What it's about

The song moves through time from the small to the large: first the days of the week, then some months, next the four seasons, and finally, years and decades. The chorus repeats the central idea: pasan los días, el reloj no para. The tone is calm and a bit nostalgic: time flies, but memories remain.

Useful vocabulary

  • Days of the week: lunes, martes, miércoles, jueves, viernes, sábado, domingo. In Spanish, they are written in lowercase.
  • Months: enero, abril, agosto, octubre. They also go in lowercase.
  • Seasons: la primavera, el verano, el otoño, el invierno.
  • Units of time: el minuto, la hora, la semana, el mes, el año, la década.
  • El año nuevo and la Navidad: important holidays on the calendar.
  • El reloj, el recuerdo, la rueda, la labor (work).

Expressions

  • El tiempo es oro: time is very valuable, you shouldn't waste it.
  • En un abrir y cerrar de ojos: very fast, in an instant.
  • No hay que dudar: there is no need to hesitate. Hay que + infinitive expresses a general obligation.
  • Las décadas vuelan: time passes very quickly.
  • De pronto: suddenly.

Grammar

  • Present indicative for repeated facts: comienza, termina, trae, llega, pinta, caen.
  • Ir a + infinitive for the future: se va a escapar.
  • Empezar a + infinitive: empieza a girar.
  • Object pronouns before the verb: nos da, nos limpia la cara, me hace feliz.
  • Hacer + adjective: el invierno me hace feliz.

Note: poetic license

Some phrases are adapted to rhyme or sound nice, and it is best not to copy them as they are:

  • La primavera las flores nos da: the natural word order is la primavera nos da las flores.
  • Sábado y domingo en la esquina: comes from the expression a la vuelta de la esquina (very close). On its own, en la esquina does not have that meaning.
  • En abril el cielo de pronto llueve: the verb llover normally does not take a subject. You say en abril llueve de pronto.
  • El año nuevo siempre da su magia and el reloj gira are poetic images. Normally, you say that las agujas del reloj giran.
  • The song describes the seasons of the northern hemisphere: in January it is cold and it snows. In southern countries, such as Argentina or Chile, January is summer.