Piel Canela – Bilingual Lyrics Spanish/English

• By: Eydie Gorme, Trio Los Panchos
• Album: Amor

Lyrics & Translation

Dive into the rhythmic beauty of Spanish through this timeless Bolero. 'Piel Canela' is a perfect gateway to learning romantic Spanish vocabulary and understanding the soulful cadence of Latin American music.

[English]

Let the infinite be left without stars

Or let the wide sea lose its vastness

But let the darkness of your eyes never die

And let your cinnamon skin stay just the same

If the rainbow were to lose its beauty

And the flowers their perfume and their color

My sadness wouldn't be nearly as vast

As the sorrow of being without your love

It's you that matters to me, only you, only you

And only you, only you, only you

It's you that matters to me, only you, only you

And no one else but you

Dark eyes, cinnamon skin

That drive me to despair

It's you that matters to me, only you, only you

And only you, only you, only you

It's you that matters to me, only you, only you

And no one else but you

...

Dark eyes, cinnamon skin

That drive me to despair

It's you that matters to me, only you, only you

And only you, only you, only you

It's you that matters to me, only you, only you

And no one else but you

...

[Spanish]

Que se quede el infinito sin estrellas

O que pierda el ancho mar su inmensidad

Pero el negro de tus ojos que no muera

Y el canela de tu piel se quede igual

Si perdiera el arcoíris su belleza

Y las flores su perfume y su color

No sería tan inmensa mi tristeza

Como aquella de quedarme sin tu amor

Me importas tú y tú y tú

Y solamente tú y tú y tú

Me importas tú y tú y tú

Y nadie más que tú

Ojos negros, piel canela

Que me llegan a desesperar

Me importas tú y tú y tú

Y solamente tú y tú y tú

Me importas tú y tú y tú

Y nadie más que tú

Ojos negros, piel canela

Que me llegan a desesperar

Me importas tú y tú y tú

Y solamente tú y tú y tú

Me importas tú y tú y tú

Y nadie más que tú

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
infinito in-fi-ni-to B1	adjective - infinite
estrellas es-tre-llas A1	noun - stars
ancho an-cho A2	adjective - wide
inmensidad in-men-si-dad B2	noun - immensity
canela ca-ne-la B1	noun - cinnamon
piel piel A2	noun - skin
arcoíris ar-co-i-ris B1	noun - rainbow
belleza be-lle-za A2	noun - beauty
flores flo-res A1	noun - flowers
perfume per-fu-me A2	noun - perfume / scent
tristeza tris-te-za A2	noun - sadness
importar im-por-tar A2	verb - to matter / to be important to
desesperar des-es-pe-rar B2	verb - to despair / to drive crazy
ojos o-jos A1	noun - eyes
negro ne-gro A1	adjective - black

Key Grammar Structures

• Que se quede el infinito sin estrellas

  ➔ Subjunctive mood (Present Subjunctive) for wishes/demands

  ➔ The use of "Que" + "se quede" (subjunctive) expresses a wish or an extreme hypothetical condition.

• Pero el negro de tus ojos que no muera

  ➔ Subjunctive for negative commands/wishes

  ➔ Used here to express a strong desire that the beauty of your eyes "should not" die.

• Si perdiera el arcoíris su belleza

  ➔ Conditional sentences (Hypothetical/Irrealis)

  ➔ The structure "Si" + "perdiera" (imperfect subjunctive) creates a hypothetical scenario.

• No sería tan inmensa mi tristeza

  ➔ Conditional Tense

  ➔ "Sería" indicates what the result would be if the condition were met.

• Como aquella de quedarme sin tu amor

  ➔ Personal infinitive/Nominalized infinitive

  ➔ "Quedarme" acts as a noun describing the state of being left without your love.

• Me importas tú

  ➔ Verb of interest (gustar-like structure)

  ➔ The verb "importar" takes the person who is important as the subject and the person interested as the indirect object.

• Que me llegan a desesperar

  ➔ Periphrasis (Llegar a + infinitive)

  ➔ This periphrasis implies an action that culminates in a specific result (reaching the point of despair).

• Y nadie más que tú

  ➔ Comparative structure of exception

  ➔ "Nadie más que tú" is used to emphasize that no one else exists except you.