Comerá is the future tense of the verb comer, which literally means "to eat". So, comerá translates to "it will eat".
In this classic ballad, Enrique Iglesias uses this word in a powerful and dramatic metaphor: "El dolor me comerá" (The pain will eat me). He's not talking about literal hunger, but about being completely consumed and overwhelmed by the emotional pain of his lover leaving. This striking imagery makes it a very memorable line.
Spanish pop star Enrique Iglesias leans straight into big, dramatic panic with this track. The whole track revolves around one giant fear: what happens if his partner walks away? He isn't dealing with an actual breakup yet; instead, he is stuck in his head catastrophizing. He admits that he is already picturing the worst, singing, "Y es que estoy / Imaginándome el final / Y me da miedo pensar" [And the thing is, I am / Imagining the end / And it scares me to think]. The lyrics do not hold back on hyperbole, either. He warns that if she leaves, "El dolor me comerá" [The pain will eat me up] and "Se me irá todo el valor" [All my courage will leave me]. In everyday Spanish, losing your valor means losing your nerve or guts entirely, and that is exactly how helpless he feels.
Then comes the most over-the-top, unforgettable image in the chorus: "Mis lágrimas hacen un mar / Nadaré sin descansar / Esperando tu llegar" [My tears make a sea / I will swim without resting / Waiting for your arrival]. Yes, he claims he will cry an entire ocean and literally dog-paddle in it until she returns! It is pure melodrama, but that extreme honesty makes it catchy and easy to sing along to. He sums up his total confusion without her in the simplest way possible: "Y yo sin ti / Ya no sé por dónde ir" [And me without you / I no longer know which way to go]. If you have ever spun out worrying about losing someone you love, this track knows your exact mood.
Enrique Iglesias shopped his first demos around Madrid under the name Enrique Martínez, so that no label would sign him for being Julio Iglesias's son. Fonovisa signed him anyway and flew him to Toronto, where he recorded Enrique Iglesias (1995) in near anonymity. All five of its singles, "Si Tú Te Vas" and "Experiencia Religiosa" among them, reached number one on Billboard's Latin chart, and the album won the 1997 Grammy for Best Latin Pop Album.
Enrique (1999) moved him onto English-language radio, with "Bailamos" and "Be with You" both topping the Hot 100, and Escape (2001) sold past eight million copies on the back of "Hero". The chart he owns outright is Hot Latin Songs: 27 number ones, more than any other artist, plus the two longest runs at the top in its history, "Bailando" with Descemer Bueno and Gente de Zona at 41 weeks in 2014 and "El Perdón" with Nicky Jam at 30 weeks in 2015. He wound the recording career down on his own terms, calling Final (Vol. 1) in 2021 and Final (Vol. 2) in 2024 his last albums.