# Superman lyrics translation (Spanish) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 7, 2009, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-lyrics-translation-spanish/512943 "2009-10-07T15:16:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2009, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-lyrics-translation-spanish/512943/1 "2009-10-07T15:16:42Z")
The Brothers Four sang a non-PC song called _Superman_ that contains a Spanish refrain. As they sing, in English it is ‘Paint me up in crazy colours so I look like Superman.’ I tried babelfish, and it gave me ‘Pínteme para arriba en colores locos así que parezco superhombre.’ This is not what TBF are singing. Phonetically it sounds a bit like this: Pinta may lay kay lorus packay may yama Superman. I assume that ‘Pinta may’ is the ‘Pínteme’, and that ‘kay lorus’ is actually ‘colores’ (with an ‘ay’ instead of an ‘o’). Anyone know the Spanish lyrics to _Superman_? ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2009, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-lyrics-translation-spanish/512943/2 "2009-10-07T23:05:50Z")
Um… it seems to be the translation of that phrase in Spanish, nothing more nothing less. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2009, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-lyrics-translation-spanish/512943/3 "2009-10-07T23:31:46Z")
Never heard the song but “packay may yama Superman” is presumably _porque me llamo Superman_–“because I’m called Superman.” ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-lyrics-translation-spanish/512943/4 "2009-10-08T00:03:56Z")
> [@KarlGrenze](#): > > Um… it seems to be the translation of that phrase in Spanish, nothing more nothing less. Compare: Pínteme para arriba en colores locos así que parezco Superman [Pínteme] lay [colores] packay may yama Superman ---
**Author:** ![nikonikosuru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5f8ce5/32.png) [@nikonikosuru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nikonikosuru)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-lyrics-translation-spanish/512943/5 "2009-10-08T00:24:42Z")
Could it be “Pínteme la colores _pa’ que_ me llama Superman”? Pa is short for para. Para que means “so that” so the sentence would be along the lines of “Paint me in colors so that I call myself Superman.” My Spanish is a little rusty so that’s my educated guess. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-lyrics-translation-spanish/512943/6 "2009-10-08T00:41:46Z")
> [@nikonikosuru](#): > > Could it be…? My Spanish is a little rusty so that’s my educated guess. Could be. My Spanish is non-existent. It does fit phonetically, and it makes sense grammatically. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-lyrics-translation-spanish/512943/7 "2009-10-08T01:20:48Z")
> [@nikonikosuru](#): > > Could it be “Pínteme la colores _pa’ que_ me llama Superman”? Pa is short for para. Para que means “so that” so the sentence would be along the lines of “Paint me in colors so that I call myself Superman.” My Spanish is a little rusty so that’s my educated guess. Except not “la” – “color” the Spanish word is masculine, and it would be “los” – but in some dialects the final “-s” is elided, and if “los” unstressed took a schwa vowel in place of the -o(s) you’d have a “la” sound – which is emphasized by “me llamo” being heard as “may yama” rather than the -o ending one would expect. ---
**Author:** ![nikonikosuru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5f8ce5/32.png) [@nikonikosuru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nikonikosuru)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-lyrics-translation-spanish/512943/8 "2009-10-08T01:39:15Z")
Ah, forgot that “colors” is masculine for a moment. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-lyrics-translation-spanish/512943/9 "2009-10-08T04:07:59Z")
Well, these guys were from Seattle and they were singing 40 or 50 years ago. I’d expect a few errors. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-lyrics-translation-spanish/512943/10 "2009-10-08T10:23:01Z")
No dude, what I was trying to say is that what they were singing in Spanish was the right translation for what they were singing in English. The babelfish stuff got some of the things wrong, but the gist of what I can get from your (bad, sorry) Spanish phonetic writing is that the meaning is the same as the English meaning. Hence, nothing fancy. Keep in mind that to me (a foreigner) and even to native born English-speakers, singing English does not sound like spoken English, and words can get confused (heck, there are threads of misheard lyrics in Englishy, by English-speakers). That said, I think you may have confused the first “lay” for a “de” (of), and the “packay” is “porque” (because). And it is not Pínteme, but píntame. So the word in correct Spanish would likely look like this: Píntame de colores porque me llamo Superman. Which in English is Paint me in crazy colors because they call me Superman. Okok, not exactly like the English phrase, but similar to it. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-lyrics-translation-spanish/512943/11 "2009-10-08T14:50:33Z")
> [@KarlGrenze](#): > > That said, I think you may have confused the first “lay” for a “de” (of), and the “packay” is “porque” (because). And it is not Pínteme, but píntame. OK, I’m playing it again. It’s definitely an ‘L’ sound. I’d grab a clip, but apparently Audacity doesn’t read mp4 files. (All I get is a quick rasp or click sound.) ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-lyrics-translation-spanish/512943/12 "2009-10-08T15:28:52Z")
You can hear a clip with the lyrics here: > **[Brothers Four/B.M.O.C. CD Album](https://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/1124986/a/Brothers+Four%2FB.M.O.C.htm)** > > Brothers Four/B.M.O.C. music CD album at CD Universe, A two-fer containing their first two albums from 1960 & 1961, absolutely classic albums, Collectors' Choice. if you click on the little arrow next to “Superman” ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-lyrics-translation-spanish/512943/13 "2009-10-08T18:34:49Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > You can hear a clip with the lyrics here: > > [http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/1124986/a/Brothers+Four%2FB.M.O.C.htm](http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/1124986/a/Brothers+Four%2FB.M.O.C.htm) > > if you click on the little arrow next to “Superman” Thanks for digging that up. I searched in vain on Youtube for a clip. **Johnny L.A.** is right. They definitely sing “Pintamele colores pa’ que me llaman Superman.” Of course, this is not grammatically correct. Considering they pronounce “colores” as “kay-lore-ace” and the first part as “pinta-ma-lay” it is perhaps not surprising that they fucked up the Spanish translation. The dude can roll his Rs, but he can’t pronounce Spanish to save his life. Of course, this was a different era. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-lyrics-translation-spanish/512943/14 "2009-10-08T19:48:51Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > You can hear a clip with the lyrics here: Yes, thanks for finding that. I searched on the English lyrics and only found two unhelpful pages. > [@Erdosain](#): > > They definitely sing “Pintamele colores pa’ que me llaman Superman.” Of course, this is not grammatically correct. What is the literal translation? Babelfish says ‘Pintamele colors so that they call Superman to me’. ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-lyrics-translation-spanish/512943/15 "2009-10-09T01:32:49Z")
Pintamele doesn’t mean anything. It should be “pintame _ **d** _e colores.” The singer either messed up or thought it sounded better with the L sound. There is also a Gloria Estefan song called “Pintame de Colores.” ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-lyrics-translation-spanish/512943/16 "2009-10-09T03:09:54Z")
Yup, they messed up… It makes no sense otherwise… It IS “Píntame de colores porque me llamo Superman”, only with a very bad English accent and messing up the pronunciation. 😉