Written by Ernesto Duarte Brito
[Verso]
¿Cómo fue?
No sé decirte cómo fue
No sé explicarme qué pasó
Pero de ti me enamoré
Fue una luz que iluminó todo mi ser
Tu risa, como manantial
Regó mi vida de inquietud
[Coro]
Fueron tus ojos o tu boca
Fueron tus manos o tu voz
Fue a lo mejor la impaciencia
De tanto esperar tu llegada
[Verso]
Mas no sé, no sé decirte cómo fue
No sé explicarme qué pasó
Pero de ti me enamoré
Cómo fue
Cómo = how
fue = it was / it happened
Natural translation: How did it happen? or How was it?
No sé decirte cómo fue
- No sé = I don't know
- decirte = to tell you (decir = to tell, -te = to you)
- cómo = how
- fue = it happened / it was
Literal: I don't know how to tell you how it happened.
Natural: I don't know how to tell you how it happened.
No sé explicarme qué pasó
- No sé = I don't know
- explicarme = to explain it to myself
- explicar = to explain
- me = to myself
- qué = what
- pasó = happened
Literal: I don't know how to explain to myself what happened.
Meaning: I can't explain what happened.
Pero de ti me enamoré
- Pero = but
- de ti = of you / with you
- me enamoré = I fell in love
The expression is enamorarse de alguien = to fall in love with someone.
Natural: But I fell in love with you.
Fue una luz
- Fue = it was
- una = a
- luz = light
Translation: It was a light.
Que iluminó todo mi ser
- Que = that
- iluminó = illuminated / lit up
- todo = all
- mi = my
- ser = being, soul, entire self
Natural: That illuminated my whole being.
Tu risa como un manantial
- Tu = your
- risa = laughter / smile (literally laughter)
- como = like
- un = a
- manantial = spring (a natural spring of water)
A manantial is fresh water bubbling from the ground.
Natural: Your laughter was like a spring of fresh water.
Regó mi vida de inquietud
- Regó = watered
- mi vida = my life
- de = with
- inquietud = restlessness, excitement, longing, emotional stirring
This is poetic. It doesn't mean anxiety so much as being emotionally awakened.
Natural: It filled my life with restless excitement.
Fueron tus ojos o tu boca
- Fueron = Was it...
- tus ojos = your eyes
- o = or
- tu boca = your mouth / your lips
Natural: Was it your eyes, or your lips?
Fueron tus manos o tu voz
- Fueron = Was it...
- tus manos = your hands
- o = or
- tu voz = your voice
Natural: Was it your hands, or your voice?
Fue a lo mejor la impaciencia
- Fue = It was
- a lo mejor = maybe / perhaps
- la impaciencia = the impatience
Natural: Maybe it was the impatience...
De tanto esperar tu llegada
- De = from
- tanto = so much
- esperar = waiting
- tu = your
- llegada = arrival
Natural: ...from waiting so long for your arrival.
Or, more naturally:
Perhaps it was the impatience of waiting so long for you to arrive.
Putting it all together
How did it happen?
I don't know how to tell you how it happened.
I can't explain what happened.
But I fell in love with you.It was a light
that illuminated my whole being.
Your laughter, like a spring of fresh water,
filled my life with restless excitement.Was it your eyes, or your lips?
Was it your hands, or your voice?
Perhaps it was the impatience
of waiting so long for your arrival.
One small vocabulary note: inquietud is one of those Spanish words that's hard to translate with a single English word. Here it suggests a mix of longing, excitement, emotional restlessness, and awakening—a beautiful way of describing what falling in love feels like.