Song guide

Porque te vas

Jeanette

Porque te vas by Jeanette, line by line: what the lyrics mean, 19 expressions explained and 141 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. Hoy en mi ventana brilla el sol

   Today the sun shines through my window

   The opening image of sunlight contrasting with inner sadness is a classic device in Spanish popular song — outward brightness set against emotional pain.

2. Y el corazón

   And the heart

3. Se pone triste contemplando la ciudad

   Grows sad gazing at the city

4. Porque te vas

   Because you are leaving

   'Porque te vas' is the title of the song, written by José Luis Perales and made internationally famous by Jeanette in 1976. It became one of the best-selling Spanish-language singles of the 1970s.

5. Como cada noche desperté

   Like every night, I woke up

6. Pensando en ti

   Thinking of you

7. Y en mi reloj todas las horas vi pasar

   And I watched all the hours pass on my clock

8. Porque te vas

   Because you are leaving

9. Todas las promesas de mi amor se irán contigo

   All the promises of my love will go with you

10. Me olvidarás

    You will forget me

11. Me olvidarás

    You will forget me

12. Junto a la estación hoy lloraré igual que un niño

    By the station today I will cry like a child

    The image of crying at a station (la estación) evokes a classic farewell scene — train stations in Spanish culture are strongly associated with departure, separation, and longing.

13. Porque te vas

    Because you are leaving

14. Porque te vas

    Because you are leaving

15. Porque te vas

    Because you are leaving

16. Porque te vas

    Because you are leaving

17. Bajo la penumbra de un farol

    In the shadow of a streetlamp

    la penumbra (half-shadow, dim light) is a literary word rarely used in everyday speech. Its use here gives the lyric a poetic, melancholic atmosphere typical of Spanish romantic ballads (baladas).

18. Se dormirán

    They will fall asleep

19. Todas las cosas que quedaron por decir

    All the things that were left unsaid

20. Se dormirán

    They will fall asleep

21. Junto a las manillas de un reloj

    Alongside the hands of a clock

    las manillas de un reloj (the hands of a clock) is a poetic image linking the passage of time to the act of waiting. In some Spanish-speaking regions, the word manecillas is more commonly used for clock hands.

22. Esperarán

    They will wait

23. Todas las horas que quedaron por vivir

    All the hours that were left unlived

24. Esperarán

    They will wait

25. Todas las promesas de mi amor se irán contigo

    All the promises of my love will go with you

26. Me olvidarás

    You will forget me

27. Me olvidarás

    You will forget me

28. Junto a la estación hoy lloraré igual que un niño

    By the station today I will cry like a child

29. Porque te vas

    Because you are leaving

30. Porque te vas

    Because you are leaving

31. Porque te vas

    Because you are leaving

32. Porque te vas

    Because you are leaving

Expressions and idioms in “Porque te vas”

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

en mi ventana brilla el sol the sun shines through my window

In Spanish, the subject (el sol) often comes after the verb (brilla), especially in poetic or descriptive sentences. English typically requires subject-verb order, so this inversion can surprise learners.

Se pone triste grows sad / becomes sad

ponerse + adjective is a key reflexive construction meaning 'to become' or 'to turn' a certain way emotionally or physically. It describes a change of state. Plain poner means 'to put/place', but ponerse shifts the meaning entirely.

contemplando la ciudad gazing at the city

The gerund (contemplando) is used here to express a simultaneous action — 'while gazing at'. Spanish gerunds function similarly to English '-ing' forms in this context.

te vas you are leaving / you go away

irse is the reflexive/pronominal form of ir. While ir means 'to go', irse means 'to leave' or 'to go away', implying departure from the speaker's perspective. The te here is the reflexive pronoun for the 2nd person singular.

Como cada noche desperté like every night, I woke up

como here functions as a comparative conjunction meaning 'like' or 'as'. cada noche means 'every night' — cada is an invariable adjective that never changes for gender or number. Together they set a habitual scene.

Pensando en ti thinking of you / thinking about you

pensar en is the standard construction for 'to think about/of someone'. The preposition en is required after pensar when referring to a person or thing occupying one's thoughts. English uses 'about' or 'of', but Spanish requires en.

todas las horas vi pasar I watched all the hours go by

This is a poetic inversion: the object (todas las horas) is placed before the verb (vi) for emphasis and rhythm. Normal prose order would be 'vi pasar todas las horas'.

vi pasar I watched pass / I saw go by

ver + infinitive is a perception verb construction meaning 'to see/watch something happen'. The infinitive (pasar) describes the action being perceived. This pattern — ver, oír, escuchar + infinitive — is very common in Spanish.

contigo with you

contigo is a contracted prepositional pronoun: con + ti + go. Spanish fuses the preposition con with the pronoun ti to form contigo. Similarly, conmigo means 'with me' and consigo means 'with himself/herself/themselves'.

Todas las promesas de mi amor se irán contigo all the promises of my love will go away with you

This line uses the future tense (irán) to express an inevitable consequence of the departure. The reflexive se irán (from irse) emphasises that the promises are leaving along with the person — they are being taken away.

se irán contigo will go away with you

irse (reflexive of ir) means 'to go away / to leave'. Here in the future tense (se irán), it conveys that the promises will depart along with the person leaving. contigo is a special fused form meaning 'with you' — Spanish merges con + ti into contigo.

Me olvidarás you will forget me

In Spanish, the direct object pronoun (me) is placed before the conjugated verb. English puts the object after the verb ('you will forget me'), but Spanish front-loads it ('me olvidarás'). This is standard Spanish word order for object pronouns.

junto a la estación by the station / next to the station

junto a is a fixed prepositional phrase meaning 'next to' or 'alongside'. It is not the same as the adjective junto/a (together). The phrase always requires the preposition a after junto.

lloraré igual que un niño I will cry just like a child

igual que is a fixed comparative expression meaning 'just like' or 'the same as'. It is used to draw a comparison. English uses 'just like' or 'as ... as', while Spanish uses igual que.

bajo la penumbra de un farol in the shadow of a streetlamp

bajo as a preposition means 'under' or 'beneath'. It is distinct from the verb bajo (I go down) and the adjective bajo (low/short). Here it sets a visual scene: under the dim glow of a streetlamp.

Se dormirán will fall asleep

dormirse is the reflexive form of dormir. While dormir means 'to sleep', dormirse means 'to fall asleep' — the reflexive marks the onset of sleep rather than the state of sleeping. This is a classic reflexive meaning-shift.

quedaron por decir were left unsaid / remained to be said

quedar por + infinitive is a construction meaning 'to remain to be done' or 'to be left undone'. It expresses that something has not yet happened. For example, 'queda por hacer' means 'it remains to be done'.

junto a las manillas de un reloj alongside the hands of a clock

junto a is again used as 'alongside / next to'. las manillas de un reloj literally means 'the handles of a clock', but manillas in this context refers to the clock hands. This is a poetic image linking time and waiting.

quedaron por vivir were left unlived / remained to be lived

Another instance of quedar por + infinitive, meaning 'to remain to be done/experienced'. Here it poetically suggests hours of life that were never experienced together — time that was left unlived.

Vocabulary to learn from “Porque te vas”

The words the song uses most.

• ir you go / you leave verb ·12
• olvidar you will forget verb ·4
• el reloj clock / watch noun ·2
• la hora hours noun ·2
• la promesa promises noun ·2
• el amor love noun ·2
• la estación station / season noun ·2
• llorar I will cry verb ·2
• el niño child / boy noun ·2
• dormir will fall asleep verb ·2
• quedar remained / were left verb ·2
• esperar they will wait verb ·2

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

• Present12
• Future12
• Preterite4

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