Convénceme by India Martinez and Marc Anthony

Published by Lyrical Language on February 19, 2021February 19, 2021

“Convénceme” is a non-album single by Spanish singer India Martínez and American singer of Puerto Rican heritage Marc Anthony. While it hasn’t enjoyed major popularity thus far, it was a good opportunity to introduce the influential Marc Anthony.

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Activities

About the Artists

India Martinez

Jennifer Jessica Martínez Fernández, who performs as India Martínez, is a singer from Córdoba, in Spain’s Andalusia region. She got her start in 1998 as a finalist on the television program “Veo, Veo”. She continued to perform locally and won or placed well in several competitions. She released her first album Azulejos de Lunares in 2004. Her second album Despertar was released in 2009 and led to her nomination for the Latin Grammy Award for Best New Artist that year. She has won three Premio Cadena Dial awards and four of her albums have reached platinum certification.

Biographical information from Wikipedia.

Marc Anthony

Marco Antonio Muñiz, who performs as Marc Anthony, is a singer, songwriter, actor, record executive, television producer and philanthropist from New York City. Born to Puerto Rican parents, Anthony was taught to sing in both English and Spanish by his father, who was a professional guitarist. Named after Mexican singer Marco Antonio Muñiz, he began to perform as Marc Anthony to avoid confusion with his namesake.

Anthony got his start doing freestyle music as a session vocalist for underground acts in New York. He later worked as a songwriter and backup vocalist for pop bands Menudo and Latin Rascals. In 1993 he moved from freestyle to salsa music with the release of his second album, and first Spanish-language album Otra Nota. In 1995 he released another Spanish album entitled Todo a su tiempo, which reached gold certification in the US and Puerto Rico and earned Anthony a Billboard award for Hot Tropical Artist of the Year. The song ” Y Hubo Alguien” from his third Spanish album Contra La Coriente was not only his first number-one single on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart, but was also the first by a salsa musician. The album was the first salsa album to enter the English language Billboard 200 chart.

Having sold more than 12 million albums worldwide, Anthony is the top-selling tropical salsa artist of all time, with numerous gold and platinum certifications. With 32 songs, he has more number-one songs on the Billboard Latin Tropical Airplay chart than any other artist. He holds the Guinness World Records for best-selling tropical/salsa artist and most number-one albums on the Billboard Tropical Albums year-end charts. Among his awards and recognitions are two Grammy Awards, six Latin Grammy Awards, twelve Billboard Latin Music Awards, three Billboard Awards, and 29 Premio Lo Nuestro Latin Music awards, the most for any male artist. He has received the ASCAP Founders Award, was inaugurated into the Billboard Hall of Fame in 2012, and received the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI) Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009.

Biographical information from Wikipedia.

Cultural References, Idioms and Explanations

‘Derríteme la piel’ and ‘Sóplame el aire en la cara’ – You will notice that the body parts here take the definite article, rather than possessive adjectives (i.e. ‘the skin’ and ‘the face’ rather than ‘my skin’ and ‘my face’). In Spanish, the verb defines that these things are being done ‘to me’ rather than defining this through possession of the body parts. Literally they would translate something like ‘melt the skin to me’ and ‘blow air in the face to me’.

‘poquito a poco’ – This is a version of the phrase ‘poco a poco’ which means ‘little by little’ or ‘bit by bit’.

‘pa’ que’ – This is a shortened version of the phrase ‘para que’, which means ‘so that’ or ‘in order that’, and is one of the phrases that will always be followed by the subjunctive.

‘poquito’ and ‘ratito’ – These are examples of the diminutive form in Spanish. This form is achieved by adding ‘-ito’ to the end of masculine nouns, or ‘-ita’ to the end of feminine nouns. While it can mean less than the normal form (for example ‘a little bit’ vs ‘a very little bit’), most often it is simply a stylistic change, with no change in meaning.

Activities

We’ve created flashcards, games, and exercises to practice vocabulary and grammatical concepts found in this song. Check out our Activities Page to take your learning further!

Song Lyrics with Grammatical Breakdown

Mouse over a term for grammatical information. A chart of the terms and grammatical information can be found here.

[Intro]

[Verse]

[Pre-Chorus]

[Chorus]

[Verse]

[Pre-Chorus]

[Chorus]

Lyrics with Translation

Songs in any language often leave room for multiple interpretations. Following is my interpretation of the song lyrics.

Convénceme
Convince me

[Intro]
Ya que vienes hasta aquí
Since you’re coming here
Llévame lejos de mi
Take me far away from myself
Derríteme la piel poquito a poco
Melt my skin little by little
Hazme ver el fin
Make me see the end
Convénceme
Convince me
Convénceme
Convince me

[Verse]
Confiésame el amor
Confess love to me
Y deja ya el temor, respira
And let go of fear, breathe
Confiésame tu amor
Confess your love to me
Que el tiempo se nos va, respira bebé
Because time is going away from us, breathe baby

[Chorus]
Como fogata en verano, bebé
Like a campfire in summer, baby
Sóplame el aire en la cara
Blow air in my face
Juega un ratito conmigo, bebé
Play with me for a little while, baby
En el sofá o en la cama
On the sofa or in the bed
Como fogata en verano, bebé
Like a campfire in summer, baby
Sóplame el aire en la cara
Blow air in my face
Juega un ratito conmigo, bebé
Play with me for a little while, baby
En el sofá o en la cama
On the sofa or in the bed
Mmmm en la cama
Mmmm in the bed

[Pre-Chorus]
Y hablé con la noche pa’ que no amanezca
And I spoke with the night so that it does not dawn
Pa’ poderla disfrutar entera
To be able to enjoy all of it
Y hablé con la luna pa’ que no se fuera
And I spoke with the moon so it wouldn’t leave
Pa’ que me puedas bеber entera
So you can drink me all of me
Y hablé con la noche pa’ que no amanezca
And I spoke with the night so that it does not dawn
Pa’ poderla disfrutar entera
To be able to enjoy all of it
Y hablé con la luna pa’ que no se fuera
And I spoke with the moon so it wouldn’t leave
Pa’ que me puedas bеber entera
So you can drink me all of me
Pa’ quе me puedas beber entera
So you can drink all of me

Grammatical Concepts Used in this Song

Diminutive:
- Derríteme la piel poquito a poco
- Juega un ratito conmigo, bebé

Pronouns:
- Que el tiempo se nos va, respira bebé
- Pa’ que me puedas bеber entera
Attached Pronouns:
- Convénceme
- Llévame lejos de mi
- Derríteme la piel poquito a poco
- Hazme ver el fin
- Confiésame el amor
- Confiésame tu amor
- Pa’ poderla disfrutar entera
- Sóplame el aire en la cara

Pronominal / Reflexive Verbs:
- Que el tiempo se nos va, respira bebé
- Y hablé con la luna pa’ que no se fuera

Irregular:
- Que el tiempo se nos va, respira bebé
Stem-changing:
- Venir (e => ie)
  - Ya que vienes hasta aquí

Imperative:
- Convénceme
- Llévame lejos de mi
- Derríteme la piel poquito a poco
- Hazme ver el fin
- Confiésame el amor
- Confiésame tu amor
- Y deja ya el temor, respiraI
- Que el tiempo se nos va, respira bebé
- Sóplame el aire en la cara
- Juega un ratito conmigo, bebé

Preterite:
- Y hablé con la noche pa’ que no amanezca
- Y hablé con la luna pa’ que no se fuera

Subjunctive:
- Y hablé con la noche pa’ que no amanezca
- Pa’ quе me puedas beber entera
Imperfect subjunctive:
- Y hablé con la luna pa’ que no se fuera