Quizás, Quizás, Quizás: Lyrics, Meaning & History

Picture a rainy night, a slow Cuban bolero on the radio, and a singer who keeps asking the same question while someone he loves keeps answering "quizás, quizás, quizás." If you have ever wondered what the Quizás, Quizás, Quizás lyrics mean, you are about to learn a song, a word, and a bit of grammar all at once.

Why This Song Is Worth Knowing

Few Spanish songs have traveled as far. It has been recorded in dozens of languages, and it turns up in films, playlists, and dance classes around the world. For learners, it is a gift: the chorus is slow, the vocabulary is simple, and one little word, quizás (maybe, perhaps), carries the whole story.

This post covers where the song comes from, what the key lines mean, and the grammar hiding inside them: question words with accents, siempre que, and the difference between "maybe" followed by a normal verb or a subjunctive one.

The Story Behind the Song

"Quizás, Quizás, Quizás" was written in 1947 by the Cuban composer Osvaldo Farrés. It is a bolero (a slow, romantic style of Latin American song about love and longing) and it became one of the most recorded boleros ever. An English version, "Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps," was a hit for Doris Day in the 1950s.

Many listeners first met the song through Nat King Cole, who recorded a Spanish version in 1958 for his album Cole Español. He did not speak Spanish fluently and learned the lyrics phonetically, which is a comforting story for any learner. The song later found a new audience when Wong Kar-wai used Cole's recording in his 2000 film In the Mood for Love.

In Cuba, the bolero is part of everyday life: you hear it in living rooms, at family parties, and in the street. Songs like this one are sung by people of every age, and most Cubans can finish the chorus without thinking. The song's gentle, patient sadness is a very recognizable mood in Latin American music.

What the Words Mean

The song is a conversation where one person keeps asking and the other keeps dodging. Here are the phrases you need.

Key Phrases

• Quizás (kee-SAHS) — maybe, perhaps (also written quizá)
• Siempre que (see-EHM-preh keh) — whenever, every time that
• Te pregunto (teh preh-GOON-toh) — I ask you
• Cuándo, cómo y dónde (KWAHN-doh, KOH-moh ee DOHN-deh) — when, how, and where
• Me respondes (meh rehs-POHN-dehs) — you answer me
• Los días pasan (lohs DEE-ahs PAH-sahn) — the days go by
• Desesperando (deh-sehs-peh-RAHN-doh) — losing hope, getting desperate

[AUDIO: Quizás, quizás, quizás]

The opening line says, roughly, "Whenever I ask you when, how, and where, you always answer me: maybe, maybe, maybe." Later the singer admits the days keep passing while he waits and slowly loses hope. The whole song is the frustration of a love that never gets a clear yes or no.

The Grammar Hiding in the Song

Grammar Note

Question words always carry an accent. In cuándo, cómo, dónde the accent marks them as questions, even inside a longer sentence ("I ask you when"). Without the accent, como means "like/as," donde means "where" in a plain statement, and cuando means "when" as a connecting word.

• ¿Cuándo vienes? — When are you coming? (question)
• Cuando vengas, llámame. — When you come, call me. (not a question)

Siempre que means "whenever." Because it describes a habit, it takes a regular verb in the present: Siempre que te pregunto, me responde igual.

Quizás is flexible. With a regular verb (indicative), you sound fairly sure it may be true: Quizás tiene razón (Maybe she's right). With a subjunctive verb, you sound less sure: Quizás tenga razón. Both are correct, and native speakers switch depending on how doubtful they feel. For a full look at the subjunctive, see our post on when to use it.

Common mistakes to avoid:

• Writing quizas without the accent. The word is stressed on the last syllable, so it needs quizás.
• Forgetting the accent on cuándo, cómo, and dónde in indirect questions.
• Saying siempre when you mean siempre que. The first is "always," the second is "whenever."

Spanish has several ways to say "maybe": quizás, tal vez, and a lo mejor. In Mexico and much of Latin America, a lo mejor is very common in daily speech, while quizás feels a little more poetic, which is exactly why songwriters love it.

Practical Application

Here is how to turn the song into real practice. Next time you play it, try this:

• Listen once just for the word quizás. Count how many times you hear it.
• Listen again for cuándo, cómo, and dónde. Say them aloud with the right stress.
• Write your own answer-dodging dialogue: ¿Vienes a la fiesta? — Quizás.
• Use siempre que to describe a habit, like Siempre que llueve, escucho boleros (Whenever it rains, I listen to boleros).

Practice Exercises

• Fill in the blank: ¿______ es la fiesta? (when)
• Fill in the blank: Siempre ______ llego tarde, mi madre se enfada. (whenever)
• Translate: "Maybe he is at home."
• Translate: "I don't know where she lives."
• Multiple choice: Which is correct? (a) Quizas voy (b) Quizás voy (c) Quizáz voy
• Multiple choice: What does a lo mejor mean? (a) at best (b) maybe (c) always

Answer Key

• Cuándo
• que
• Quizás está en casa.
• No sé dónde vive.
• (b) Quizás voy
• (b) maybe

Conclusion

One short word and a patient melody have kept this song alive for almost eighty years, and it hands you real Spanish along the way.

• Quizás means "maybe" and can take the indicative or the subjunctive, depending on your doubt.
• Cuándo, cómo, and dónde need accents when they ask a question, even inside a longer sentence.
• Siempre que means "whenever" and describes habits.

Ready for more? Browse the other song explainers on the blog, then leave a comment with your own quizás sentence.