Mariachi Lyrics Archive
Tragos Amargos (Con Mariachi)
Pour him another — the pain is still burning. Tragos Amargos is the mariachi cantina at its most honest: bitter drinks for bitter love.
About the Song
Tragos Amargos is a classic norteño and ranchera drinking song belonging to the long tradition of cantina music — the Mexican cantina being one of the great cultural institutions for processing heartbreak through alcohol and song. The bitter drink as a metaphor for betrayed love appears throughout Latin American music from the Cuban bolero to the Mexican corrido. This Mariachi Nuevo Real recording gives the classic theme a full mariachi treatment, elevating the cantina lament into the grand emotional register that brass and strings demand.
Meaning of the Song
Tragos Amargos is the honest inventory of a man who has run out of options. The tequila is not a solution — he knows it. But between one glass and another he gets a few minutes of peace, and that's something. The bitterness of betrayal and the bitterness of the drink become the same thing. Mariachi Nuevo Real plays it with the full ensemble weight the emotion deserves: this sadness is not small, and the mariachi doesn't pretend it is.
Lyrics / Letra
Clavado en este rincón
Como tú clavaste a mi corazón
Estos tragos que tomo yo
Son pura tristeza y son mi dolor
Te fuiste no sé por qué
Yo sé que me querías
Y sé que me adorabas
Por si acaso quieres regresar
Te voy a esperar
Te voy a esperar
Tragos de amargo licor
Que no me hacen olvidar
Y me siento como un cobarde
Que hasta me pongo a llorar
Te fuiste no sé por qué
Yo sé que me querías
Y sé que me adorabas
Por si acaso quieres regresar
Te voy a esperar
Te voy a esperar
Tragos de amargo licor
Que no me hacen olvidar
Y me siento como un cobarde
Que hasta me pongo a llorar
Como tú clavaste a mi corazón
Estos tragos que tomo yo
Son pura tristeza y son mi dolor
Te fuiste no sé por qué
Yo sé que me querías
Y sé que me adorabas
Por si acaso quieres regresar
Te voy a esperar
Te voy a esperar
Tragos de amargo licor
Que no me hacen olvidar
Y me siento como un cobarde
Que hasta me pongo a llorar
Te fuiste no sé por qué
Yo sé que me querías
Y sé que me adorabas
Por si acaso quieres regresar
Te voy a esperar
Te voy a esperar
Tragos de amargo licor
Que no me hacen olvidar
Y me siento como un cobarde
Que hasta me pongo a llorar
English Translation
Pour me another drink
because I'm dying of heartache
thinking of her
who was unfaithful to me
Give me another tequila
because the pain is burning me
and between one glass and another
I try to forget
Bitter drinks
the ones I drink tonight
bitter drinks
for a love
How sad is the soul
when there's nothing left to do
bitter drinks
are all I have left
because I'm dying of heartache
thinking of her
who was unfaithful to me
Give me another tequila
because the pain is burning me
and between one glass and another
I try to forget
Bitter drinks
the ones I drink tonight
bitter drinks
for a love
How sad is the soul
when there's nothing left to do
bitter drinks
are all I have left
