Isabel Vargas Lizano (born 17 April 1919, died August 5, 2012) was a Costa … Read Full Bio ↴Isabel Vargas Lizano (born 17 April 1919, died August 5, 2012) was a Costa Rican-born Mexican singer. She is especially known for her rendition of Mexican rancheras genre - a folkloric musical genre widely popular in Mexico - but she is also recognized for her contribution to other popular Latin American song genres. She has been an influential interpreter in the Americas and Europe, muse to figures such as Pedro Almodóvar, hailed for her haunting performances, and called "la voz áspera de la ternura", the rough voice of tenderness.

Isabel Vargas Lizano was born in San Joaquín de Flores, Costa Rica. She goes by Chavela, which is a nickname for Isabel. At only 14, she fled her native country due to lack of musical career opportunities, seeking refuge in Mexico, where an entertainment industry was burgeoning. For many years she sang on the streets but in her thirties she became a professional singer. In her youth, she dressed as a man, smoked cigars, drank heavily, carried a gun and was known for her characteristic red jorongo, which she still dons in performances.

Her first album, Noche de Bohemia (Bohemian Night), was released in 1961 with the professional support of José Alfredo Jiménez, one of the foremost singer/songwriters of the Mexican cancion ranchera. Vargas has recorded over eighty albums thereafter. She was hugely successful during the 1950s, 1960s and the first half of the 70s, touring in Mexico, the United States, France and Spain and was close to many prominent artists and intellectuals of the time, including Juan Rulfo, Agustín Lara, Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, Dolores Olmedo and José Alfredo Jiménez. She partly retired in the late 1970s due to a 15 year-long battle with alcoholism, which she has described in her autobiography (Y si quieres saber de mi pasado [And if you want to know about my past], published in 2002) as "my 15 years in hell" At 81 years old, she publicly declared that she was a lesbian.

Vargas returned to the stage in 1991, performing at the venue "El Habito" in Coyoacan, Mexico City.She debuted at Carnegie Hall in 2003 at the age of 83 at the behest and promotion of Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar, a long-time admirer and personal friend of Vargas.

In April 2012 she released her latest album "Luna Grande" a tribute to Spanish poet Federico García Lorca.

A Prisión Perpetua
Chavela Vargas Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Como el tiempo pasa
Envejeciendo todo
Como el sol acaba
Por secar las plantas
Como el viento en forma
De huracan destruye
Asi tu acabaste
Con todita mi alma

Pero yo te quiero
Te quiero hasta el alma
Que le importa al mundo
Que seas buena o mala
Y aquel que no sepa
Lo que es un cariño
Me da mucha pena
Me da mucha lastima

Como inmensa roca
Que rodea los mares
Y a prision perpetua
Detiene sus aguas
Como quiera ella
Así era mi alma
Pero tu llegaste
Y ante ti soñaba

Pero yo te quiero
Te quiero hasta el alma
Que le importa al mundo
Que seas buena o mala
Y aquel que no sepa
Lo que es un cariño

Me da mucha pena
Me da mucha lastima

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Chavela Vargas's song A Prisión Perpetua express the depth and intensity of love even when it has caused great pain and suffering. The first stanza uses metaphors of natural forces such as time, sun, wind, and hurricanes to illustrate the devastating impact that the lover has had on the singer's soul. The second stanza then shifts to a comparison of the lover's power over the singer's soul to an "immense rock" that holds back the ocean in perpetual imprisonment. Despite all this suffering, the chorus reveals that the singer still loves the lover with all their soul, and cares nothing for how the world perceives their goodness or badness. The singer also expresses pity for those who do not understand the depth of love.

The song's poetic language and use of natural metaphors convey the intense emotions of love and heartbreak that are universal, timeless, and relatable to all who have ever loved and been hurt. The song's title, A Prisión Perpetua, translates to "perpetual imprisonment," which further emphasizes the emotional imprisonment that the singer feels in their love, unable to escape from the pain and longing that the lover has wrought upon them.

Line by Line Meaning

Como el tiempo pasa
Just like how time passes, aging everything

Envejeciendo todo
Ageing everything

Como el sol acaba
Just like how the sun ends

Por secar las plantas
By drying the plants

Como el viento en forma
Just like how the wind, in the form

De huracán destruye
Of a hurricane, destroys

Así tu acabaste
That's how you ended up

Con todita mi alma
With my whole soul

Pero yo te quiero
But I love you

Te quiero hasta el alma
I love you to my soul

Que le importa al mundo
What does the world care