Selena called the recordings on "Amor Prohibido" as "love songs songs about getting your heartbroken". Lyrically, the title track "Amor Prohibido" encapsulates the social divide between a poverty-stricken woman and the man of unreachable rank with whom she has fallen in love. The lyrics have been analyzed by authors, musicologists, and critics, who found them relevant to issues facing the LGBT community. They are ambiguous, and have been interpreted to portray prohibited romance between same-sex couples, modern society's views of romantic relationships, and to "Romeo & Juliet". A review in "The Monitor" felt that the lyrics portrayed the forbidden love that Selena and Pérez hid from her overbearing father. Musically, the titular song is "an emotional uptempo ballad" which showcases the singer's "passionate side". In "Cobarde", the protagonist calls her partner a "coward" upon learning on his inability to face her after feeling reticent about his affair. Two other tracks, "Ya No" and "Si Una Vez", delve into heartaches of failed relationships with the protagonist in the former song angrily refusing to take back a cheating partner. Suzette particularly liked "Si Una Vez" because Selena gave "that attitude" in the song.