The group's eponymous album was recorded in March 1996 and released in September 1997, quickly becoming an international success, which prompted the ensemble to perform with a full line-up in Amsterdam and New York in 1998. German director Wim Wenders captured the performance on film for a documentary—also called Buena Vista Social Club—that included interviews with the musicians conducted in Havana. Wenders' film was released in June 1999 to critical acclaim, receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary feature and winning numerous accolades including Best Documentary at the European Film Awards.
The success of both the album and film sparked a revival of interest in traditional Cuban music and Latin American music in general. Some of the Cuban performers later released well-received solo albums and recorded collaborations with stars from different musical genres. The "Buena Vista Social Club" name became an umbrella term to describe these performances and releases, and has been likened to a brand label that encapsulates Cuba's "musical golden age" between the 1930s and 1950s. The new success was fleeting for the most recognizable artists in the ensemble: Compay Segundo, Rubén González, and Ibrahim Ferrer, who died at the ages of ninety-five, eighty-four, and seventy-eight respectively; Compay Segundo and González in 2003, then Ferrer in 2005.
Several surviving members of the Buena Vista Social Club, such as veteran singer Omara Portuondo, trumpeter Manuel "Guajiro" Mirabal, laúd player Barbarito Torres and trombonist and conductor Jesús "Aguaje" Ramos currently tour worldwide, to popular acclaim, with new members such as singer Carlos Calunga and pianist Rolando Luna, as part of a 13-member band called Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club.
Dos Gardenias
Buena Vista Social Club Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Con ellas quiero decir
Te quiero, te adoro, mi vida
Ponle todas tu atención
Que serán tu corazón y el mio
Dos gardenias para ti
Que tendrán todo el calor de un beso
Y que jamás te encontrarán
En el calor de otro querer
A tu lado vivirán y te hablarán
Como cuando estás conmigo
Y hasta creerás
Que te dirán "te quiero"
Pero si un atardecer
Las gardenias de mi amor se mueren
Es porque han adivinado
Que tu amor me ha traicionado
Porque existe otro querer
A tu lado vivirán y se hablarán
Como cuando estás conmigo
Y hasta creerás
Que te dirán "te quiero"
Pero si un atardecer
Las gardenias de mi amor se mueren
Es porque han adivinado
Que tu amor me ha traicionado
Porque existe otro querer
Es porque han adivinado
Que tu amor me ha traicionado
Porque existe otro querer
The song "Dos Gardenias" by Buena Vista Social Club revolves around the theme of love, passion, and betrayal. The lyrics describe the gift of two gardenias as a way of expressing intense emotions. The singer says he wants to use the flowers to communicate the idea that he loves and adores someone with all his heart, and that their lives are intertwined. He asks the person to pay attention to the flowers because they are a symbol of their love and commitment to one another. The gardenias will live and speak in the same way as when they are together, convincing the recipient that they love each other.
However, the tone changes in the second stanza where the singer hints that their love may not be eternal. The flowers, if they wither at sunset, it is because they have sensed that the recipient has been unfaithful. The singer suggests that the person they love may have someone else in their life, and that the flowers can sense that their love has been betrayed. The song ends in a melancholic note stating that the flowers are aware of the betrayal of their love because they exist another kind of loving feeling.
Line by Line Meaning
Dos gardenias para ti
I am giving you two gardenias as a symbol of my love for you
Con ellas quiero decir
I want to express to you through these gardenias
Te quiero, te adoro, mi vida
That I love you, adore you and that you are my life
Ponle todas tu atención
Please pay attention to them
Que serán tu corazón y el mio
As they will represent both of our hearts
Que tendrán todo el calor de un beso
These gardenias will embody the warmth of a kiss
De esos besos que te di
The kisses that I have given you
Y que jamás te encontrarán
That you will never find that warmth in another's love
En el calor de otro querer
As there will never be another love like ours
A tu lado vivirán y te hablarán
These gardenias will live by your side and speak to you
Como cuando estás conmigo
As if I were still with you
Y hasta creerás
And you will believe
Que te dirán "te quiero"
That they are telling you "I love you"
Pero si un atardecer
But if one evening
Las gardenias de mi amor se mueren
These gardenias, symbols of my love, die
Es porque han adivinado
It is because they have sensed
Que tu amor me ha traicionado
That your love has betrayed me
Porque existe otro querer
That there is another love
Lyrics © O/B/O DistroKid, Peermusic Publishing
Written by: Isolina Carrillo
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@sadayohko
久しぶりで、イブライムフェレールの声を聞いたけど、やっぱり素敵な好きな声だった。
私は、キューバとかそういうところから、離れたこんな土地で住んでいるけど、この人の声は、ありがたいことにネットのこのようつべで聞けた。
それがなかったら、映画だけで終わっていた。
本当に、今のテクノロジーには感謝する。
好きな歌手の声が、いい時期の声で、何度も聞けるんだから。
コンパイセグンドも、みんなそうだ。
エリデアス、ああもう一人素敵な声が聞けた方もいらした。
どうか、いろんな人たちが、皆さんの声やピアノや色んな奏でる音に出会えて、
その後の皆さんの暮らしに活用できますように。
@ReshiramR52
Dos gardenias para ti
Con ellas quiero decir
Te quiero, te adoro, mi vida
Ponle todas tu atención
Que serán tu corazón y el mio
Dos gardenias para ti
Que tendrán todo el calor de un beso
De esos besos que te di
Y que jamas te encontrarán
En el calor de otro querer
A tu lado vivirán y te hablarán
Como cuando estás conmigo
Y hasta creerán
Que te dirán te quiero.
Pero si un atardecer
Las gardenias de mi amor se mueren
Es porque han adivinado
Que tu amor me ha atraicionado
Porque existe otro querer
A tu lado vivirán y se hablarán
Como cuando estás conmigo
Y hasta creerán
Que te dirán te quiero.
Pero si un atardecer
Las gardenias de mi amor se mueren
Es porque han adivinado
Que tu amor me ha atraicionado
Porque existe otro querer
Es porque han adivinado
Que tu amor me ha atraicionado
Porque existe otro querer
@MirandaVlogs0
My grandmother had dementia and every time I played this song she was young again, she opened her eyes wide open and started to sing and remember her life in Veracruz. She also loved to listen to Agustin Lara and she remembered having serenades! I lived throughout her memories RIP.
@anayrodo
Wonderful comment!!! wonderful!
@anayrodo
Wonderfulllll!!!!!
@rodriguez63
It was the favorite Song of my grandmother...LOVE
@ikai1527
Beautiful!!! Music is life
@adamtroy3082
This was played at my mother's funeral on May 11. She passed away Mother's day week. She also loved Augustine Lara! and all those wonderful boleros.
@angelathomson7854
My father used to sing this bolero at home...I'm talking about the 50's . I went to the Royal Albert Hall to see this amazing man sing.
@silvertonguetrollsson1946
Seems to be international song in those years, my grandpa too
@JoseGomez-ys3zs
If you're talking about La Sonora Matancera, they were such geniuses back in the old days.
@juandavidortegacalderon307
:0 wow