Cómo Hacer Para Olvidar – Bilingual Lyrics Spanish/English

• By: José José
• Album: Tenampa

Lyrics & Translation

Immerse yourself in the soulful sounds of José José to master the expressive language of romantic Spanish. This song is perfect for learning how to convey deep emotions and complex feelings through poetic vocabulary and melodic phrasing.

[English]

Here I am at the Tenampa

The mariachi plays and sings

And they help me forget

And by singing these songs to me

All my disappointments

Slowly fade away

The bartender is my friend

He already knows who I love

And why I've come to drink

But today I feel the urge

To tell the whole world

And now I'm going to tell you

I lived through the

Saddest days of my life

I paid a heavy price for having known her

A very dear friend

Warned me well

I didn't listen to her

And now I'm filled with regret

It hurts so much

That I didn't listen to her

I can't forget her beautiful, sad eyes

But I was

Completely in love

And I fell into the trap

Of loving her whims

Ay, ay-ay

I truly feel it deeply

Ay, ay-ay

How could I waste my time

What pain and what sadness

Even my head aches

Ay, how can I learn to forget

Ay, such sadness is mine

It's all because I still

Haven't learned how to forget

To forget

How can I learn to forget

Come here, all my mariachis

Sing to me all night long

Only songs that speak of forgetting

That one that says: "she left

Just as the sun was rising"

Something like that, I don't remember exactly

But the point is that she's gone

She left

At the break of dawn

Along the path

Bathed in tears

And I

Who love her so much

Full of pride

I watched her leave

Just like that

With my own two hands

I dug the grave

Of my own soul

Simply

For being such a coward

For not telling her

That I loved her

Forget

How can I learn to forget?

Come here, all my mariachis

Sing to me all night long

Only songs that speak of forgetting

That one that says "she left

Just as the sun was rising"

Something like that, I don't remember exactly

But the point is that she's gone

[Spanish]

Aquí estoy en el Tenampa

El mariachi toca y canta

Y él me ayuda a olvidar

Y al cantarme estas canciones

Todas mis desilusiones

Poco a poco se me van

Es mi amigo el cantinero

Él ya sabe a quien yo quiero

Y el por qué vengo a tomar

Pero hoy me han dado ganas

De contarle a todo el mundo

Y ahora les voy a contar

Viví los días

Más tristes de mi vida

Pagué muy caro el haberle conocido

Bien me lo dijo

Una amiga muy querida

No le hice caso

Y ahora estoy arrepentido

Cómo me duele

El no haberle escuchado

No se me olvidan sus bonitos tristes ojos

Pero yo estaba

Totalmente enamorado

Y caí en las redes

Del amar de sus antojos

Ay, ay-ay

De verdad como lo siento

Ay, ay-ay

Cómo fui a perder el tiempo

Qué dolor y qué tristeza

Me duele hasta la cabeza

Ay, cómo hacer para olvidar

Ay, cuánta tristeza mía

Todo es porque todavía

No he aprendido a olvidar

Olvidar

Cómo hacer para olvidar

Vengan todos mis mariachis

Cántenme toda la noche

Puras que hablen de olvidar

Esa que dice: "se fue

Cuando el sol iba saliendo"

Algo así ya no me acuerdo

Pero el caso es que se va

Se fue

Al clarear el alba

Por el camino

Bañada en llanto

Y yo

Que la quiero tanto

Lleno de orgullo

La vi partir

Así

Con mis propias manos

Cave la tumba

Del alma mía

Nomás

Por ser tan cobarde

Por no decirle

Que la quería

Olvidar

¿Cómo hacer para olvidar?

Vengan todos mis mariachis

Cántenme toda la noche

Puras que hablen de olvidar

Esa que dice "se fue

Cuando el sol iba saliendo"

Algo así ya no me acuerdo

Pero el caso es que se va

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
olvidar ol-bi-dar A2	verb - to forget
desilusiones de-si-lu-sjo-nes B2	noun - disappointments
cantinero kan-ti-ne-ro B1	noun - bartender
arrepentido a-re-pen-ti-do B2	adjective - regretful
enamorado e-na-mo-ra-do A2	adjective - in love
tristeza tris-te-sa A2	noun - sadness
cobarde ko-bar-de B1	adjective - cowardly
tumba tum-ba B1	noun - grave
orgullo or-gu-yo B2	noun - pride
llanto jan-to B2	noun - crying
cabeza ka-be-sa A1	noun - head
dolor do-lor A2	noun - pain
aprender a-pren-der A1	verb - to learn
partir par-tir A2	verb - to depart/leave
alba al-ba C1	noun - dawn

Key Grammar Structures

• Poco a poco se me van

  ➔ Pronominal verb with 'se' (reflexive/accidental aspect)

  ➔ The 'se' here adds a nuance of things happening to oneself or disappearing involuntarily.

• Pagué muy caro el haberle conocido

  ➔ Perfect infinitive (haber + past participle)

  ➔ Uses "haber" + "conocido" to refer to an action that happened in the past.

• No le hice caso

  ➔ Preterite tense of irregular verb 'hacer'

  ➔ The "hice" is the first-person singular irregular form for completed actions in the past.

• Cómo fui a perder el tiempo

  ➔ Periphrastic construction (ir + a + infinitive) in the past

  ➔ Used "fui" (past) to express a regretted action that was intended or happened as a process.

• Todo es porque todavía no he aprendido

  ➔ Present perfect tense (haber + past participle)

  ➔ The "he aprendido" connects a past experience to the current moment of speaking.

• Cave la tumba del alma mía

  ➔ Preterite tense of regular -ar verb

  ➔ The word "cavé" indicates a completed action: I dug the grave.

• Por no decirle que la quería

  ➔ Imperfect indicative for description in the past

  ➔ "quería" describes a state of feeling that persisted over time in the past.