Llorona literally means "weeping woman". It's not just a word, but the name of a famous figure from Latin American folklore—a ghost who wanders wailing for her drowned children.
In this beautiful and melancholic song, the singer addresses their beloved as "Llorona", using the legendary name to express deep sorrow and undying love. Learning this word is a doorway into one of the most famous stories in Hispanic culture.
Talk about loving someone so hard it actually turns ridiculous. In this version performed by American artist Alanna Ubach and Antonio Sol, the singer pledges loyalty with the dramatic promise, "Y aunque la vida me cueste, llorona / No dejaré de quererte" (And even if it costs me my life, weeping woman / I won't stop loving you). The story spins out some wild, melodramatic scenes to prove that point. At one point, the speaker climbs up a tree just to search the horizon: "Subí al pino más alto, llorona / A ver si le divisaba" (I climbed the highest pine tree, weeping woman / To see if I could spot you). Then comes the funny, exaggerated twist: "Como el pino era tierno, llorona / Al verme llorar, lloraba" (Since the pine tree was young, weeping woman / Seeing me cry, it cried too). Even nature catches the weeping bug just by standing near them.
Everything in these lyrics turns back into grief, even the stuff that should make sense. The singer sighs, "La pena y la que no es pena, llorona / Todo es pena para mí" (Sorrow and what isn't sorrow, weeping woman / Everything is sorrow to me). That leads straight into a classic contradiction: "Ayer lloraba por verte, llorona / Hoy lloro porque te vi" (Yesterday I cried to see you, weeping woman / Today I cry because I saw you). It is impossible to win here! In Spanish, calling a tree "tierno" usually means tender or soft, but for plants it means young and supple, which explains why it bends to the speaker's weeping. You get a vivid portrait of someone who is completely stuck on a "Llorona de azul celeste" (Weeping woman in sky blue), refusing to walk away even when every single encounter brings a fresh flood of tears.
Alanna Ubach was born in Downey, California, in 1975, to a Puerto Rican father and a Mexican mother from Sinaloa. She started out in theatre, and in the early 1990s she played Josie, the assistant on the kids' science show Beakman's World.
On screen she is Serena in Legally Blonde, Isabel in Meet the Fockers and, more recently, Suze Howard in Euphoria. Her voice work includes Mamá Imelda in Pixar's Coco (2017), a role she both spoke and sang, and she sang the part again live at the Hollywood Bowl.