vida

Que es un regalo de Dios

Sé que tiene usted razón

Y que son puras verdades

Que las cosas no andan bien

Con tantas necesidades

Que en la lucha por vivir

Uno pierde la confianza

Que con el amor no alcanza

Para sentarse a comer

Pero, no pierda la fe

Ni abandone la esperanza

Déle gracias a la vida, compadre

Déle gracias al Señor

Déle gracias a la vida, comadre

Que podría ser peor

Déle gracias a la vida por todo

Que la vida es amor

Que ella no tiene la culpa

De todo lo que pasó

Déle gracias a la vida

Que es un regalo de Dios

Déle gracias a la vida, compadre

Déle gracias al Señor

Déle gracias a la vida, comadre

Que podría ser peor

Déle gracias a la vida, compadre

Déle gracias al Señor

Déle gracias a la vida, comadre

Que podría ser peor

Déle gracias a la vida, compadre

Déle gracias al Señor

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
confianza konˈfjanθa B1	noun - confidence, trust
lucha ˈlut͡ʃa A2	noun - struggle, fight
esperanza espeˈɾansa A2	noun - hope
culpa ˈkulpa A2	noun - blame, fault
regalo reˈɣalo A2	noun - gift, present
verdades beɾˈðaðes A2	noun - truths
alcanza alˈkanθa B1	verb - reaches, suffices
necesidades neθesiˈðaðes A2	noun - needs
abandone aβaˈndoɾne B1	verb - abandon
podría poˈðɾia A2	verb - could
Señor seˈɲoɾ A1	noun - Lord
puras ˈpuɾas A2	adjective - pure
vida ˈβiða A1	noun - life
pasó paˈso A2	verb - passed
compadre kompaˈðɾe B1	noun - godfather, friend

Key Grammar Structures

• Sé que tiene usted razón

  ➔ Present tense of 'tener' (to have) with formal 'usted'

  ➔ The verb 'tiene' is the third-person singular present tense of 'tener', and 'usted' is used for formal address.

• Que podría ser peor

  ➔ Conditional tense of 'poder' (to be able to) + comparative adjective

  ➔ 'Podría' is the conditional form of 'poder', expressing possibility, and 'peor' is the comparative form of 'malo'.

• Déle gracias a la vida

  ➔ Imperative mood with indirect object pronoun 'le'

  ➔ The imperative form 'Déle' includes the indirect object pronoun 'le' to indicate 'to her/him/you'.

• Que la vida es amor

  ➔ Subjunctive mood after 'que' in a subjective clause

  ➔ The subjunctive 'sea' is used after 'que' to express a subjective opinion or belief.

• Que es un regalo de Dios

  ➔ Relative pronoun 'que' introducing a defining clause

  ➔ The relative pronoun 'que' is used to introduce a clause that defines or describes 'la vida'.