Sin Bandera literally translates as “Without a flag.” During the early 2000s, this Mexican duo made up by musical virtuosos Leonel García, and Noel Schajris had its share of hits and became a common feature in pop music throughout Latin America and Spain. Hits like “Sirena” (you listen to it once and it just sticks to your brain like chicle) led them to collaborate with the likes of Camila, Alex Syntek, and Presuntos Implicados, big names in pop music from those years. The duo also wrote songs for Mexican telenovelas, which helped Leonel and Noel reach wider audiences. 

Sin Bandera wrote lyrics that were both simple and quite universal. Using the common themes of pop music (lost love, regret, and good old-fashioned infatuation), they composed power ballads and lively songs that still resonate in clubs and fiestas caseras everywhere. Here are a few of these poignant lyrics. A sufrir. 

1. “Para Alcanzarte yo voy a cruzar el mar entero / Y si hay montañas me voy a volar cruzando el cielo /Tras de tus pasos voy a descubrir el universo / Y gritaré por todo el mundo que te quiero”
From: the song “Para alcanzarte” in the album “Sin Bandera”(2002)
Ideal for when: you wanna make things crystal clear to your crush

Basically a song about doing whatever it takes to be with someone. Because, yes, love is sometimes a hazardous journey. Bring out the tequila. 

2. “Mientes tan bien, / que me sabe a verdad / todo lo que me das / y ya te estoy amando / mientes tan bien  / que he llegado a imaginar / que en mi amor llenas tu piel / y aunque todo es de papel /mientes tan bien”
From: the song “Mientes tan bien” in the album De viaje (2003)
Ideal for when: you are really, pero really ardido

One thing that Latino musicians are really good at is making despair poetic. This rola is about a dude who realizes his loved one has been lying all along. Maybe he deserved it. 

3. “No, claro que sé perder / No será la primera vez / Hoy te vas tú, mañana me iré yo”
From: the song “Un buen perdedor” in the album Pasado (2006)
Ideal for when: you have no other choice but to let a loved one go

The classic Franco De Vita ballad gets the Sin Bandera treatment. A philosophical pop song that is quite rare: someone accepting defeat in the cruel world of chivalry. 

4. “En silencio siempre me hace pensar que yo te amo / Siempre con la fuerza de un mar / Este amor intenso que me vuelve a golpear / Vuelve tu piel a brillar / Vuelven esas manos a hacerme temblar”
From: the song “Y más te amo” in the album Una Última Vez (2016)
Ideal for when: you gather the courage to declarar amor eterno

Love is a carnal experience, and this song makes it clear: it hurts and it makes your body react in unexpected ways. 

5. “Hoy el aire huele a ti / A complicidad / A hierba fresca y besos / A pasión y obscuridad”
From: the song “Hoy el aire huele a ti” in the album Pasado (2006)
Ideal for when: a lover’s presence lingers for days

This is one of Sin Bandera’s sexiest lyrics: an evocative song about the trace that lovers leave behind in our beds, bodies, and souls. 

6. “En ésta no, / No coinciden nuestros universos, /Ni podemos escribir un verso, /Que describa nuestro amor”
From: the song “En ésta no” in the album Una Última Vez (2016)
Ideal for when: there is nothing left to fight for

A painful song about unattainable love. What makes it super sad is the fact that the lovers realize that there is nothing they can do, they just won’t get a break and be allowed to be together. 

7. “Deja que mi alma se empape de ti / Y sentirás fuego /Cuando te fundas en mí”
From: the song “No neguemos el amor” in the album Sin Bandera (2002)
Ideal for when: passion overtakes you

A not so subtle invitation to be sinful in the Biblical sense. 

8. “No por favor / Mucho dolor / Me da terror / Lo que llamas amor”
From: the song “Lo que llamas amor” in the album Mañana (2005)
Ideal for when: you just know a person is toxic for you

We have all met someone who is not the best for us, but is nevertheless very attractive, like a carnivorous plant. Well, this song is about the illogical and dangerous nature of fatal attraction. 

9. “Women are the magic in the world, / porque piensan con el corazón. / Women have the magic in the world, / por convertir en alegría todo su dolor.”
From: the song “Magia” in the album De viaje (2003)
Ideal for when: you celebrate the fact that women should rule the world

Because any poet needs to celebrate the awesomeness of women… this is Sin Bandera’s bilingual ode to all that is female. 

10. “Eres sirena / Oigo tu canto y me ahogo en tu cadera / Por que tu vuelvas yo daría lo que fuera / Porque me quites con tu piel / esta condena que me mata y me envenena”
From: the song “Sirena” in the album Sin Bandera (2002)
Ideal for when: you have just fallen head over heels over someone

A silly but catchy song that just stays with you days and weeks after you heard it. Like Homer in the Odyssey (well, perhaps not as intensely), Sin Bandera sings to the mythical creatures. 

11. “Si me besas una vez, pongo el mundo a tus pies / Por tus labios pierdo la razón / Si me besas dos o tres / Mil estrellas bajaré / No hay medidas para el corazón. / Si me besas una vez, yo vuelvo a nacer”
From: the song “Si me besas” in the album Sin Bandera (2002)
Ideal for when: you think you fell in love at first sight

One of Sin Bandera’s themes is love at first sight, the capacity to identify something in a person that makes them unique. This song is about the life-changing power that a first kiss can have. 

12. “Ves que mi amor es tu amor / Que tu ausencia es dolor / Que es amargo el sabor si no estas /Si te vas y no regresas nunca más”
From: the song “Ves” in the album Sin Bandera (2002)
Ideal for when: you realize that tu amorcito is def not coming back

There is a moment that everyone who has gone through a breakup knows all about: the instant in which you realize it is all lost. This song captures it beautifully. 

13. “Frío, es un lío, hay mañanas en que estás perdido / Sientes todo un poco vacío y quieres escapar / Triste, estas triste y no entiendes qué fue lo que hiciste / Hay días así, estoy para ti verás que juntos podemos salir”
From: the song “Canción para los días lluviosos” in the album De viaje (2003)
Ideal for when: you know you were un pendejo but can’t get yourself to admit it

We all screw up even if we don’t realize it at first, right?

14. “Y ayudarme en la lectura / de las frases de tu piel  / y acentuarme en la ternura y el placer”
From: the song “ABC” in the album De viaje (2003)
Ideal for when: your poetic soul is about to come out

The body is a book, and love-making is poetry…. cheesy but memorable, o no?

15. “Puede ser algo mágico, enigmático, fuera de control, /Rutinario y colérico, algo histérico, grande como el sol. /. Puede ser algo tímido, problemático, lleno de pasión, /Temerario y fantástico, algo único, como nuestro amor.”
From: the song “Puede ser” in the album De viaje (2003)
Ideal for when: you are feeling poetic but kitschy

This collaboration with Presuntos Implicados is fast-paced and basically contains all the cliches that make pop music so great and universal. More, please?

If you want to get emotional with Sin Bandera and Camila in Las Vegas this Cinco de Mayo, click this link here to purchase your tickets!

READ: Miguel Was Once A Preacher And Then He Discovered The Power Of His Own Music

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