"Me ilusioné" [I got my hopes up] is how the song starts, and that one verb sets up everything: he fell for her the moment he looked at her, because her eyes are "extraños y mágicos" [strange and magical]. He even admits she will think he is crazy when he says he sees her in a star every time he looks at the sky.
The problem is that she does not feel the same. Wanting her while she is not by his side hurts, and he lays it on thick: "creo que estoy muerto en vida" [I think I'm dead while still alive]. The chorus turns into a plea, "Ayúdame a vivir un poco, amor" [Help me live a little, love], and he claims "Un beso tuyo bastará" [One kiss from you will be enough] to save him. It is very dramatic, and that is part of the fun of vallenato romántico.
The line that stings most is "Y amigos no, por favor" [And not friends, please]. He has clearly been offered the friend zone and refuses it, saying he would rather have her hugging and kissing him. In the second verse he dreams she is beside him, but when he wakes up she dodges him and treats him "como un simple regalo" [like a simple gift] she looks at from the outside and never opens. That gift image is a great way to say she never gave him a real chance.