No Te Pongas Triste Lyrics in English by Carlos Vives
Parranda refers to a lively, spontaneous party or celebration, often involving music and dancing, particularly common in certain Latin American cultures.
In the context of this song, Carlos Vives invites everyone to join in a festive Christmas celebration, singing "Que se forme una parranda" (Let a parranda form). It evokes a vibrant, communal spirit of joy and music, making it a culturally rich and enticing word for learners.
Carlos Vives writes Christmas as a countdown and a to-do list. The song opens on someone hurrying the year along — "Y apurado el calendario / Quiero que llegue diciembre" ("And the calendar is rushing / I want December to come") — and then spells out what December means, item by item: hugging the grandparents, the novena at the nativity scene, the thrill of seeing the Child. The plan turns outward fast. He wants to throw a party, open the doors and windows, invite the neighbours, "Que se forme una parranda" ("so a jam session starts") — the parranda being the roving, all-night singalong a Colombian Christmas actually runs on.
The chorus is aimed at someone who is not in the mood. "Y no te pongas triste / Porque el niño Jesús quiere jugar contigo" ("And don't get sad / Because baby Jesus wants to play with you") turns the nativity into a reason to cheer up rather than a lesson, and the verse after it lists what he intends to leave behind: "Voy a dejarle al pasado la injusticia / Los rencores, los sueños que se perdieron" ("I'll leave injustice in the past / grudges, dreams that got lost"). It ends on a childhood memory — falling asleep after the celebration, and a present for the Child waiting under the bed — which is the whole argument in one image: the holiday works because someone kept it going while you slept.
