Song guide

Addicted to You

Shakira

Addicted to You by Shakira, line by line: what the lyrics mean, 23 expressions explained and 219 words translated with their grammar. Learn Spanish from the song, free.

Lyrics with English translation, line by line

Each line as sung, what it means, and — where it needs one — why it's said that way.

1. Debe ser el perfume que usas

   It must be the perfume you wear

2. O el agua con la que te bañas

   Or the water you bathe in

3. Pero cada cosita que haces

   But every little thing you do

4. A mí me parece una hazaña

   Seems like a great feat to me

   una hazaña literally means a heroic feat or exploit — the kind of word used for great deeds in literature. Using it for everyday actions the beloved does is a hyperbolic compliment, a common device in Latin pop songwriting.

5. Me besaste esa noche

   You kissed me that night

6. Cual si fuera el último día de tu boca

   As if it were the last day of your mouth

7. Cada vez que yo me acuerdo

   Every time I remember

8. Yo siento en mi pecho el peso de una roca

   I feel the weight of a rock in my chest

9. Son tus ojos marrones

   It's your brown eyes

10. Esa veta verdosa

    That greenish streak

    una veta verdosa (a greenish streak) refers to a fleck of green in the beloved's otherwise brown eyes — a very specific, intimate detail that signals the singer has studied this person's face closely.

11. Es tu cara de niño

    It's your boyish face

12. Y esa risa nerviosa

    And that nervous laugh

13. I'm addicted to you

    I'm addicted to you

    The chorus switches to English ('I'm addicted to you') mid-song, a technique called code-switching common in Latin pop, especially in songs aimed at bilingual or international audiences. The English phrase is then immediately explained in Spanish in the next line.

14. Porque es un vicio tu piel

    Because your skin is a vice

15. Baby, I'm addicted to you

    Baby, I'm addicted to you

16. Quiero que te dejes querer

    I want you to let yourself be loved

17. I'm addicted to you

    I'm addicted to you

18. Porque es un vicio tu piel

    Because your skin is a vice

19. Baby, I'm addicted to you

    Baby, I'm addicted to you

20. Quiero que te dejes querer

    I want you to let yourself be loved

21. Por el puro placer de flotar

    For the pure pleasure of floating

22. Ahora si me llevó la corriente

    Now the current has swept me away

    Being 'swept away by the current' (llevó la corriente) is a classic metaphor in Spanish-language poetry and song for losing control of one's emotions or being overwhelmed by love — the river current as an unstoppable force of feeling.

23. Ya no puedo dormir ni comer

    I can no longer sleep or eat

24. Como lo hace la gente decente

    The way decent people do

25. Un recuerdo ha quedado

    A memory has remained

26. Así como un broche prendido a mi almohada

    Like a brooch pinned to my pillow

    The image of a memory 'pinned like a brooch to a pillow' is a surrealist-tinged metaphor — the brooch (broche) is a physical, wearable object, making the abstract memory tangible and even painful, like something sharp left on a pillow.

27. Y tú en cambio que tienes memoria de pez

    And you, who have the memory of a fish

    The expression 'memoria de pez' (memory of a fish) plays on the popular — though scientifically inaccurate — belief that fish have a memory of only a few seconds. In Spanish-speaking cultures this is a well-known saying used humorously or reproachfully.

28. No te acuerdas de nada

    Don't remember anything

29. Son tus manos de hombre

    It's your manly hands

30. El olor de tu espalda

    The scent of your back

31. Lo que no tiene nombre

    What has no name

32. Lo logró tu mirada

    Your gaze managed to do it

33. I'm addicted to you

    I'm addicted to you

34. Porque es un vicio tu piel

    Because your skin is a vice

35. Baby, I'm addicted to you

    Baby, I'm addicted to you

36. Quiero que te dejes querer

    I want you to let yourself be loved

37. I'm addicted to you

    I'm addicted to you

38. Porque es un vicio tu piel

    Because your skin is a vice

39. Baby, I'm addicted to you

    Baby, I'm addicted to you

40. Quiero que te dejes querer

    I want you to let yourself be loved

Expressions and idioms in “Addicted to You”

The lines that don't mean what the dictionary says.

Debe ser It must be

deber + infinitive expresses probability or supposition — 'it must be' or 'it's probably'. This is one of the most common ways to speculate in Spanish.

el agua con la que te bañas the water you bathe in

The preposition con is placed before the relative pronoun la que, giving 'con la que' (with which). Spanish keeps the preposition before the relative pronoun, unlike English which often drops it or moves it to the end.

te bañas you bathe

bañarse is a reflexive verb — the te signals that the action is done to oneself. The plain verb bañar means 'to bathe someone else'; te bañas means 'you bathe yourself'.

cada cosita que haces every little thing you do

cosita is a diminutive of cosa ('thing'), formed by adding -ita. Spanish diminutives (-ito/-ita) add a sense of smallness or affection. cada cosita = 'every little thing', with the diminutive adding tenderness to the observation.

A mí me parece It seems to me

parecer works like gustar — the thing that seems is the grammatical subject, and the person to whom it seems is expressed with an indirect object pronoun (me) plus the prepositional phrase a mí for emphasis. Word order is inverted compared to English.

Cual si fuera As if it were

cual si + imperfect subjunctive is a literary/poetic way to say 'as if'. The imperfect subjunctive (fuera) is required after 'as if' in Spanish to signal a hypothetical or contrary-to-fact situation.

me acuerdo I remember

acordarse (de) is a reflexive verb meaning 'to remember'. The plain verb acordar means 'to agree' — a completely different meaning. The reflexive form with de is the one used for remembering.

Cada vez que Every time that / whenever

cada vez que is a fixed temporal expression meaning 'every time that' or 'whenever'. It is always followed by an indicative verb when referring to habitual actions.

cara de niño boyish face / child's face

noun + de + noun is a common Spanish structure for describing what something resembles or belongs to. cara de niño literally means 'face of a boy/child' but functions as an adjective phrase meaning 'boyish face'. No article is used before niño in this construction.

te dejes querer let yourself be loved

dejarse + infinitive means 'to let oneself be [verb]ed'. Here, te dejes querer = 'let yourself be loved'. The reflexive te on dejar signals that the subject is allowing something to happen to themselves. querer here functions passively.

Quiero que te dejes querer I want you to let yourself be loved

querer que + subjunctive is the standard Spanish structure for expressing what you want someone else to do. English uses an infinitive ('I want you to...'), but Spanish requires a subordinate clause with the subjunctive (dejes).

Por el puro placer de For the sheer pleasure of

por + el + noun + de + infinitive is a common structure expressing motivation or reason. puro here means 'sheer' or 'pure' in the sense of 'nothing but', intensifying the noun it modifies.

Ahora sí Now indeed / now truly

ahora sí (with an accent on sí) is an emphatic expression meaning 'now truly' or 'this time for real'. The accented sí is the affirmative adverb 'yes/indeed', distinct from the unaccented si meaning 'if'.

me llevó la corriente the current swept me away

llevar + indirect object pronoun is used to express being carried or swept away by a force. The subject (la corriente) comes after the verb in Spanish, which is a common inversion. This is also used figuratively to mean being swept away by emotion.

puedo dormir ni comer can sleep or eat

ni...ni means 'neither...nor', but a single ni after a negated verb means 'or' in a negative context — 'I can't sleep or eat'. This mirrors the English 'can't sleep or eat' but uses ni where English uses 'or'.

Ya no puedo I can no longer

ya no + verb is the standard Spanish way to say 'no longer' or 'not anymore'. ya alone can mean 'already' or 'now', but ya no reverses it into a negation of a previously true state.

ha quedado has remained

haber + past participle forms the present perfect tense in Spanish, equivalent to English 'has/have + past participle'. quedar (non-reflexive) here means 'to remain' or 'to be left'.

así como just like / in the same way as

así como is a comparative conjunction meaning 'just like' or 'in the same way as'. It introduces a simile and is stronger/more literary than a plain como alone.

memoria de pez memory of a fish

tener memoria de pez is a Spanish idiom equivalent to 'having the memory of a goldfish' — meaning someone forgets things very quickly. It is a culturally common expression for poor memory.

en cambio on the other hand / whereas

en cambio is a fixed adverbial phrase meaning 'on the other hand' or 'whereas', used to contrast two situations. It is not deducible from en ('in') + cambio ('change') alone.

te acuerdas de nada you don't remember anything

acordarse de governs the preposition de — you must say acordarse de algo/nada, never acordarse algo. This verb+preposition pairing is fixed and must be memorized.

Lo que no tiene nombre What has no name / that which has no name

lo que is a neuter relative pronoun meaning 'what' or 'that which', used when there is no specific noun antecedent. It nominalizes the entire clause that follows it.

Lo logró tu mirada Your gaze managed to do it

lograr + direct object means 'to manage to achieve something'. The lo at the start is a direct object pronoun referring back to 'what has no name' from the previous line — a cross-line pronoun reference common in song lyrics. The subject (tu mirada) is inverted to the end for poetic effect.

Vocabulary to learn from “Addicted to You”

The words the song uses most.

• ser to be verb ·9
• querer I want / I love verb ·8
• el vicio vice / bad habit / addiction noun ·4
• la piel skin noun ·4
• dejar you let / you allow verb ·4
• hacer you do / you make verb ·2
• acordarse I remember verb ·2
• tener you have verb ·2
• deber must / should / ought to verb
• el perfume perfume / fragrance noun
• usar you use / you wear verb
• el agua water noun

Verbs in the song, and the form being sung

Present tense for each; the highlighted row is the one you'll hear.

Grammar you'll meet in this song

• Present24
• Present subjunctive4
• Preterite3

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