Cobardes is the Spanish word for "cowards". It's a powerful and emotionally charged word that you don't typically find in a reggaeton track, making it a unique word to learn.
In the song, J Balvin shows a moment of raw vulnerability, singing, "Pero los cobardes también sienten" (But cowards also feel). After admitting his mistakes, he uses this line to express that despite his flaws and fears, his feelings are real and deep. It's a surprisingly honest and relatable lyric that adds a lot of depth to the song.
This song is a total heartbreaker, but in the best way. J Balvin and Khalid are singing about the pain of being alone after a breakup, and they are not handling it well. J Balvin kicks things off by admitting the first thing he does when he wakes up is check if she's texted him. He knows he messed up, saying, “De mis errores yo soy consciente” (I'm aware of my mistakes). But he's still miserable, realizing that all his money is useless: “Dime de qué me sirve el cash / ¿Si lo que yo quiero no se compra?” (Tell me what good is the cash / If what I want can't be bought?).
What really gets me is when he imagines his ex with her new partner, possibly even “bailando esta canción” (dancing to this song) with him. It's such a specific and painful thought! Khalid jumps in with his smooth vocals, adding to the desperation. He's outside her place in the rain, begging her to call him and promising to do whatever she says. The whole song is just this desperate, lonely feeling of wanting someone back who has clearly moved on, summed up perfectly in the chorus: “Y yo no aguanto otra noche sin ti” (And I can't stand another night without you).
J Balvin grew up in Medellín playing guitar in a teenage rock band with Nirvana and Metallica on repeat, and spent part of his teens in Oklahoma and New York picking up English. Born José Álvaro Osorio Balvín in 1985, he had been releasing music in Colombia for about a decade before anyone outside it paid attention.
"6 AM" with Farruko changed that in 2014, and "Ay Vamos" and "Ginza" followed: "Ginza" held number one on Billboard's Hot Latin Songs chart for 22 weeks, a record at the time. He kept singing in Spanish anyway, and "Mi Gente" reached number three on the Hot 100 once Beyoncé joined the remix, before "I Like It" with Cardi B and Bad Bunny went to number one in 2018. His albums run La Familia, Energía, Vibras, Colores (every track named after a color, and a Latin Grammy for best urban album), José and Rayo, plus Oasis, a joint record with Bad Bunny. In August 2019 he became the first Latino artist to headline Lollapalooza in Chicago.