Hawái by Maluma

Published by Lyrical Language on

Colombian singer Maluma just released this new single last week on July 29th. It will appear on his next album, which he plans to release later this year.

About the Artist

Juan Luis Londoño Arias, who performs as Maluma, is a singer, songwriter, and actor from Medellín, Colombia. He got his start recording and publishing his own music. He has had numerous hits in the US and throughout Latin America. His biggest hit to date was the single “Chantaje”, a collaboration with Colombian singer Shakira. He has won a Latin Grammy Award and two Latin American Music Awards.

Biographical information from Wikipedia.

Cultural References, Idioms and Explanations

‘dar celos’ – Translating literally as ‘to give jealousy’, this phrase means ‘to make [someone] jealous’

‘celos’ – This term in the plural means ‘jealousy’, however in the singular it means ‘zeal’ or enthusiasm’.

‘se ve’ – This is an example of the impersonal ‘se’ which references people in general, rather than a specific person, and is used for general statements or questions about what they, one, or you do. It can be used to talk about how things are done according to custom, rule, or general consensus, asking for directions, finding out how to say things (cómo se dice/how do you say), or asking about the rules or customs in a specific place. The impersonal ‘se’ is used for actions that do not impact a direct object.

‘todo un/una’ – This phrase means ‘a complete’, ‘a real’, or ‘quite a’. For example in this song we see es ‘todo un caballero’, meaning ‘he’s a real gentleman’ or ‘he’s quite a gentleman’.

‘puede que’ – This phrase means ‘it may be that’. As it shows uncertainty or probability it should be followed by the subjunctive.

‘hacer falta’ – Literally translating as ‘to make shortage’, this phrase means ‘to be needed’ or ‘to be necessary’.

‘lo que’ – Literally translating as ‘it that’, this phrase better translates as ‘what’, ‘whatever’, or ‘which’.

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

‘hacer mal’ – Literally meaning ‘to do bad’, this phrase means either ‘to do wrong’ or ‘to harm, wound, or injure’.

‘el amor no se compra’ – Meaning ‘love is not bought’, this is an example of the passive ‘se’, which tells something that happened or is happening without telling who or what performs the action. It is like using the passive voice in English, for example ‘the books were opened’ (someone opened them, but we don’t know who). Here no specific person or persons is mentioned as doing the purchasing. The passive ‘se’ needs a direct object to be acted upon, here ‘el amor’. The verb conjugates for whatever item is being acted upon. ‘Se resuelvan las problemas’ (plural), and ‘el amor se ve’ (singular).

‘No creo que cuando te llame me ignores’ – As the verb ‘creer’ is negated here and conveys a feeling of doubt the following verbs are in the subjunctive voice. However, when the verb ‘creer’ is affirmative the following verbs will be indicative rather than subjunctive (i.e. Creo que cuando te llamo me ignoras).

‘en ayunas’ – This comes from the verb ‘ayunar’ and means ‘fasting’ or ‘on an empty stomach’.

‘los problemas a uno’ – The ‘a’ here indicates tat the problems are corresponding to someone (uno).

‘tener la culpa’ – Literally translating as ‘to have the fault’ or ‘to have the blame’, this phrase means ‘to be to blame’, ‘to be responsible’, or ‘to be at fault’.

‘a veces’ – Literally translating as ‘at times’, this phrase means ‘sometimes’ or ‘occasionally’.

‘porfa’ – This is a shortened version of ‘por favor’ meaning ‘please’, commonly used in colloquial language.

‘actuar el papel’ – Literally translating as ‘to act the paper’, this phrase means ‘to play the role’ or ‘to play the part’.

‘mamacita’ – This is an example of the diminutive form in Spanish. This is a diminutive form of ‘mami’, achieved by adding ‘-cita’ to the end. While ‘mami’ can mean ‘mommy’, it is very often used as a slang term to refer to an attractive woman, a female romantic partner, or a close female friend. The diminutive form implies that the woman is quite attractive. In this song I have just left the Spanish term untranslated.

Song Lyrics with Grammatical Breakdown

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

Hawái

[Verse 1]
Deja de mentirte
La foto que subiste con él diciendo que era tu cielo
Bebé, yo te conozco tan bien, que fue pa’ darme celos
No te diré quién, pero llorando por te vieron
Por te vieron
Déjame decirte
Se ve que él te trata bien, que es todo un caballero
Pero eso no cambiará que yo llegué primero
que te va ir bien pero no te quiere como yo te quiero

[Chorus]
Puede que no te haga falta na’, aparentemente na’
Hawái de vacaciones, mis felicitaciones
Muy lindo en Instagram lo que posteas
Pa’ que yo vea cómo te va, pa’ que yo vea
Puede que no te haga falta na’, aparentemente na’
Hawái de vacaciones, mis felicitaciones
Muy lindo en Instagram lo que posteas
Pa’ que yo vea cómo te va de bien, pero te haces mal
Porque el amor no se compra con na’

[Verse 2]
Miéntele a todos tus seguidore’
Dile que los tiempo’ de ahora son mejore’
No creo que cuando te llame me ignores
Si después de ya no habrán más amores
y yo fuimo’ uno
Lo hacíamo’ en ayuna’ antes del desayuno
Fumábamo’ la hookah y te pasaba el humo
Y ahora en esta guerra no gana ninguno
Si me preguntas, nadie tiene culpa
A vece’ los problemas a uno se le juntan
Déjame hablar, porfa, no me interrumpas
Si te hice algo malo, entonces discúlpame
La gente te lo va a creer, actúas bien ese papel
Baby, pero no eres feliz con él

[Chorus]
Puede que no te haga falta na’, aparentemente na’
Hawái de vacaciones, mis felicitaciones
Muy lindo en Instagram lo que posteas
Pa’ que yo vea cómo te va, pa’ que yo vea
Puede que no te haga falta na’, aparentemente na’
Hawái de vacaciones, mis felicitaciones
Muy lindo en Instagram lo que posteas
Pa’ que yo vea cómo te va de bien, pero te haces mal
Porque el amor no se compra con na’

[Outro]
Deja de mentirte
La foto que subiste con él diciendo que era tu cielo
Mamacita
Bebé, yo te conozco tan bien, que fue pa’ darme celos
Maluma, baby
No te diré quién, pero llorando por te vieron
Por te vieron

Lyrics with Translation

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

Hawái
Hawaii

[Verse 1]
Deja de mentirte
Stop lying to yourself
La foto que subiste con él diciendo que era tu cielo
The photo you uploaded with him saying he was your angel
Bebé, yo te conozco tan bien, sé que fue pa’ darme celos
Baby, I know you so well, I know it was to make me jealous
No te diré quién, pero llorando por mí te vieron
I won’t tell you who, but crying for me they saw you
Por mí te vieron
For me they saw you
Déjame decirte
Let me tell you
Se ve que él te trata bien, que es todo un caballero
One can see that he treats you well, that he’s quite a gentleman
Pero eso no cambiará que yo llegué primero
But that won’t change that I came first
Sé que te va ir bien pero no te quiere como yo te quiero
I know you’re gonna be fine, but he doesn’t love you like I love you

[Chorus]
Puede que no te haga falta na’, aparentemente na’
You may not need anything, apparently nothing
Hawái de vacaciones, mis felicitaciones
Hawaii on vacation, my congratulations
Muy lindo en Instagram lo que posteas
Very beautiful on Instagram, what you post
Pa’ que yo vea cómo te va, pa’ que yo vea
So that I’ll see how you’re doing, so that I’ll see
Puede que no te haga falta na’, aparentemente na’
You may not need anything, apparently nothing
Hawái de vacaciones, mis felicitaciones
Hawaii on vacation, my congratulations
Muy lindo en Instagram lo que posteas
Very beautiful on Instagram, what you post
Pa’ que yo vea cómo te va de bien, pero te haces mal
So that I see how well you’re doing, but you’re hurting yourself
Porque el amor no se compra con na’
Because love is not bought with anything

[Verse 2]
Miéntele a todos tus seguidore’
Lie to all your followers
Dile que los tiempo’ de ahora son mejore’
Tell them that times are better now
No creo que cuando te llame me ignores
I don’t think when I call you you’ll ignore me
Si después de mí ya no habrán más amores
If after me there won’t be any more loves
Tú y yo fuimo’ uno
You and I were one
Lo hacíamo’ en ayuna’ antes del desayuno
We did it on an empty stomach before breakfast
Fumábamo’ la hookah y te pasaba el humo
We were smoking the hookah and I passed you the smoke
Y ahora en esta guerra no gana ninguno
And now in this war no one wins
Si me preguntas, nadie tiene culpa
If you ask me, nobody’s to blame
A vece’ los problemas a uno se le juntan
Sometimes people’s problems join them
Déjame hablar, porfa, no me interrumpas
Let me talk, please, don’t interrupt me
Si te hice algo malo, entonces discúlpame
If I did something bad to you, then excuse me
La gente te lo va a creer, actúas bien ese papel
People will believe you, you play that role well
Baby, pero no eres feliz con él
Baby, but you’re not happy with him

[Chorus]
Puede que no te haga falta na’, aparentemente na’
You may not need anything, apparently nothing
Hawái de vacaciones, mis felicitaciones
Hawaii on vacation, my congratulations
Muy lindo en Instagram lo que posteas
Very beautiful on Instagram, what you post
Pa’ que yo vea cómo te va, pa’ que yo vea
So that I’ll see how you’re doing, so that I’ll see
Puede que no te haga falta na’, aparentemente na’
You may not need anything, apparently nothing
Hawái de vacaciones, mis felicitaciones
Hawaii on vacation, my congratulations
Muy lindo en Instagram lo que posteas
Very beautiful on Instagram, what you post
Pa’ que yo vea cómo te va de bien, pero te haces mal
So that I see how well you’re doing, but you’re hurting yourself
Porque el amor no se compra con na’
Because love is not bought with anything

[Outro]
Deja de mentirte
Stop lying to yourself
La foto que subiste con él diciendo que era tu cielo
The photo you uploaded with him saying he was your angel
Mamacita
Mamacita
Bebé, yo te conozco tan bien, sé que fue pa’ darme celos
Baby, I know you so well, I know it was to make me jealous
Maluma, baby
Maluma, baby
No te diré quién, pero llorando por mí te vieron
I won’t tell you who, but crying for me they saw you
Por mí te vieron
For me they saw you

Lyrical Language