El Burrito de Belén performed by Juanes

Published by Lyrical Language on

“El Burrito de Belén” or “El Burrito Sabanero” is a Christmas song from Venezuela which is very popular across Latin America. It was written in 1972 by Hugo Blanco and was first recorded by the Venezuelan folk singer Simón Díaz with accompaniment by the casa Venezuelan Children’s Choir for his album Las Gaitas de Simon. Another version, recorded in November 1972 by children’s musical group La Rondallita gained popularity in Latin America. It has since been recorded many times by popular artists. This version is performed by Colombian singer Juanes.

Song information from Wikipedia.

About the Artist

Juanes

Juan Esteban Aristizábal Vásquez, who performs as Juanes, is a singer/songwriter from Carolina del Príncipe, Antioquia, Colombia. In 1988 he started a rock band called Ekhymosis which, despite playing alongside acts such as Alejandro Sanz, Aterciopelados and Ricky Martin, never achieved success outside of Colombia. The band broke up in 1998 so that Juanes could pursue a solo career. He released his first solo album Fíjate Bien in 2000. The album spent ten weeks at number one in Colombia and earned Juanes three Latin Grammy awards for Best New Artist, Best Rock Solo Vocal Album and Best Rock Song. However it too was unsuccessful in other countries.

His breakthrough came with his second album Un Día Normal in 2002, which was very successful in Latin America. It set a record spending 92 weeks in the top ten on the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart, and remained on the chart for two years. It was certified platinum and multi-platinum in several countries, and led Juanes to win three Latin Grammy Awards in 2003 for Song of the Year, Record of the Year and Album of the Year. The single “A Dios le Pido” spend 47 weeks on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart, topped the charts in twelve countries, and won the Latin Grammy Award for Best Rock Song in 2002.

Juanes’s awards include twenty Latin Grammy Awards and two Grammy Awards. In 2010 he received the BMI President’s Award at the BMI Latin Awards.

Biographical information from Wikipedia.

Cultural References, Idioms and Explanations

Diminutive – There are several examples of the diminutive form in Spanish in this song. 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 or smaller than the normal noun (for example ‘burrito’ could be interpreted as ‘little donkey’), often it is simply a stylistic change, with no change in meaning. When used with names, it is a form of endearment. The diminutive nouns in this song are:

  • burrito – burro – donkey
  • lucerito – lucero – brght star
  • cuatrico – cuatro – four stringed instrument

‘camino de’ – Literally translating as ‘path of’, this phrase means ‘towards’, ‘on the way to’ or ‘on one’s way to’.

‘ir a’ – The verb ‘ir’ means ‘to go’. As in English, when this verb is used with a place, it implies movement towards that place. But when it is used with another verb, it implies that that action will be preformed in the future. For example ‘I am going to the store’ ‘(voy a la tienda’) vs ‘I am going to eat’ (‘voy a comer’). The examples in this song are ‘vamos a llegar’ (we’re going to arrive) and ‘vamos a ver’ (we’re going to see).

‘cuatro’ – The term for the number four, this term is also the name of a four stringed musical instrument, similar to a guitar, just smaller.

‘ir + gerund’ – While, like ‘estar’, ‘ir’ is also used with the gerund to discuss actions in progress, it is used when you want to stress the progression of the action, highlighting that the change is happening incrementally. It is used to indicate a gradual, steady or progressive change, similar to saying something happens ‘little by little”.

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.

El Burrito de Belén

[Verse 1]
Con mi burrito sabanero
Voy camino de Belén
Con mi burrito sabanero
Voy camino de Belén

[Chorus]
Si me ven, si me ven, voy camino de Belén
Si me ven, si me ven, voy camino de Belén

[Verse 2]
El lucerito mañanero ilumina mi sendero
El lucerito mañanero ilumina mi sendero

[Chorus]
Si me ven, si me ven, voy camino de Belén
Si me ven, si me ven, voy camino de Belén

[Bridge]
Tuki tuki tuki tuki, tuki tuki tuki ta
Apúrate mi burrito que ya vamos a llegar
Tuki tuki tuki tuki, tuki tuki tuki ta
Apúrate mi burrito vamos a ver a Jesús

[Verse 3]
Con mi cuatrico voy cantando
Mi burrito va trotando
Con mi cuatrico voy cantando
Mi burrito va trotando

[Chorus]
Si me ven, si me ven, voy camino de Belén
Si me ven, si me ven, voy camino de Belén

[Verse 1]
Con mi burrito sabanero
Voy camino de Belén
Con mi burrito sabanero
Voy camino de Belén

[Chorus]
Si me ven, si me ven, voy camino de Belén
Si me ven, si me ven, voy camino de Belén

[Bridge]
Tuki tuki tuki tuki, tuki tuki tuki ta
Apúrate mi burrito que ya vamos a llegar
Tuki tuki tuki tuki, tuki tuki tuki ta
Apúrate mi burrito vamos a ver a Jesús

[Verse 1]
Con mi burrito sabanero
Voy camino de Belén
Con mi burrito sabanero
Voy camino de Belén

[Chorus]
Si me ven, si me ven, voy camino de Belén
Si me ven, si me ven, voy camino de Belén

Lyrics with Translation

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

El Burrito de Belén
The donkey of Bethlehem

[Verse 1]
Con mi burrito sabanero
With my little donkey from the savannah
Voy camino de Belén
I’m on my way to Bethlehem
Con mi burrito sabanero
With my little donkey from the savannah
Voy camino de Belén
I’m on my way to Bethlehem

[Chorus]
Si me ven, si me ven voy camino de Belén
If they see me, if they see me I’m on my way to Bethlehem
Si me ven, si me ven voy camino de Belén
If they see me, if they see me I’m on my way to Bethlehem

[Verse 2]
El lucerito mañanero ilumina mi sendero
The morning star illuminates my path
El lucerito mañanero ilumina mi sendero
The morning star illuminates my path

[Chorus]
Si me ven, si me ven voy camino de Belén
If they see me, if they see me I’m on my way to Bethlehem
Si me ven, si me ven voy camino de Belén
If they see me, if they see me I’m on my way to Bethlehem

[Bridge]
Tuki tuki tuki tuki, tuki tuki tuki ta
Apúrate mi burrito que ya vamos a llegar
Hurry up my little donkey, we’re going to arrive
Tuki tuki tuki tuki, tuki tuki tuki ta
Apúrate mi burrito vamos a ver a Jesús
Hurry up my little donkey, we’re going to see Jesus

[Verse 3]
Con mi cuatrico voy cantando
With my cuatrico I go along singing
Mi burrito va trotando
My donkey is trotting
Con mi cuatrico voy cantando
With my cuatrico I go along singing
Mi burrito va trotando
My donkey is trotting

[Chorus]
Si me ven, si me ven voy camino de Belén
If they see me, if they see me I’m on my way to Bethlehem
Si me ven, si me ven voy camino de Belén
If they see me, if they see me I’m on my way to Bethlehem

[Verse 1]
Con mi burrito sabanero
With my little donkey from the savannah
Voy camino de Belén
I’m on my way to Bethlehem
Con mi burrito sabanero
With my little donkey from the savannah
Voy camino de Belén
I’m on my way to Bethlehem

[Chorus]
Si me ven, si me ven voy camino de Belén
If they see me, if they see me I’m on my way to Bethlehem
Si me ven, si me ven voy camino de Belén
If they see me, if they see me I’m on my way to Bethlehem

[Bridge]
Tuki tuki tuki tuki, tuki tuki tuki ta
Apúrate mi burrito que ya vamos a llegar
Hurry up my little donkey, we’re going to arrive
Tuki tuki tuki tuki, tuki tuki tuki ta
Apúrate mi burrito vamos a ver a Jesús
Hurry up my little donkey, we’re going to see Jesus

[Verse 1]
Con mi burrito sabanero
With my little donkey from the savannah
Voy camino de Belén
I’m on my way to Bethlehem
Con mi burrito sabanero
With my little donkey from the savannah
Voy camino de Belén
I’m on my way to Bethlehem

[Chorus]
Si me ven, si me ven voy camino de Belén
If they see me, if they see me I’m on my way to Bethlehem
Si me ven, si me ven voy camino de Belén (x2)
If they see me, if they see me I’m on my way to Bethlehem (x2)

Grammatical Concepts Used in this Song

  • Diminutive
    • Burro
      • Con mi burrito sabanero
      • Apúrate mi burrito que ya vamos a llegar
      • Apúrate mi burrito vamos a ver a Jesús
      • Mi burrito va trotando
    • Lucero
      • El lucerito mañanero ilumina mi sendero
    • Cuatro
      • Con mi cuatrico voy cantando
  • Possessive Adjectives
    • Con mi burrito sabanero
    • El lucerito mañanero ilumina mi sendero
    • Apúrate mi burrito que ya vamos a llegar
    • Apúrate mi burrito vamos a ver a Jesús
    • Con mi cuatrico voy cantando
    • Mi burrito va trotando
  • Personal a
    • Apúrate mi burrito vamos a ver a Jesús
  • Irregular
    • Ir
      • Voy camino de Belén
      • Apúrate mi burrito que ya vamos a llegar
      • Apúrate mi burrito vamos a ver a Jesús
      • Con mi cuatrico voy cantando
      • Mi burrito va trotando
  • Near Future (ir a + infinitive)
    • Apúrate mi burrito que ya vamos a llegar
    • Apúrate mi burrito vamos a ver a Jesús
  • Present Progressive with ‘ir’
    • Con mi cuatrico voy cantando
    • Mi burrito va trotando
  • Imperative
    • Apúrate mi burrito que ya vamos a llegar
    • Apúrate mi burrito vamos a ver a Jesús
Categories: Spanish