Pau Donés, born and raised in Barcelona, worked for various groups before being able to take on his current project, Jarabe de Palo. He began at age 15 with his brother Marc, with whom he formed a group known as J.& Co.Band and later another one named Dentaduras Postizas. During this period, he completed his musical tracks in Barcelona with a job at an advertising firm.
His greatest success came to him after a trip to Cuba, where he was inspired to write La Flaca which became the title of his first album, "La Flaca," in 1996. A year later came the big surprise: millions of albums were sold around the world, and "La Flaca" became the song of the summer in 1997.
After this great success on his first album, Pau was determined to show that the band would not be a one-hit wonder, and with this idea, he launched Depende (1998), which was produced by Joe Dworniak in Moody Studios in London over two months. This album featured collaborations with the likes of Ketama and continued with Jarabe de Palo's ironic and ingenious lyrics, which managed to connect with the Hispanic public and even made inroads among Italians.
In 2001 they released De vuelta y vuelta, their most conceptual album. It showed a change in the band with the first music video of the album, in which Pau appears shaving his head, shedding his long-haired features. This album featured collaborations with the likes of Antonio Vega, Jovanotti, Vico C, and Celia Cruz.
In 2003 the band tried to show a change to more positive songs with their album Bonito, which featured the likes of Los Mártires del Compás, the singer-songwriter Elena Andujar, and their Italian friend, Jovanotti.
In the autumn of 2004, the band announced that they would go on tour with their new album, 1 m2 (Un metro cuadrado (A Square Meter)) featuring the likes of Jorge Drexler, Lucrecia, and Chrissie Hynde (The Pretenders).
The group has received great awards such as Premios de la Música, Premio Ondas, and Grammy nominations. They have collaborated with La Vieja Trova Santiaguera, Antonio Vega, Vico C and Celia Cruz (soundtrack of El milagro de P. Tinto). Pau has also composed tracks for Ricky Martin and starred in a music video with Alanis Morissette.
On 9 June 2020, Donés died near Barcelona after five years of dealing with colon cancer, causing the band to split up shortly after.
La Flaca
Jarabe de Palo Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Mujer igual a la flaca
Coral negro de la Habana
Tremendísima mulata
Cien libras de piel y hueso
Cuarenta kilos de salsa
Y en la cara dos soles
Que sin palabras hablan
Que sin palabras hablan
La flaca duerme de día
Dice que así al hambre engaña
Y cuando cae la noche baja a bailar a la tasca
Y bailar y bailar y tomar y tomar
Una cerveza tras otra
Pero ella nunca engorda
Pero ella nunca engorda
Por un beso de la flaca daría lo que fuera
Por beso de ella aunque solo uno fuera
Por beso de de la flaca daría lo que fuera
Por un beso de ella aunque solo uno fuera
Aunque solo uno fuera
Mojé mis sabanas blancas como dice la canción
Recordando las caricias que me brindó el primer día
Y enloquezco de ganas de dormir a su ladito
Porque Dios que esta flaca a mi me tiene loquito
A mi me tiene loquito
Por un beso de la flaca daría lo que fuera
Por beso de ella aunque solo uno fuera
Por un beso de la flaca daría lo que fuera
Por un beso de ella aunque solo uno fuera
Aunque solo uno fuera
Aunque solo uno fuera
Aunque solo uno fuera
Aunque solo uno fuera
Aunque solo uno fuera
Aunque solo uno fuera
Aunque solo uno fuera
Aunque solo uno fuera
Aunque solo uno fuera
Aunque solo uno fuera
Aunque solo uno fuera
"La Flaca" by Jarabe de Palo is a love song about a woman who the lead singer has fallen in love with. He describes her as a black coral from Havana, a tremendous mulatto, with 100 pounds of skin and bones, 40 kilos of salsa, and a face that speaks without words - two suns that shine bright. The woman is skinny and sleeps during the day to trick her hunger, but she goes out to dance at night and drinks beer after beer without getting fat.
The first verse sets the scene for the description of the woman, who is unlike any other woman the singer has ever met. It emphasizes her physical beauty, her exotic personality, and the fact that she is skinny yet still manages to dance and drink all night without gaining weight. The chorus repeats the singer's desire for a kiss from the woman he loves, even if it is only one. The second verse delves deeper into the singer's desire for the woman, revealing that he dreams of sleeping beside her and that just thinking of her drives him crazy.
Line by Line Meaning
En la vida conocí
I have never met a woman like the thin one in my life
Mujer igual a la flaca
A woman as thin as her
Coral negro de la Habana
A beautiful black woman from Havana
Tremendísima mulata
An amazing mulatto woman
Cien libras de piel y hueso
A hundred pounds of skin and bones
Cuarenta kilos de salsa
Forty kilos of salsa dance
Y en la cara dos soles
And two big suns on her face
Que sin palabras hablan
That speak without words
La flaca duerme de día
She sleeps during the day
Dice que así al hambre engaña
She says that it deceives hunger this way
Y cuando cae la noche baja a bailar a la tasca
And at night she goes down to dance at the bar
Y bailar y bailar y tomar y tomar
And dance and drink, and dance and drink
Una cerveza tras otra
One beer after another
Pero ella nunca engorda
But she never gains weight
Por un beso de la flaca daría lo que fuera
I would do anything for a kiss from the thin one
Por beso de ella aunque solo uno fuera
Even if it was just one kiss from her
Mojé mis sabanas blancas como dice la canción
I wet my white sheets as the song says
Recordando las caricias que me brindó el primer día
Remembering the caresses she gave me on the first day
Y enloquezco de ganas de dormir a su ladito
And I go crazy wanting to sleep by her side
Porque Dios que esta flaca a mi me tiene loquito
Because God, this thin woman has me crazy
Aunque solo uno fuera
Even if it was just one
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Pau Dones Cirera
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind