Bordar literally means "to embroider," the beautiful art of decorating fabric with a needle and thread. It's a word you won't find in most pop songs!
Juan Luis Guerra uses it in a stunningly poetic metaphor. He sings about wanting to be a fish so he can "bordar de corales tu cintura" (embroider your waist with corals), imagining a delicate and loving act of decorating her with the treasures of the sea. This unique use of the word transforms a simple caress into a work of art.
Dominican songwriter Juan Luis Guerra turns longing into pure underwater poetry in this bachata classic. The singer describes himself as utterly overwhelmed by love, confessing that his poor heart is "mutilado de esperanza y de razón" ("mutilated of hope and reason") and strips down with impatience whenever he hears his partner's voice ("se desnuda de impaciencia ante tu voz"). Instead of acting completely rational, he lets his mind run wild with an obsessively romantic fantasy.
That fantasy gives us one of Latin music's most unforgettable images: "Quisiera ser un pez / Para tocar mi nariz en tu pecera" ("I would like to be a fish / To touch my nose to your fishbowl"). He dreams of blowing love bubbles everywhere ("hacer burbujas de amor por dondequiera") and decorating her waist with corals and hibiscus flowers ("bordar de cayenas tu cintura"). The Spanish idiom "pasar la noche en vela" means staying awake all night, and here he wants to spend it entirely "mojado en ti" ("soaked in you"). It is dreamy, poetic, and wonderfully unapologetic about how strange love can make anyone sound.
Did you know?
In addition to reading lyric translations, you can now learn Spanish with music and lyrics from your favorite artists.
Yes, including Burbujas De Amor by Juan Luis Guerra!
No more boring lessons. You can now learn with engaging and culturally relevant lyrics from the best artists.
