Café Tacvba (often spelled Café Tacuba*) is a band from the Lomas de Sotel… Read Full Bio ↴Café Tacvba (often spelled Café Tacuba*) is a band from the Lomas de Sotelo neighborhood in Mexico City, Mexico.

Their musical style covers a wide variety of genres, though it is most commonly labeled as Rock en Español. Their music has been heavily influenced by Mexico's indigenous population and folk music traditions, most notable the Jarocho style of the state of Veracruz, but also by punk and electronic music and other bands in the Mexico City scene. Perhaps the most distinctive feature of their music is Albarrán's nasal voice, which, combined with his impressive lung capacity (as demonstrated on "La Ingrata", an homage to norteño music), makes for a very distinctive sound. They sing entirely in Spanish but have a significant Anglophone following regardless.

They have an especially eclectic sound, and it's commonly said that none of their discs is of exactly the same genre. For example, "Maria" is a bolero style ballad, "La Ingrata" is a mix of rock and "norteño" , while "Eres", a hit included in "Cuatro Caminos" album, is mostly pop-rock.

They were founded in 1989, and since then have had the same musical lineup:

* Rubén Isaac Albarrán Ortega aka "Pinche Juan" ("Fuckin Juan"), "Cosme", "Anónimo" (Anonymous), "Nrü" (pronounced "dshyoo", [dʃju] in IPA), "Amparo Tonto Medardo In Lak'ech" (or "At Medardo ILK"), "G3", "Gallo Gasss", "Élfego Buendía", "Sizu Yantra" (which is his solo moniker as well), "Rita Cantalagua", "Ixi Xoo" and many others. (vocals, guitar)
* Emmanuel "Meme" del Real Díaz: (keyboards, acoustic guitar, piano, programming, vocals, melodion)
* José Alfredo "Joselo" Rangel Arroyo: (electric guitar, acoustic guitar, vocals)
* Enrique 'Quique' Rangel Arroyo: (bass guitar, electric upright bass, vocals)

Mexican folk music player Alejandro Flores is considered the 5th tacubo, as he has played the violin in almost every Café Tacuba concert since 1994. Since the Cuatro Caminos World Tour, Luis "El Children" Ledezma has played the drums in every concert but is not considered an official member of the band.

**Previously known as "Alicia Ya No Vive Aquí" (a tribute to Martin Scorsese's Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore), the band took its final name from a coffee shop (el Café de Tacuba) located in downtown Mexico City. The cafe, which opened in 1912 and had its heyday in the 1940s and 1950s, was representative of the Pachuco scene at the time, something the band would later acknowledge as an influence. The Café de Tacuba is still in operation as a coffee shop and restaurant on Tacuba Street, in Mexico City's Historic Center. The band changed its name to Café Tacvba (changing the u for a v) in order to avoid legal issues with the coffee shop.
1989
Mexico City, Mexico

3
Café Tacvba Lyrics

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Jei Beibi
Te quiero así
Por favor no pierdas la cabeza
Lo siento, lo tengo que decir
Por favor no desaparezcas

Cómo te pido que no seas una más
De las historias que se cuentan a diario

No quiero que seas sólo un número más
Cómo es posible que alguien pueda y quiera desearlo

Un, dos tres, cuéntalos bien
Y si sigues tal vez llegues a cuarenta y tres
No te pierdas, te quiero besar
¿Dónde vas, dónde vas, dónde vas?

Jei Beibi
No hay que pelear
Por favor
No hay que hacernos daño
De este baile hay que gozar
Mover el cuerpo hasta caer exhaustos

No quiero que un día vaya a acabar
A donde vayas quiero acompañarte
Yo no te pido que no vayas allá
Yo voy contigo pase lo que pase

Un, dos tres, cuéntalo así
Y si sigues tal vez llegues a más de cien mil
No te pierdas, te quiero besar
¿Dónde estás, dónde estás, dónde estás?

Voy contando estrellas al recordar
Juntos llegaremos, no me dejes atrás
El amor siempre ganará, siempre ganará
El amor siempre ganará

Un, dos tres, cuéntalos bien
Y si sigues tal vez llegues a los cuarenta y tres
Más no es justo detenerse ahí, pues son más
Muchos más, muchos más

Un, dos tres, cuéntalo así
Y si sigues tal vez llegues a más de cien mil

Si lo piensas un poco dirás
¿Cuántos más, cuántos más, cuántos más?

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of this song by Café Tacvba, which is titled "1 2 3", are a perfect example of the band's unique style of merging different genres of music. The song's upbeat rhythms, coupled with its catchy lyrics, make it a fun song to listen to. The song appears to be about love and the desire to keep a relationship intact. The singer, Jei Beibi, tells his lover not to lose her mind, and he begs her not to disappear. He asks her how he can ask her not to be just another number in the daily stories of love gone wrong.

Jei is not interested in making her feel like just a number in his life. He wants her to be more than that. The singer wants to go on a journey with his lover, and he doesn't want her to go where he cannot accompany her; he wants to love and be with her no matter what. The chorus of the song encourages his lover to keep counting from one to three and assures her that if she keeps counting, she will get to forty-three. He tells her not to wander off, and he wants to kiss her. He does not want to fight or hurt her, but he wants them to enjoy every moment they have together, even if it means dancing until they are both exhausted.

The song's lyrics take on a philosophical perspective, encouraging listeners to continue counting beyond "43" and "100,000" to see how much higher they can get, as love always wins. Overall, this song can be interpreted from different angles. It can be seen as a playful love song, an encouragement to aspire for more in life or even as a political commentary with the reference to the number 43 being significant to the disappearance of 43 students in Mexico in 2014.

Line by Line Meaning

Jei Beibi
Term of endearment or nickname for the listener

Te quiero así
I love you just the way you are

Por favor no pierdas la cabeza
Please don't lose your mind

Lo siento, lo tengo que decir
I'm sorry, I have to say it

Por favor no desaparezcas
Please don't disappear

Cómo te pido que no seas una más
How can I ask you not to be just another one

De las historias que se cuentan a diario
Of the stories that are told every day

No quiero que seas sólo un número más
I don't want you to be just one more number

Cómo es posible que alguien pueda y quiera desearlo
How is it possible that someone can and wants to desire that

Un, dos tres, cuéntalos bien
One, two, three, count them well

Y si sigues tal vez llegues a cuarenta y tres
And if you keep going you might reach forty-three

No te pierdas, te quiero besar
Don't get lost, I want to kiss you

¿Dónde vas, dónde vas, dónde vas?
Where are you going, where are you going, where are you going?

No hay que pelear
We shouldn't fight

Por favor
Please

No hay que hacernos daño
We shouldn't hurt each other

De este baile hay que gozar
We have to enjoy this dance

Mover el cuerpo hasta caer exhaustos
Move our bodies until we fall exhausted

No quiero que un día vaya a acabar
I don't want that one day it will end

A donde vayas quiero acompañarte
Wherever you go, I want to accompany you

Yo no te pido que no vayas allá
I'm not asking you not to go there

Yo voy contigo pase lo que pase
I'll go with you no matter what happens

Un, dos tres, cuéntalo así
One, two, three, count it like this

Y si sigues tal vez llegues a más de cien mil
And if you keep going you might reach more than a hundred thousand

No te pierdas, te quiero besar
Don't get lost, I want to kiss you

¿Dónde estás, dónde estás, dónde estás?
Where are you, where are you, where are you?

Voy contando estrellas al recordar
I'm counting stars as I remember

Juntos llegaremos, no me dejes atrás
Together we'll get there, don't leave me behind

El amor siempre ganará, siempre ganará
Love will always win, always win

Más no es justo detenerse ahí, pues son más
But it's not fair to stop there, because there are more

Muchos más, muchos más
Many more, many more

Si lo piensas un poco dirás
If you think about it a little, you'll say

¿Cuántos más, cuántos más, cuántos más?
How many more, how many more, how many more?

Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Emmanuel Del Real Diaz, Enrique Rangel Arroyo, Isaac Ruben Albarran Ortega, Jose Alfredo Rangel Arroyo

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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