Song guide

Suerte

Shakira

Suerte by Shakira, line by line: what the lyrics mean, 23 expressions explained and 314 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. Suerte que en el sur hayas nacido

   Lucky for you that you were born in the south

   The song is 'Suerte' (also known as 'Whenever, Wherever') by Colombian singer Shakira, released in 2001. The reference to 'el sur' (the south) alludes to South America, specifically Shakira's Colombian origins.

2. Y que burlemos las distancias

   And that we defy the distances

3. Suerte que es haberte conocido

   How lucky I am to have met you

4. Y por ti amar tierras extrañas

   And for you, to love foreign lands

5. Yo puedo escalar los Andes sólo

   I can climb the Andes all by myself

   The Andes mountain range runs along the western edge of South America, passing through Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina. It is the world's longest continental mountain range and a powerful symbol of South American identity.

6. Por ir a contar tus lunares

   Just to go and count your moles

   'Lunares' (moles or beauty spots) are a recurring motif in Spanish romantic poetry and song, often used to express intimate knowledge of a lover's body.

7. Contigo celebro y sufro todo

   With you I celebrate and suffer everything

8. Y mis alegrías y mis males

   Both my joys and my sorrows

9. Le ro, lo le, lo le

   Le ro, lo le, lo le

10. Le ro, lo le, lo le

    Le ro, lo le, lo le

11. Sabes que estoy a tus pies

    You know I am at your feet

12. Contigo, mi vida, quiero vivir la vida

    With you, my love, I want to live life to the fullest

13. Y lo que me queda de vida quiero vivir contigo

    And the rest of my life I want to live with you

14. Contigo, mi vida, quiero vivir la vida

    With you, my love, I want to live life to the fullest

15. Y lo que me queda de vida quiero vivir contigo

    And the rest of my life I want to live with you

16. Suerte que es tener labios sinceros

    How lucky it is to have sincere lips

17. Para besarte con más ganas

    To kiss you with even more passion

18. Suerte que mis pechos sean pequeños

    Lucky for me, my breasts are small

    This line is one of the most famous in the song. Shakira playfully references her own body in a self-deprecating and humorous way, which was considered bold and refreshing in pop music at the time.

19. Y no los confundas con montañas

    So you won't confuse them with mountains

    The comparison of breasts to mountains is a humorous continuation of the Andes imagery from line 4, creating a playful geographic metaphor running through the whole song.

20. Suerte que heredé las piernas firmes

    Luckily, I inherited strong legs

21. Para correr si un día hace falta

    To run if the need ever arises

22. Y éstos dos ojos que me dicen

    And these two eyes that tell me

23. Que han de llorar cuando te vayas

    That they will cry when you leave

24. Le ro, lo le, lo le

    Le ro, lo le, lo le

25. Le ro, lo le, lo le

    Le ro, lo le, lo le

26. Sabes que estoy a tus pies

    You know I am at your feet

27. Contigo, mi vida, quiero vivir la vida

    With you, my love, I want to live life to the fullest

28. Y lo que me queda de vida quiero vivir contigo

    And the rest of my life I want to live with you

29. Contigo, mi vida, quiero vivir la vida

    With you, my love, I want to live life to the fullest

30. Y lo que me queda de vida quiero vivir contigo

    And the rest of my life I want to live with you

31. Le ro, lo le, lo le, lo la

    Le ro, lo le, lo le, lo la

32. Le ro, lo le, lo le, lo la

    Le ro, lo le, lo le, lo la

33. Sabes que estoy a tus pies

    You know I am at your feet

34. Le ro, lo le, lo le, lo la

    Le ro, lo le, lo le, lo la

35. La felicidad tiene tu nombre y tu piel

    Happiness has your name and your skin

    'La felicidad tiene tu nombre y tu piel' is widely considered the most poetic line of the song. It echoes a tradition in Spanish-language poetry of identifying an abstract concept (happiness) with a specific beloved person.

36. Contigo, mi vida, quiero vivir la vida

    With you, my love, I want to live life to the fullest

37. Y lo que me queda de vida quiero vivir contigo

    And the rest of my life I want to live with you

38. Ya sabes, mi vida, estoy hasta el cuello por ti

    You know, sweetheart, I am head over heels in love with you

    'Estar hasta el cuello' is a colloquial Spanish idiom. In everyday speech it often means 'to be swamped' (e.g. with work), but here Shakira uses it romantically to mean being completely overwhelmed by love.

39. Si sientes algo así quiero que te quedes junto a mí

    If you feel something like that, I want you to stay by my side

40. Contigo, mi vida, quiero vivir la vida

    With you, my love, I want to live life to the fullest

41. Y lo que me queda de vida quiero vivir contigo

    And the rest of my life I want to live with you

42. Ya sabes, mi vida, estoy hasta el cuello por ti

    You know, sweetheart, I am head over heels in love with you

43. Si sientes algo así quiero que te quedes junto a mí

    If you feel something like that, I want you to stay by my side

Expressions and idioms in “Suerte”

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

hayas nacido you were born / you have been born

haber (present subjunctive) + past participle forms the present perfect subjunctive. It is triggered here by the exclamatory 'suerte que', which requires the subjunctive mood.

Suerte que how lucky that / what luck that

'Suerte que' is a fixed exclamatory construction meaning 'how lucky that...' or 'it's a good thing that...'. It always triggers the subjunctive in the following clause.

burlemos las distancias we defy the distances

burlar normally means 'to mock' or 'to trick', but when used with abstract nouns like 'las distancias', it means 'to overcome' or 'to defy'. The meaning shifts depending on the object.

haberte conocido to have met you

haber + past participle forms the perfect infinitive. The pronoun 'te' is attached directly to the infinitive 'haber', which is a common feature of Spanish. The whole phrase means 'to have met you'.

puedo escalar I can climb

poder + infinitive is the standard modal construction for expressing ability in Spanish, equivalent to English 'can/to be able to + verb'.

Por ir a contar just to go and count

por + infinitive expresses purpose or motivation ('in order to'). The construction 'ir a + infinitive' here means 'to go and do something', describing the goal of the journey.

ir a contar to go and count

ir a + infinitive can mean either 'to be going to do something' (near future) or literally 'to go and do something'. Here it is the literal sense: travelling somewhere in order to count the moles.

estoy a tus pies I am at your feet

'Estar a los pies de alguien' is a fixed romantic expression meaning total devotion or submission to someone, equivalent to 'I am yours completely'. It is not a literal physical position.

quiero vivir la vida I want to live life to the fullest

querer + infinitive expresses desire or want. 'Vivir la vida' is a common idiomatic phrase meaning to live life fully and joyfully, not just 'to live life' in a neutral sense.

lo que me queda de vida the rest of my life / what life I have left

'Lo que me queda de...' is a construction meaning 'what remains to me of...' or 'the rest of my...'. 'Quedar' here is used impersonally with an indirect object pronoun (me) to express what is left.

Suerte que es tener what a blessing it is to have

'Suerte que es + infinitive' is an exclamatory construction expressing gratitude or good fortune. The verb 'ser' links 'suerte' to the infinitive, creating a structure like 'what luck it is to have...'.

con más ganas with more passion / with more eagerness

'Ganas' (plural of 'gana') is a key Spanish noun meaning desire, eagerness, or enthusiasm. 'Con ganas' means 'eagerly' or 'with gusto'. It is not directly translatable word-for-word.

Para besarte in order to kiss you

para + infinitive expresses purpose ('in order to'). The pronoun 'te' is attached to the infinitive 'besar', which is standard when a pronoun accompanies an infinitive in Spanish.

no los confundas con don't confuse them with

confundir con is a verb + preposition construction meaning 'to confuse/mistake something for something else'. English uses 'confuse with' or 'mistake for'; Spanish always uses 'con'.

hace falta it is needed / there is a need

'Hacer falta' is a fixed idiomatic expression meaning 'to be necessary' or 'to be needed'. It functions like 'necesitar' but is impersonal. 'Si un día hace falta' means 'if the need ever arises'.

han de llorar they will cry / they are destined to cry

'Haber de + infinitive' is a periphrastic construction expressing inevitability or destiny, similar to 'to be bound to' or 'shall'. It is more literary than 'tener que' and implies fate rather than obligation.

cuando te vayas when you leave

'Irse' (reflexive of 'ir') means 'to leave' or 'to go away', which is distinct from plain 'ir' (to go somewhere). The subjunctive 'vayas' is required after 'cuando' when referring to a future event.

tiene tu nombre y tu piel has your name and your skin

This is a poetic construction where 'la felicidad' (happiness) is personified as having a name and a skin — meaning the beloved person embodies happiness itself. The verb 'tener' here is used metaphorically.

Ya sabes you already know / you know

'Ya' combined with 'saber' in the present tense softens the statement into a conversational filler, similar to 'you know' in English. 'Ya' literally means 'already' but in this context it adds a tone of intimacy and shared understanding.

estoy hasta el cuello por ti I am up to my neck in love with you

'Estar hasta el cuello' is an idiomatic expression literally meaning 'to be up to one's neck', used to express being completely overwhelmed or deeply immersed in something. Combined with 'por ti', it means being deeply, overwhelmingly in love.

por ti for you / because of you

When expressing feelings or emotions, Spanish uses 'por' (not 'para') to indicate the person who is the cause or object of those feelings. 'Estoy loco por ti' = 'I am crazy about you'.

te quedes junto a mí you stay by my side

'Quedarse' (reflexive) means 'to stay' or 'to remain', which is a meaning-shift from plain 'quedar' (to be left over, to arrange to meet). 'Junto a mí' means 'next to me' or 'by my side'.

quiero que te quedes I want you to stay

querer que + subjunctive is the standard Spanish construction for expressing what you want someone else to do. English uses 'want + object + infinitive', but Spanish requires 'querer que + subjunctive clause'.

Vocabulary to learn from “Suerte”

The words the song uses most.

• la vida life / darling noun ·20
• querer I want / I love verb ·14
• vivir to live verb ·12
• mi my adjective ·11
• quedar remains / is left verb ·8
• tu your adjective ·6
• la suerte luck / fortune noun ·5
• saber you know verb ·5
• estar I am verb ·5
• haber you have verb ·3
• ser it is verb ·3
• el pie feet noun ·3

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

• Present41
• Present subjunctive7
• Preterite1

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