Song guide
Hijo de Hombre
Phil Collins
Hijo de Hombre by Phil Collins, line by line: what the lyrics mean, 22 expressions explained and 166 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.
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En la fuerza está el poder
Strength is power
This line echoes a proverbial style common in Spanish-language inspirational poetry and song, pairing abstract nouns (strength, power) in a balanced, aphoristic structure.
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En el sabio está el saber
Wisdom lies within the wise
el saber used as a noun ('knowledge / wisdom') is a classic example of a Spanish infinitive nominalised — infinitives can function as nouns, often with a philosophical or elevated tone.
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Con el tiempo todo llegará
Everything will come in time
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En el día que hoy comienza
On this day that begins today
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Mil repuestas buscarás
You'll search for a thousand answers
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Subirás a la montaña
You'll climb the mountain
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La cima alcanzarás
You will reach the summit
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Hijo de hombre, busca y ve
Son of man, look and see
'Hijo de hombre' is a phrase with deep biblical resonance. In the Bible it refers to a human being or, in prophetic books, to a messianic figure. Its use here gives the song a spiritual and universal quality.
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Que tu alma libre esté
May your soul be free
el alma (soul) is grammatically feminine but takes the masculine article 'el' in the singular to avoid the clash of two 'a' sounds ('la alma'). This is the same rule that applies to 'el agua' and 'el águila'.
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Orgulloso un día estarás
One day you'll be proud
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Hijo de hombre, un hombre un día serás
Son of man, one day you will become a man
This line is the Spanish version of 'Son of Man', a song from the 1999 Disney film Tarzan, composed by Phil Collins. The Spanish adaptation was recorded for the Latin American release of the film.
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No hay nadie que te guíe
There is no one to guide you
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Ni una mano que te den
Not even a hand to help you
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Mas, con fe y entendimiento
But with faith and understanding
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En un hombre te convertirás
You will become a man
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Hijo de hombre, busca y ve
Son of man, look and see
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Que tu alma libre esté
May your soul be free
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Orgulloso un día estarás
One day you'll be proud
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Hijo de hombre, un hombre un día serás
Son of man, one day you will become a man
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Aprende a enseñar
Learn how to teach
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Enseñando aprenderás
By teaching, you will learn
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Tu vida está con quien tú amas más
Your life is with the one you love most
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Hoy todo en lo que sueñas
Today, everything you dream of
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Y en tu imaginación
And in your imagination
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Aquí está ese momento
Here is that moment
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Realiza tu ilusión
Make your dream come true
ilusión in Spanish carries a warmly positive connotation of hopeful anticipation or a cherished dream, quite different from the English 'illusion' which implies deception or unreality.
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Hijo de hombre, busca y ve
Son of man, look and see
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Que tu alma libre esté
May your soul be free
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Orgulloso un día estarás
One day you'll be proud
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Hijo de hombre, un hombre un día serás
Son of man, one day you will become a man
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Yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah
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Hombre es, hombre es
He is a man, he is a man
The repetition of 'Hombre es, hombre es' functions as a triumphant proclamation or affirmation, a rhetorical device common in Spanish-language popular music to drive home a climactic message.
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Un hombre has logrado ser
You have managed to become a man
Expressions and idioms in “Hijo de Hombre”
The lines that don't mean what the dictionary says.
- con el tiempo in time / with time
- con el tiempo is a fixed adverbial phrase meaning 'as time goes by' or 'eventually'. The literal words are 'with the time', but English idiomatically says 'in time' or 'with time'.
- el día que hoy comienza the day that begins today
- This is a poetic inversion typical of song lyrics. Normal prose order would be 'el día que comienza hoy'. Placing 'hoy' after the verb adds rhythmic emphasis.
- Mil repuestas buscarás You will search for a thousand answers
- buscar means 'to look for / to search for' and already contains the meaning of 'for' — no separate preposition is needed. This is a common point of confusion for English speakers who might try to add 'por' or 'para'.
- Subirás a la montaña You will climb the mountain
- subir a + noun is the standard construction for climbing or going up to something. The preposition 'a' is required in Spanish where English uses no preposition before the object.
- La cima alcanzarás You will reach the summit
- This is a poetic inversion: the object 'la cima' is placed before the verb for emphasis and rhyme. Normal prose order would be 'alcanzarás la cima'.
- Que tu alma libre esté May your soul be free
- que + present subjunctive expresses a wish or desire, equivalent to English 'may...' This construction is common in blessings and toasts. The verb estar in the subjunctive (esté) signals a hoped-for state.
- un día estarás one day you will be
- un día functions as a fixed adverbial phrase meaning 'one day / someday'. It is placed before the verb here for lyrical rhythm. Note the use of estar (not ser) because it describes a temporary emotional state.
- un hombre un día serás one day you will become a man
- Another poetic inversion: normal order would be 'un día serás un hombre'. Here ser (to be) carries the sense of 'becoming' in the context of identity and transformation, which is why ser rather than estar is used.
- No hay nadie que te guíe There is no one to guide you
- no hay nadie que + subjunctive is a standard pattern: 'there is no one who...' The subjunctive (guíe) is triggered because the antecedent (nadie) is negative and indefinite — the guide does not exist.
- hay nadie there is no one
- hay is the impersonal form of haber used to express existence ('there is / there are'). Combined with nadie and the preceding no, it forms a double negative, which is grammatically required in Spanish (unlike in English).
- una mano que te den a hand they give you / a helping hand
- que + subjunctive (den) after an indefinite noun expresses something that may not exist. The subject of den is an implied indefinite 'they/someone'. This parallels the pattern in line 11 with nadie que guíe.
- Mas, con fe y entendimiento But with faith and understanding
- mas (without accent) is a literary/poetic conjunction meaning 'but / however', equivalent to pero. It is rarely used in everyday speech but appears frequently in formal writing and song lyrics. Do not confuse it with más (with accent), which means 'more'.
- te convertirás you will become
- convertirse en is a reflexive verb construction meaning 'to become / to turn into'. The reflexive pronoun te signals that the subject undergoes the transformation. Plain convertir (without reflexive) means 'to convert something else'.
- en un hombre te convertirás you will become a man
- convertirse en + noun is the standard Spanish way to say 'to become something'. The preposition en is required and cannot be omitted, unlike English 'become' which takes a direct object.
- Aprende a enseñar Learn to teach / Learn how to teach
- aprender a + infinitive is a standard periphrastic construction meaning 'to learn to do something'. The preposition a is required between aprender and the following infinitive.
- Enseñando aprenderás By teaching, you will learn
- The gerund (enseñando) at the start of a clause expresses manner or means, equivalent to English 'by teaching'. Spanish gerunds are frequently used this way to show how an action is accomplished.
- con quien tú amas más with the one you love most
- con quien introduces a relative clause meaning 'with whom / with the one who'. The inclusion of the subject pronoun tú is emphatic and optional in Spanish, but adds stress here for lyrical effect.
- lo que sueñas what you dream of / that which you dream
- lo que is a neuter relative pronoun meaning 'what / that which'. It refers to an abstract or unspecified thing. It is not the same as qué (interrogative) and cannot be replaced by que alone here.
- Realiza tu ilusión Make your dream come true
- realizar is a false friend: it does NOT mean 'to realise' in the English sense of 'to become aware of'. It means 'to carry out / to fulfil / to make real'. Here it means 'to make your dream a reality'.
- tu ilusión your dream / your hope
- ilusión is a false friend: it does NOT primarily mean 'illusion' (a deception). In Spanish it commonly means a cherished hope, dream, or excited anticipation. 'Tengo mucha ilusión' means 'I am really looking forward to it'.
- logrado ser managed to be / succeeded in becoming
- lograr + infinitive is a verb + governed infinitive construction meaning 'to manage to do / to succeed in doing'. It expresses successful achievement of an action, stronger than simply saying 'you became a man'.
- has logrado ser you have managed to become
- haber + past participle forms the present perfect tense in Spanish. Here has logrado = 'you have managed/achieved'. lograr + infinitive means 'to manage to do something / to succeed in doing something', similar to conseguir + infinitive.
Vocabulary to learn from “Hijo de Hombre”
The words the song uses most.
- el hombre man noun ·13
- estar is verb ·10
- el día day noun ·7
- el hijo son / child noun ·6
- tu your adjective ·6
- ser you will be verb ·6
- buscar you will search / you will look for verb ·4
- ver see / go verb ·3
- el alma soul noun ·3
- libre free adjective ·3
- orgulloso proud adjective ·3
- hoy today adverb ·2
Verbs in the song, and the form being sung
Present tense for each; the highlighted row is the one you'll hear.
estar is
| yo | estoy |
|---|---|
| tú | estás |
| él / ella / usted | está |
| nosotros | estamos |
| vosotros | estáis |
| ellos / ustedes | están |
ser you will be
| yo | soy |
|---|---|
| tú | eres |
| él / ella / usted | es |
| nosotros | somos |
| vosotros | sois |
| ellos / ustedes | son |
buscar you will search / you will look for
| yo | busco |
|---|---|
| tú | buscas |
| él / ella / usted | busca |
| nosotros | buscamos |
| vosotros | buscáis |
| ellos / ustedes | buscan |
ver see / go
| yo | veo |
|---|---|
| tú | ves |
| él / ella / usted | ve |
| nosotros | vemos |
| vosotros | veis |
| ellos / ustedes | ven |
haber there is / there are
| yo | he |
|---|---|
| tú | has |
| él / ella / usted | ha / hay |
| nosotros | hemos |
| vosotros | habéis |
| ellos / ustedes | han |
Grammar you'll meet in this song
- Future12
- Present11
- Imperative8
- Present subjunctive5
