Cobardes Lyrics in English by Mya, Santiago Saez
Caducó means "expired" or "lapsed." While often used for physical items like food, its application to love in this song makes it particularly striking and memorable.
In "Cobardes," the artists sing, "Fuimos cobardes y este amor caducó" (We were cowards and this love expired). This powerful metaphor suggests that their love, like a product with a shelf life, reached its expiration date due to their cowardice, adding a unique and poignant layer to the heartbreak described in the lyrics.
MYA and Santiago Saez split the blame down the middle and never let either side off. The hook is an admission rather than an accusation: "Fallamos los dos" ("We both failed"), "Fuimos cobardes y este amor caducó" ("We were cowards and this love expired") — caducar is the verb Spanish uses for a carton of milk or an out-of-date ID, so the relationship becomes something left unattended until the date ran out. The verse names the culprit outright, "Nos mató el orgullo y no supimos verlo" ("Pride killed us and we didn't know how to see it"), then divides the failure evenly again: "Yo no supe pelear por ti / No supiste pelear por mí" ("I didn't know how to fight for you / You didn't know how to fight for me").
What follows is the waiting. "Me dejaste en stand by" ("You left me on standby"), "Como náufrago en el mar" ("Like a castaway at sea"), and the clock refuses to move: "No pasó el tiempo y el reloj se quedó congelao'" ("Time didn't pass and the clock froze"). He knows the feeling survived — "Sé que me amas, yo te amo, y eso no ha cambiao'" ("I know you love me, I love you, and that hasn't changed") — and knows exactly what stopped it: "Y el fucking miedo y mi ego que nos ha frenao'" ("And the fucking fear and my ego that held us back"). Only in the last verse does the shared blame slip, for one line: "Dijiste 'Para siempre' pero nunca volviste" ("You said 'Forever' but you never came back").
