Las Mañanitas, meaning “the morning songs”, is a famous Mexican song commonly sung on the morning of a person’s birthday and at birthday parties. The song was written by Alfonso Esparza Oteo and has been performed by the great Mexican singers such as Pedro Infante, Vicente Fernandez and many more.

Las Mañanitas

Las Mañanitas lyrics

Estas son las mañanitas
Que cantaba el rey David
Hoy, por ser día de tu santo
Te las cantamos aquí

These are the morning songs
that King David sang
Today, because it’s your saint’s day
We sing them to you here

Despierta, mi bien, despierta
Mira que ya amaneció
Ya los pajaritos cantan
La luna ya se metió

Wake up, my love, wake up
Look, it’s already dawn
The birds are already singing
The moon has already set

Qué linda está la mañana
En que vengo a saludarte
Venimos todos con gusto
Y placer a felicitarte

How beautiful the morning is
In which I come to greet you
We all come with pleasure
And pleasure to congratulate you

El día en que tú naciste
Nacieron todas las flores
En la pila del bautismo
Cantaron los ruiseñores

The day you were born
All the flowers were born
In the baptismal font
The nightingales sang

Ya viene amaneciendo
Ya la luz del día nos dio
Levántate de mañana
Mira que ya amaneció

It’s already dawning
Daylight has dawned upon us
Get up early in the morning
Look, it’s already dawn

Si yo pudiera bajarte
Las estrellas y un lucero
Para poder demostrarte
Lo mucho que yo te quiero

If I could bring you down
The stars and a bright star
So I could show you
How much I love you

Con jazmines y flores
Este día quiero adornar
Hoy, por ser día de tu santo
Te venimos a cantar

With jasmine and flowers
I want to decorate this day
Today, because it’s your saint’s day
We come to sing to you

Lyrics vocabulary and grammar

Estas son las mañanitas

This line translates to “These are the morning songs”. The feminine plural noun mañanitas is a diminutive of mañana (morning) and can also translate to “The Beloved Mornings”.

Que cantaba el rey David

This line translates to “that King David sang”. Cantaba is the third-person singular form of cantar (to sing) in the imperfect tense.

Hoy, por ser día de tu santo

This line translates to “Today, because it’s your saint’s day”. In Mexico a día de santo (saint’s day) refers to the Name Day the day of a feast for which a person’s namesake saint passed away. The preposition por has many usages in Spanish including for and because of.

Te las cantamos aquí

This line translates to “We sing them to you here”. The las in this line is a direct object pronoun meaning “them”.

Despierta, mi bien, despierta

This line translates to “Wake up, my love, wake up”. Bien is an adverb meaning “well” but can translates loosely to “love” in the context of the song’s lyrics. Despierta is the imperative form of the verb despertar (to wake up).

Mira que ya amaneció

This line translates to “Look, it’s already dawn”. The literal translation of this line is “Look that it’s already beginning to get light”.

Ya los pajaritos cantan

This line translates to “The birds are already singing”. Pajaritos, meaning “little birds” is a diminutive of pájaro (bird).

La luna ya se metió

This line translates to “The moon has already set”. The verb meter has many meanings including to put, to go and to get into. In the reflexive from, meterse can translates to “to go down”.

Qué linda está la mañana

This line translates to “How beautiful the morning is”. The verb estar (to be) is being used in this line as it describes the condition of the morning.

En que vengo a saludarte

This line translates to “In which I come to greet you”. The verb saludar can translates to “to say hello”, to greet and to wave.

Venimos todos con gusto

This line translates to “We all come with pleasure”. Venimos is the preterite form of venir (to come).

El día en que tú naciste

This line translates to “The day you were born”. Naciste is the preterite form of nacer (to be born).

Nacieron todas las flores

This line translates to “All the flowers were born”. Nacieron is the verb nacer in the third-person plural form of the preterite tense.

En la pila del bautismo

This line translates to “In the baptismal font”. The feminine noun pila also means battery, basin or sink.

Ya viene amaneciendo

This line translates to “It’s already dawning”. Amaneciendo is the present participle of the verb amenecer (to begin to get light, wake up).

Ya la luz del día nos dio

This line translates to “Daylight has dawned upon us”. Dio is the third-person singular preterite form of the verb dar (to give).

Levántate de mañana

This line translates to “Get up early in the morning”. Levántate is the verb levenarse (to get up) in the imperative mood, which is used for giving commands.

Si yo pudiera bajarte

This line translates to “If I could bring you down”. Pudiera is the verb poder (can, to be able) in the third-person imperfect subjunctive form.

Las estrellas y un lucero

This line translates to “The stars and a bright star”. Un lucero can refer to a bright star or Venus.

Para poder demostrarte

This line translates to “So I could show you”. The preposition para can also translates to for or in order to.

Lo mucho que yo te quiero

This line translates to “How much I love you”. Te quiero means “I love you” in Spanish and comes from the verb querer (to want, to love).

More Mexican songs

• La cucaracha
• Cielito Lindo
• La Bamba
• Querida (Juan Gabriel)
• México Lindo y Querido

Reference
Las Mañanitas (Wikipedia)

Spanish songs | Lessons by David Issokson