Linda Ronstadt – Por Un Amor

About The Song

“Por Un Amor” opens Linda Ronstadt’s landmark Spanish-language album Canciones de Mi Padre, released November 24, 1987, via Asylum Records. Produced by Peter Asher at The Complex in Los Angeles with musical direction by Rubén Fuentes, the track runs 2:56 and features a classic mariachi arrangement of guitar, violin, trumpet, vihuela, and guitarrón that frames Ronstadt’s passionate, emotive vocal with traditional Mexican instrumentation.
Written by Gilberto Parra Paz, the song is a longstanding ranchera standard that predates Ronstadt’s recording. She chose it as the album’s lead track to honor the regional Mexican music she grew up hearing, presenting it in a straightforward, heartfelt style that respects its folk roots while showcasing her vocal range.
The lyrics express the torment and devotion caused by unrequited or lost love. The narrator describes sleepless nights and passionate suffering: “Por un amor / Me desvelo y vivo apasionada / Por un amor / He llorado y he sufrido tanto.” The verses detail the physical and emotional toll—crying, restlessness, and an inability to escape the pain—while the chorus repeats the title with raw intensity. The imagery of “gotitas de amargura” (little drops of bitterness) falling like rain captures the lingering ache of a love that refuses to fade, turning personal heartbreak into a universal lament.
Though never issued as a commercial single, the song gained significant exposure as the album’s opening cut. Canciones de Mi Padre reached No. 42 on the Billboard 200, earned a Grammy for Best Mexican/American Performance, and became a landmark success for a full-length mariachi project by a mainstream American artist. It sold over two million copies worldwide and introduced traditional Mexican repertoire to a broad English-speaking audience.
The track has appeared on reissues including the 2016 deluxe edition of the album and the 2014 compilation The 80’s Studio Album Collection. Ronstadt performed it live during her 1987–1988 tours, where the mariachi band’s dynamic support amplified its emotional weight. Critics praised the recording for its authenticity and Ronstadt’s ability to convey deep feeling in Spanish without stylistic overreach.

Video

Lyric

[Spanish:]

Por un amor
Me desvelo y vivo apasionada
Tengo on amor
Que en mi vida dejo para siempre amargo dolor

Pobre de mi
Esta vida mejor que se acabe
No es para mi

Pobre de mi (ay corazon…)
Pobre de mi (no sufras mas…)
Cuanto sufre mi pecho
Que late tan solo por ti

Por un amor
He llorado gotitas de sangre del corazon
Me has dejado con el alma herida
Sin compasion

[English translation: For A Love]

For a love
I can’t sleep and I live full of passion
I have a love
That left forever in my life a bitter pain

Poor me
This life would be better if it would end
It’s not for me

Poor me (Ay, my heart…)
Poor me (don’t suffer any more…)
How much my suffering in my breast
That throbs so alone for you

For a love
I have cried little drops of blood from my heart
You have left me with a wounded soul
Without compassion