Song guide

Vivir mi Vida

Marc Anthony

Vivir mi Vida by Marc Anthony, line by line: what the lyrics mean, 24 expressions explained and 239 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. Voy a reír, voy a bailar

   I'm going to laugh, I'm going to dance

2. Vivir mi vida, la-la-la-la

   Living my life, la-la-la-la

   'Vivir mi vida' is the title of the 2013 hit by Marc Anthony. It is itself a reimagining of the classic 'C'est la vie' by Khaled, and before that draws on the Egyptian song 'Ala Hasb El Widad'. The title phrase became a global motto for resilience and joy.

3. Voy a reír, voy a gozar

   I'm going to laugh, I'm going to have fun

4. Vivir mi vida, la-la-la-la

   Living my life, la-la-la-la

5. Voy a reír (¡Eso!), voy a bailar

   I'm going to laugh (That's right!), I'm going to dance

   ¡Eso! is a classic salsa shout-out used by singers and bandleaders to affirm the music or the crowd's energy, similar to 'Yeah!' or 'That's right!' in English-language music. It is a staple of live salsa performance.

6. Vivir mi vida, la-la-la-la

   Living my life, la-la-la-la

7. Voy a reír, voy a gozar

   I'm going to laugh, I'm going to have fun

8. Vivir mi vida, la-la-la-la

   Living my life, la-la-la-la

9. A veces llega la lluvia

   Sometimes the rain comes

10. Para limpiar las heridas

    To cleanse wounds

11. A veces sólo una gota

    Sometimes just a single drop

12. Puede vencer la sequía

    Can overcome the drought

13. Y para qué llorar, ¿pa' qué?

    And why cry? What's the point?

14. Si duele una pena, se olvida

    If a sorrow hurts, it gets forgotten

15. Y para qué sufrir, ¿pa' qué?

    And why suffer? What's the point?

16. Si así es la vida, hay que vivirla, la-la-le

    If that's what life is, you've got to live it, la-la-le

17. Voy a reír, voy a bailar

    I'm going to laugh, I'm going to dance

18. Vivir mi vida, la-la-la-la

    Living my life, la-la-la-la

19. Voy a reír, voy a gozar

    I'm going to laugh, I'm going to have fun

20. Vivir mi vida, la-la-la-la

    Living my life, la-la-la-la

21. ¡Eso!

    That's it!

    ¡Eso! shouted mid-song is a hallmark of the salsa genre, often used by the lead singer or coro (chorus) to punctuate a musical break or to energise the audience.

22. Voy a vivir el momento

    I'm going to live in the moment

23. Para entender el destino

    To understand destiny

24. Voy a escuchar en silencio

    I'm going to listen in silence

25. Para encontrar el camino

    To find the way

26. Y para qué llorar, ¿pa' qué?

    And why cry? What's the point?

27. Si duele una pena, se olvida

    If a sorrow hurts, it gets forgotten

28. Y para qué sufrir, ¿pa' qué?

    And why suffer? What's the point?

29. Si duele una pena, se olvida, la-la-le

    If a sorrow hurts, you forget it, la-la-le

30. Voy a reír (¡Toma!), voy a bailar

    I'm going to laugh (Take that!), I'm going to dance

    ¡Toma! in this context is a celebratory exclamation common in Latin pop and salsa, similar to 'Take that!' or 'How about that!' It signals triumph or excitement rather than a literal command to take something.

31. Vivir mi vida, la-la-la-la

    Living my life, la-la-la-la

32. Voy a reír, voy a gozar

    I'm going to laugh, I'm going to have fun

33. Vivir mi vida, la-la-la-la

    Living my life, la-la-la-la

34. ¡Mi gente!

    My people!

    ¡Mi gente! ('my people!') is a direct address to the audience, a classic call-out in salsa and Latin urban music. Artists use it to create intimacy and solidarity with the crowd, similar to a performer saying 'my people' or 'everybody' in English.

35. ¡Toma!

    Here you go!

36. Voy a reír, voy a bailar

    I'm going to laugh, I'm going to dance

37. ¿Pa' qué llorar? ¿Pa' qué sufrir?

    Why cry? Why suffer?

38. Empieza a soñar, a reír

    Start dreaming, start laughing

39. Voy a reír, voy a bailar (¡Toma!)

    I'm going to laugh, I'm going to dance (Take that!)

40. Siente y baila y goza

    Feel it, dance, and enjoy yourself

41. Que la vida es una sola

    Because we only have one life

42. Voy a reír, voy a bailar

    I'm going to laugh, I'm going to dance

43. Vive, sigue

    Live, keep going

44. Siempre pa'lante, no mires pa'trás

    Always move forward — don't look back

    Siempre pa'lante is a well-known motivational motto in Puerto Rican and broader Caribbean culture, associated with perseverance and forward momentum. It appears in political slogans, community movements, and music as a rallying cry.

45. ¡Eso!

    That's it!

46. ¡Mi gente!

    My people!

47. ¡La vida es una! Jaja

    You only live once! Haha

    ¡La vida es una! is the Spanish cultural equivalent of YOLO ('You Only Live Once'). It reflects a broader Latin philosophy of carpe diem that runs through salsa music, encouraging listeners to embrace life fully rather than dwell on hardship.

48. ¡Toma!

    Here you go!

49. Voy a reír, voy a bailar

    I'm going to laugh, I'm going to dance

50. Vivir mi vida, la-la-la-la

    Living my life, la-la-la-la

51. Voy a reír, voy a gozar

    I'm going to laugh, I'm going to have fun

52. Vivir mi vida, la-la-la-la

    Living my life, la-la-la-la

Expressions and idioms in “Vivir mi Vida”

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

Voy a reír I'm going to laugh

ir a + infinitive is the standard Spanish periphrastic future, equivalent to English 'going to + verb'. It expresses near-future intention. The pattern is: present tense of ir + a + infinitive.

Voy a bailar I'm going to dance

Another instance of ir a + infinitive forming the periphrastic future. This construction appears throughout the song as the main way the singer expresses future plans.

Vivir mi vida Living my life

In song lyrics, an infinitive (vivir) is often used as a gerund or noun phrase where English would say 'living'. Here it functions as a headline or motto rather than a full conjugated sentence — a common poetic shorthand in Spanish.

Voy a gozar I'm going to have fun

ir a + infinitive periphrastic future again. Note that gozar is stronger and more physical than the milder disfrutar; in Caribbean Spanish it often implies joyful, embodied pleasure.

A veces Sometimes

a + veces (plural of vez, meaning 'time/occasion') forms the fixed adverbial phrase meaning 'sometimes'. Neither word alone carries this meaning — a means 'to/at' and veces means 'times'.

llega la lluvia the rain comes / it rains

Spanish often uses llegar (to arrive) where English says 'come' for weather or events. The subject (la lluvia) follows the verb, which is a common word-order inversion in Spanish for stylistic effect.

Para limpiar In order to cleanse

para + infinitive expresses purpose ('in order to'). This is distinct from por + infinitive, which expresses cause ('because of'). Here para limpiar means 'so as to clean / in order to clean'.

Puede vencer Can overcome

poder + infinitive is the standard modal construction for ability in Spanish, equivalent to English 'can/to be able to + verb'. Puede is the 3rd person singular present of poder.

¿Para qué? What for? / What's the point?

para qué is a fixed interrogative phrase asking about purpose or reason. It is stronger and more rhetorical than por qué ('why?'), implying 'there is no good reason'. The song uses it to dismiss suffering as pointless.

pa' qué what for

pa' is a colloquial spoken contraction of para, extremely common in Latin American Spanish and salsa lyrics. pa' qué = para qué. Learners will encounter this constantly in informal speech and song.

se olvida it is forgotten / one forgets it

se + 3rd person verb forms the reflexive/passive construction in Spanish. se olvida can mean 'it gets forgotten' (passive) or 'one forgets it' (impersonal). The plain verb olvidar means 'to forget', but with se it becomes impersonal or passive, removing the need for a subject.

Si así es la vida If that's what life is like

así es la vida is a common Spanish idiom meaning 'that's life' or 'such is life'. The word order places the predicate (así es) before the subject (la vida), which is a natural inversion in Spanish for emphasis.

hay que vivirla you've got to live it

hay que + infinitive is an impersonal fixed construction expressing obligation with no specific subject — equivalent to 'one must' or 'you've got to'. It differs from tener que, which requires a personal subject. The -la attached to vivir is a clitic pronoun referring back to la vida (life).

Voy a vivir el momento I'm going to live in the moment

ir a + infinitive periphrastic future. Note that Spanish says vivir el momento (live the moment) where English says 'live in the moment' — the preposition 'in' is absent in Spanish; the direct object construction is used instead.

Para entender el destino In order to understand destiny

para + infinitive expressing purpose. This line and line 24 form a parallel pair: 'in order to understand... in order to find...', a rhetorical device called parallelism common in song and poetry.

Voy a escuchar en silencio I'm going to listen in silence

ir a + infinitive periphrastic future. The phrase escuchar en silencio uses en + noun to form an adverbial of manner ('in silence'), a very productive pattern in Spanish: en paz (in peace), en serio (seriously), en voz alta (aloud).

Para encontrar el camino To find the way

para + infinitive expressing purpose. el camino literally means 'the road/path' but is used figuratively here to mean 'the right path in life'. This metaphorical use of camino is very common in Spanish.

Empieza a reír Start laughing

Another instance of empezar a + infinitive. The imperative form empieza (2nd person singular) gives this a direct command feel: 'you — start laughing right now'.

Empieza a soñar Start dreaming

empezar a + infinitive is a periphrastic construction meaning 'to start/begin doing something'. The verb empezar requires the preposition a before the following infinitive — you cannot say empezar soñar. This a is obligatory and has no English equivalent.

la vida es una sola life is just one / we only have one life

una sola literally means 'a single one'. The phrase la vida es una sola is a common Spanish expression equivalent to 'you only live once'. sola (from solo) here functions as an intensifier meaning 'only one, just one'.

Vive, sigue Live, keep going

Both vive and sigue are 2nd person singular affirmative imperatives, giving direct commands. sigue (from seguir) means 'continue/keep going' and is commonly used alone as encouragement, like English 'carry on' or 'keep it up'.

Siempre pa'lante Always forward

pa'lante is a contracted form of para adelante ('forward/onward'), extremely common in Caribbean Spanish speech and music. The full form para adelante is standard; pa'lante is colloquial. It is a motivational phrase meaning 'keep moving forward'.

no mires pa'trás don't look back

Negative commands in Spanish use no + present subjunctive (not the imperative form). So 'don't look' is no mires, not no mira. pa'trás is a contraction of para atrás ('backward/behind'). This mirrors pa'lante and creates a neat forward/backward contrast.

¡La vida es una! You only live once!

la vida es una (literally 'life is one') is the Spanish equivalent of the English acronym YOLO. It is a fixed idiomatic expression. The numeral una carries the full weight of 'only one, just one chance'.

Vocabulary to learn from “Vivir mi Vida”

The words the song uses most.

• ir I go / I am going verb ·28
• reír to laugh verb ·14
• vivir to live verb ·13
• la vida life noun ·13
• mi my adjective ·12
• bailar to dance verb ·9
• gozar to enjoy / to have fun verb ·6
• llorar to cry / to weep verb ·3
• doler hurts / aches verb ·3
• la pena sorrow / grief / shame noun ·3
• olvidar is forgotten / forgets verb ·3
• sufrir to suffer verb ·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

• Present40
• Imperative6
• Present subjunctive1

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