Mi Caballo Pobre Lyrics in English by Carin Leon

This is a ranchera about being poor and losing the girl anyway, told from the saddle. It opens on the singer's horse, "Mi caballo pobre al igual que su dueño" (my horse, poor just like its owner), waiting restlessly for her to come out. Then comes the picture that sets up the whole song: "Tu vestido limpio y mi ropa empolvada" (your clean dress and my dusty clothes). She is neat, he has been working the land all day, and he calls himself "un pobre diablo" (a poor devil), which in Spanish just means a nobody with no money, not anything literally devilish.

The chorus is pure memory: holding her in his strong arms, and "Como he de olvidar de tus besos de niña" (how could I forget your girlish kisses). Then the turn: "Pero el tiempo pasa y la gente cambia" (but time passes and people change). A "perfumado" shows up, literally a perfumed guy, meaning a well-off city type, and she drops him for "un partido mejor" (a better match). The ending is the best part. He looks at his horse, "Su montura vieja y sus ojos cansados" (its old saddle and its tired eyes), sees his own poverty in it, and leaves home: "Jinete y caballo nos fuimos llorando" (rider and horse, we left crying). Sad, a bit melodramatic, and exactly what a good ranchera should be.

Words worth stealing: empolvada (dusty), jinete (rider), montura (saddle), nomás (Mexican for "only" or "just").