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

El Catrín
Café Tacvba Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Caminando por la calle va el catrin
Estampa de loteria gritada
En juego, traje a rayas, su baston
Y su bombin ese roto le gritan
A Don Ferruco
Por Palacio y Catedral se dirige
Hacia al Alameda Central
Cita a ciegas, un clavel en el ojal

Sentados frente a una estatua
Pornografica mon cherie
Ca va et toi parlez vous francais
Y hace tanto que eso fue
Y despues la solucion

El cafe en Café Tacuba
Es mejor.

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Cafe Tacuba's song El Catrín describe a stylish man walking down the street, dressed in a striped suit and carrying a cane and a bowler hat. He is described as an image from a lottery card, and he is headed towards the Alameda Central with a blind date, carrying a carnation in his lapel. Despite his fashionable appearance, he is ridiculed by a person with a hole in their clothing as he passes by. The lyrics also reference a pornographic statue and seemingly unrelated French phrases.

The song is an observation on the culture and society of Mexico City. It portrays El Catrín as a representation of the upper-class who are attempting to emulate European style and sophistication. The use of French phrases in the song seems to mock the idea of the fashionable and wealthy attempting to imitate European culture without fully understanding it. The mention of Cafe Tacuba as a solution to their problems could be seen as a reference to the restaurant's ability to unite people from different social classes and cultures.

Line by Line Meaning

Caminando por la calle va el catrin
Walking down the street goes the dandy

Estampa de loteria gritada
A lottery card loudly shouted

En juego, traje a rayas, su baston
In play, striped suit, his cane

Y su bombin ese roto le gritan
And his top hat, all tattered, screams at him

A Don Ferruco
To Don Ferruco

Por Palacio y Catedral se dirige
Through the Palace and Cathedral he heads

Hacia al Alameda Central
Towards Alameda Central

Cita a ciegas, un clavel en el ojal
A blind date, carnation in the buttonhole

Sentados frente a una estatua
Sitting in front of a statue

Pornografica mon cherie
Pornographic, my dear

Ca va et toi parlez vous francais
How are you, and do you speak French?