Song guide

Chantaje

Shakira

Chantaje by Shakira, line by line: what the lyrics mean, 25 expressions explained and 406 words translated with their grammar. Learn Spanish from the song, free.

72 lines translated 406 words explained 25 expressions

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. Cuando estás bien, te alejas de mí

    When you're doing well, you pull away from me

  2. Te sientes sola y siempre 'toy ahí

    You feel lonely and I'm always there for you

    The elision 'toy for estoy is characteristic of Caribbean Spanish (particularly Colombian and Puerto Rican dialects), where unstressed syllables at the start of words are frequently dropped in casual speech.

  3. Es una guerra de toma y dame

    It's a back-and-forth battle of give and take

    'Toma y dame' is the Spanish equivalent of the English idiom 'give and take,' but note the order is reversed — Spanish says 'take and give.' The phrase describes a reciprocal but unbalanced dynamic in the relationship.

  4. Pues dame de eso que tiene' ahí

    Well, give me some of what you've got there

  5. Oye, baby, no seas mala (Oh, no)

    Hey, baby, don't be mean (Oh, no)

    'Oye' literally means 'hear' (imperative of oír) but functions as an attention-getter like 'hey' or 'listen up' in colloquial Spanish. It is one of the most common conversational openers in Latin American Spanish.

  6. No me dejes con la' gana'

    Don't leave me wanting more

  7. Se escucha en la calle que ya no me quieres

    Word on the street is that you don't love me anymore

  8. Ven y dímelo en la cara

    Come and tell me to my face

  9. Pregúntale a quien tú quieras

    Ask whoever you want

  10. Vida, te juro que eso no es así

    Vida, I swear that's not true

    'Vida' (literally 'life') is used here as a term of endearment, similar to calling someone 'my life' in English. Terms like vida mía, corazón, and cielo are common affectionate address forms in Spanish.

  11. Yo nunca tuve una mala intención

    I never had any bad intentions

  12. Yo nunca quise burlarme de ti

    I never meant to make fun of you

  13. Conmigo ves, nunca se sabe

    You know, with me, you never can tell

  14. Un día digo que no y otro que sí

    One day I say no, and the next I say yes

  15. Yo soy masoquista

    I'm a masochist

  16. Con mi cuerpo, un egoísta

    With my body, a selfish one

  17. Tú eres puro, puro chantaje

    You are pure, pure blackmail

    'Chantaje' is the title of the song. It is a loanword from French (chantage) meaning blackmail or emotional manipulation. In the song's context it refers to emotional coercion in a relationship rather than criminal blackmail.

  18. Puro, puro chantaje

    Pure, pure blackmail

  19. Siempre es a tu manera

    It's always your way

  20. Yo te quiero aunque no quiera

    I love you even when I don't want to

    'Yo te quiero aunque no quiera' is a play on the double meaning of querer — 'to love' and 'to want.' The line can be read as both 'I love you even though I don't want to' and 'I want you even when I don't want to want you,' creating deliberate ambiguity.

  21. Tú eres puro, puro chantaje

    You are pure, pure blackmail

  22. Puro, puro chantaje

    Pure, pure blackmail

  23. Vas libre como el aire

    You go free as the air

    'Libre como el aire' ('free as the air') is a common Spanish simile for total freedom. Air is a classic symbol of freedom in Spanish-language poetry and song because it cannot be contained or owned.

  24. No soy de ti ni de nadie

    I don't belong to you or anyone

  25. Como tú me tientas cuando tú te mueves

    How you tempt me when you move

  26. Esos movimientos sexys, siempre me entretienen

    Those sexy moves always keep me entertained

  27. Sabes manipularme bien con tus caderas

    You know how to work your hips on me

  28. No sé por qué me tienes en lista de espera

    I don't know why you keep me on the waiting list

  29. Te dicen por ahí que voy haciendo y deshaciendo

    People are saying I keep changing my mind about everything

    'Haciendo y deshaciendo' echoes the Spanish proverb 'el que hace y deshace, no sabe lo que hace' (he who does and undoes doesn't know what he's doing), reinforcing the image of someone who is indecisive or inconsistent.

  30. Que salgo cada noche, que te tengo ahí sufriendo

    That I go out every night and leave you there suffering

  31. Que en esta relación soy yo la que manda

    That in this relationship I'm the one who calls the shots

  32. No pares bola' a toda esa mala propaganda

    Don't pay any attention to all that negative propaganda

    'No pares bola'' uses Caribbean slang — parar bola/bolas means 'to pay attention to.' The dropped final -s in bola' is a hallmark of Caribbean Spanish phonology, especially in Colombian, Cuban, and Puerto Rican speech.

  33. Pa', pa' que te digo na', te comen el oído

    Man, I don't even know what to tell you — they're filling your head with nonsense

    'Pa'' is a colloquial elision of para, extremely common in informal Latin American speech. 'Na'' is an elision of nada. Both reflect the fast, clipped speech patterns of Caribbean Spanish dialects.

  34. No vaya a enderezar lo que no se ha torcido

    Don't go trying to fix something that isn't broken

  35. Y como un loco sigo tras de ti, muriendo por ti

    And like a madman I keep chasing after you, dying for you

  36. Dime qué hay pa' mí, bebé (¿Qué?)

    Tell me what's in it for me, baby (What?)

  37. Pregúntale a quien tú quieras

    Ask whoever you want

  38. Vida, te juro que eso no es así

    Vida, I swear that's not true

  39. Yo nunca tuve una mala intención

    I never had any bad intentions

  40. Yo nunca quise burlarme de ti

    I never meant to make fun of you

  41. Conmigo ves, nunca se sabe

    You know, with me, you never can tell

  42. Un día digo que no, y otro que sí

    One day I say no, and the next I say yes

  43. Yo soy masoquista

    I'm a masochist

  44. Con mi cuerpo, un egoísta

    With my body, a selfish one

  45. Tú eres puro, puro chantaje

    You are pure, pure blackmail

  46. Puro, puro chantaje

    Pure, pure blackmail

  47. Siempre es a tu manera

    It's always your way

  48. Yo te quiero aunque no quiera

    I love you even when I don't want to

  49. Tú eres puro, puro chantaje

    You are pure, pure blackmail

  50. Puro, puro chantaje

    Pure, pure blackmail

  51. Vas libre como el aire

    You go free as the air

  52. No soy de ti ni de nadie

    I don't belong to you or anyone

  53. Eh-eh-eh, nadie

    Eh-eh-eh, nobody

  54. Eh-eh-eh, nadie

    Eh-eh-eh, nobody

  55. Eh-eh-eh, nadie

    Eh-eh-eh, nobody

  56. Con mi cuerpo, un egoísta

    With my body, a selfish one

  57. Tú eres puro, puro chantaje

    You are pure, pure blackmail

  58. Puro, puro chantaje

    Pure, pure blackmail

  59. Siempre es a tu manera

    It's always your way

  60. Yo te quiero aunque no quiera

    I love you even when I don't want to

  61. Tú eres puro, puro chantaje

    You are pure, pure blackmail

  62. Puro, puro chantaje

    Pure, pure blackmail

  63. Vas libre como el aire

    You go free as the air

  64. No soy de ti ni de nadie

    I don't belong to you or anyone

  65. Eh-eh-eh, nadie

    Eh-eh-eh, nobody

  66. Eh-eh-eh, nadie

    Eh-eh-eh, nobody

  67. Eh-eh-eh, nadie

    Eh-eh-eh, nobody

  68. Eh-eh-eh-eh-eh-eh

    Eh-eh-eh-eh-eh-eh

  69. (Alright, alright, baby, Shakira, Maluma)

    (Alright, alright, baby, Shakira, Maluma)

    This line is a shoutout identifying the two artists on the track: Shakira (Colombian pop superstar, born in Barranquilla) and Maluma (Colombian reggaeton artist, born in Medellín). The song was released in 2017 and became a massive global hit.

  70. Pretty boy

    Pretty boy

  71. (You're my baby loba, Colombia, you feel me?)

    (You're my baby loba, Colombia, you know what I mean?)

    'Loba' means 'she-wolf' and is a reference to Shakira's 2009 hit song 'Loba' (the Spanish version of 'She Wolf'). Maluma is playfully calling Shakira by her iconic alter ego. 'Colombia' is a shoutout to their shared nationality.

  72. Pretty boy

    Pretty boy

Expressions and idioms in “Chantaje”

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

te alejas de mí you pull away from me
alejar is used reflexively here as alejarse de, meaning 'to distance oneself from.' The preposition de is required after alejarse — you cannot say alejarse a or alejarse con. The reflexive te signals the subject is acting on themselves.
Te sientes sola you feel lonely
sentirse (reflexive) means 'to feel (an emotion or state).' The plain verb sentir means 'to feel/sense something external.' Adding the reflexive pronoun te shifts the meaning to an internal emotional state. The adjective sola agrees in gender with the subject (female).
'toy ahí I'm right there
'toy is a colloquial elision of estoy (I am), dropping the es- at the start. This is common in Caribbean Spanish and informal speech. The full form is estoy ahí.
toma y dame give and take
Literally 'take and give me,' this is the Spanish equivalent of the English idiom 'give and take.' Note the reversed order compared to English — Spanish says 'take and give' rather than 'give and take.'
dame de eso give me some of that
dar + indirect object clitic me forms the imperative dame ('give me'). The preposition de here means 'some of' — dame de eso means 'give me some of that,' not just 'give me that.' This partitive use of de is common in Spanish.
No me dejes con las ganas Don't leave me wanting more
dejar con las ganas is a fixed idiomatic expression meaning 'to leave someone unsatisfied' or 'to leave someone wanting.' Las ganas means 'desire/craving.' You cannot deduce this meaning word by word — it is a set phrase.
Se escucha en la calle Word on the street is / one hears on the street
se escucha is an impersonal/passive reflexive construction. Se + 3rd person singular verb creates an impersonal meaning equivalent to 'one hears' or 'it is heard.' This pattern (se + verb) is extremely common in Spanish for expressing general or anonymous actions.
ya no me quieres you don't love me anymore
ya no + verb is the standard Spanish construction for 'no longer / not anymore.' Ya alone can mean 'already' or 'now,' but ya no reverses the meaning entirely to signal something has stopped. Compare: ya te quiero ('I love you now') vs. ya no te quiero ('I don't love you anymore').
dímelo en la cara tell me to my face
decir algo en la cara is a fixed expression meaning 'to say something directly to someone's face.' The clitic combination me+lo attached to the imperative di forms dímelo ('tell me it'). En la cara here is idiomatic — it does not literally mean 'on the face.'
quise burlarme de ti I meant to make fun of you
burlarse de is a pronominal verb that requires the preposition de — you always burlarse de someone. The plain verb burlar means 'to trick/fool,' but burlarse de means 'to mock/make fun of.' The reflexive me is attached to the infinitive here (burlarme).
nunca se sabe you never know / one never knows
nunca se sabe is a fixed impersonal expression equivalent to 'you never know.' The se makes it impersonal — no specific subject is implied. This phrase is used as a standalone saying in Spanish.
aunque no quiera even if I don't want to
aunque + subjunctive expresses a hypothetical concession — 'even if.' When aunque is followed by the subjunctive (quiera), it signals that the condition is uncertain or hypothetical. If the indicative were used (aunque no quiero), it would mean 'even though I don't want to' — a known fact rather than a hypothetical.
No soy de ti ni de nadie I don't belong to you or anyone
ser de + person is the Spanish construction for expressing belonging or ownership — 'to belong to.' It uses ser (permanent state), not tener. The double negative ni...nadie ('nor...nobody') is standard in Spanish — double negatives are grammatically correct and required, unlike in English.
te mueves you move
moverse (reflexive) means 'to move (oneself) / to dance / to sway.' The plain verb mover means 'to move something else.' The reflexive te here signals the subject is moving their own body, which is the standard way to express self-movement in Spanish.
Sabes manipularme bien con tus caderas You know how to work your hips on me
saber + infinitive means 'to know how to do something' — it expresses a skill or ability. This is different from poder + infinitive ('to be able to'). Saber implies learned skill; poder implies physical capability or permission.
me tienes en lista de espera you have me on the waiting list
tener a alguien en + place/state is a construction meaning 'to keep someone in a certain situation.' Here it means 'to keep me waiting / to put me on hold.' Lista de espera ('waiting list') is a fixed noun phrase.
por ahí around / out there
por ahí is a common idiomatic adverbial phrase meaning 'around,' 'out there,' or 'in the area.' Te dicen por ahí means 'people around are telling you' or 'word going around is.' It implies an unspecified, general source.
voy haciendo y deshaciendo I keep doing and undoing / I keep going back and forth
ir + gerund is a periphrastic construction expressing a continuous or progressive action that unfolds over time — similar to 'keep doing' or 'go around doing.' It emphasizes the ongoing, repeated nature of the action more than the simple present tense would.
te tengo ahí sufriendo I have you there suffering
tener a alguien + gerund is a construction meaning 'to have/keep someone doing something.' It implies the subject is causing or allowing the other person to remain in that state. This pattern (tener + object + gerund) is very common in Spanish to describe a caused ongoing state.
No pares bola' Don't pay any attention
parar bola (or bolas) is a Caribbean Spanish idiom meaning 'to pay attention to' or 'to take notice of.' It is not deducible from the individual words. The elided plural bola' (for bolas) is typical of Caribbean pronunciation where final -s is dropped.
te comen el oído they're filling your head with nonsense / they're bending your ear
comer el oído a alguien is a Spanish idiom meaning 'to fill someone's head with ideas' or 'to bend someone's ear' — i.e., to influence someone through persistent talk. Literally 'they eat your ear,' but the idiomatic meaning is about manipulation through gossip or persuasion.
no se ha torcido hasn't been twisted / isn't broken
se ha torcido is the present perfect passive reflexive — 'has been twisted/bent.' The construction se + haber + past participle creates a passive meaning. No se ha torcido means 'hasn't been twisted,' used metaphorically here to mean 'isn't broken/wrong.'
vaya a enderezar go trying to fix
ir a + infinitive is a periphrastic construction normally used for near future ('going to do something'). Here with the subjunctive vaya, it expresses a warning against a potential action — 'don't go and try to fix.' The subjunctive mood after no signals a negative command about a hypothetical action.
muriendo por ti dying for you
morir por alguien is an idiomatic expression of intense longing or love — 'to be dying for someone / to be crazy about someone.' It is hyperbolic and emotional, not literal. The gerund muriendo here expresses a simultaneous ongoing state alongside the main action.
sigo tras de ti I keep chasing after you
seguir + tras de + person means 'to keep chasing after someone / to keep pursuing someone.' Seguir + gerund (e.g., sigo corriendo) means 'to keep doing something,' but seguir tras de means 'to follow/chase after.' Tras de is a compound preposition meaning 'behind/after.'

Vocabulary to learn from “Chantaje”

The words the song uses most.

Verbs in the song, and the form being sung

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

ser it is

sung: es irregular
ser — present tense
yo soy
tú eres
él / ella / usted es
nosotros somos
vosotros sois
ellos / ustedes son

querer you love / you want

sung: quieres irregular
querer — present tense
yo quiero
tú quieres
él / ella / usted quiere
nosotros queremos
vosotros queréis
ellos / ustedes quieren

decir tell me it

sung: dímelo irregular
decir — present tense
yo digo
tú dices
él / ella / usted dice
nosotros decimos
vosotros decís
ellos / ustedes dicen

tener you have

sung: tiene' irregular
tener — present tense
yo tengo
tú tienes
él / ella / usted tiene
nosotros tenemos
vosotros tenéis
ellos / ustedes tienen

ir you go

sung: vas irregular
ir — present tense
yo voy
tú vas
él / ella / usted va
nosotros vamos
vosotros vais
ellos / ustedes van

Grammar you'll meet in this song

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