B1 · Intermediate • Andean folk / Música criolla • Peru · 1913 · Daniel Alomía Robles · Melody public domain
El Cóndor Pasa
Peruvian Andean melody (1913) · Spanish lyrics by Armando Robles Godoy · As recorded by Plácido Domingo
One of the most hauntingly beautiful melodies ever written, and Peru’s second national anthem. The music was composed in 1913 by Daniel Alomía Robles for a zarzuela about the struggle of Andean miners — the soaring condor symbolising the freedom they fought for. The melody became a global phenomenon after Simon & Garfunkel recorded it in 1970. Plácido Domingo’s recording is the most celebrated operatic interpretation: his tenor voice gives the Spanish lyrics an emotional gravity that makes every line feel earned. The Spanish lyrics paint two vivid scenes — the condor’s dawn awakening and its eventual departure — connected by a refrain of renewal and peace. For language learners, it introduces preterite tense, reflexive verbs, and evocative nature vocabulary in a deeply memorable context.
LYRICS · LETRA
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English
El cóndor de los Andes despertóCon la luz de un feliz amanecer,Sus alas lentamente desplegóY bajó al río azul para beber.
The condor of the Andes awokeWith the light of a happy dawn,He slowly spread his wingsAnd flew down to the blue river to drink.
Tras él la Tierra se cubrió de verdor,De amor y paz,Tras él la rama floreció y el sol brotóEn el trigal, en el trigal.
Behind him the earth was covered in greenery,In love and peace,Behind him the branch blossomed and the sun roseIn the wheat field, in the wheat field.
El cóndor de los Andes descendióAl llegar un feliz amanecer,El cielo, al ver su marcha, sollozóY volcó su llanto gris cuando se fue.
The condor of the Andes descendedAs a happy dawn arrived,The sky, watching his departure, weptAnd poured out its grey tears as he left.
Tras él la Tierra se cubrió de verdor,De amor y paz,Tras él la rama floreció y el sol brotóEn el trigal, en el trigal.
Behind him the earth was covered in greenery,In love and peace,Behind him the branch blossomed and the sun roseIn the wheat field, in the wheat field.
KEY VOCABULARY · VOCABULARIO CLAVE
despertó / descendió
awoke / descended (preterite verbs)
despertar → despertó · descender → descendió
amanecer
dawn / sunrise (noun & infinitive)
“Con la luz de un feliz amanecer”
desplegó
spread / unfolded (preterite verb)
“Sus alas lentamente desplegó” — his wings
río azul
blue river (noun phrase)
a vivid Andean image — glacial meltwater rivers
sollozó / volcó
wept / poured out (preterite verbs)
“El cielo sollozó y volcó su llanto gris”
trigal
wheat field (noun)
“El sol brotó en el trigal” — sun rose in the field
se cubrió
was covered (reflexive preterite)
“La Tierra se cubrió de verdor” — greenery
llanto gris
grey tears / grey weeping (noun phrase)
llanto = weeping · gris = grey · deeply poetic
GRAMMAR FOCUS · NOTA GRAMATICAL
The preterite tense — seven verbs in two short verses
This song is a masterclass in the Spanish preterite (simple past), packing seven distinct preterite verbs into just two verses: despertó (awoke), desplegó (spread), bajó (flew down), descendió (descended), sollozó (wept), volcó (poured out), brotó (rose/sprang up). Every one follows the regular -ó ending for third-person singular (he/she/it). If you can identify and translate all seven, you have the preterite of regular -ar and -er verbs firmly under control. Notice also “se cubrió” — the reflexive preterite, meaning the earth covered itself in greenery. This se + preterite pattern is extremely common in literary and nature writing in Spanish.
ABOUT THE SONG · SOBRE LA CANCIÓN
Daniel Alomía Robles composed the melody in 1913 for a zarzuela set in the Peruvian Andes, depicting the conflict between Indigenous miners and foreign mining companies. The soaring condor — sacred in Andean cosmology as a messenger between the earthly world and the gods — represents freedom and Inca pride in the face of oppression. Peru declared the melody a protected element of its National Cultural Heritage in 2004, and it is now considered the country’s second national anthem. Plácido Domingo, born in Madrid but raised in Mexico City from age eight, brings a uniquely Ibero-American sensibility to the recording — his operatic tenor lending the Andean melody a grandeur that connects the Spanish-speaking world from Spain to Peru in a single performance.
STUDY TIPS · CONSEJOS
- List all seven preterite verbs before listening, then tick them off as you hear each one. This turns passive listening into active grammar practice and makes the preterite endings feel natural rather than mechanical.
- The refrain — “Tras él la Tierra se cubrió de verdor, de amor y paz” — is one of the most beautiful sentences in Latin American Spanish. Memorise it as a complete unit. It encodes se + preterite + de + abstract noun, a pattern that recurs constantly in literary and formal Spanish.
- The two verses mirror each other structurally: arrival (despertó, desplegó, bajó) versus departure (descendió, sollozó, volcó). Compare them side by side — this parallel structure is a hallmark of Spanish poetic writing and excellent preparation for reading literary texts at B2 level.
- “Llanto gris” (grey tears/weeping) is a striking image. In Spanish, llanto is exclusively used for weeping or crying — it is never used for rainwater or other liquids. Knowing this distinction immediately improves your reading of emotional and literary Spanish.
Side-by-Side Classics