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.
Tu Me Acostumbraste
Chavela Vargas Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A todas esas cosas
Y tu me enseñaste
Que son maravillosas
Sutil llegaste a mi
Como una tentación
Llenando de ansiedad
Mi corazón.
Yo no comprendia
Como se queria
En tu mundo raro
Y por ti aprendi
Por eso me pregunto
Al ver que me olvidaste
Por qué no me enseñaste
Como se vive sin ti?
In Chavela Vargas's song "Tu Me Acostumbraste," the singer reflects on a past relationship and the time she spent learning from her partner. The first stanza establishes how the partner introduced the singer to new experiences and made her appreciate them. She describes how the partner subtly entered her life as a temptation, making her heart yearn with anxiety. The second stanza shows the singer's confusion about love before meeting her partner, but with their guidance, she learned to love. The final lines express sadness and longing, questioning why the partner didn't teach her how to live without them.
Line by Line Meaning
Tu me acostumbraste
You got me used to
A todas esas cosas
All of those things
Y tu me enseñaste
And you taught me
Que son maravillosas
That they are wonderful
Sutil llegaste a mi
You came softly to me
Como una tentación
Like a temptation
Llenando de ansiedad
Filling me with anxiety
Mi corazón.
My heart.
Yo no comprendia
I did not understand
Como se queria
How to love
En tu mundo raro
In your strange world
Y por ti aprendi
And because of you I learned
Por eso me pregunto
That's why I wonder
Al ver que me olvidaste
Upon seeing that you forgot me
Por qué no me enseñaste
Why didn't you teach me
Como se vive sin ti?
How to live without you?
Contributed by Kaylee A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Death ray
Here's my translation:
You got me used to it,
to all those things.
And you taught me
they are wonderful.
Subtly you came to me,
like temptation,
filling with anxiety my heart.
And I didn't understand
how it was to love
in your strange world,
and because of you I learned.
Now I wonder,
seeing that forgot about me,
why didn't you taught me
how to live
without you.
kaitlyn rodriguez
menusearch
Tu Me Acostumbraste
Chavela Vargas

Options
Tu me acostumbraste
A todas esas cosas
Y tu me enseñaste
Que son maravillosas
Sutil llegaste a mi
Como una tentación
Llenando de ansiedad
Mi corazón.
Yo no comprendia
Como se queria
En tu mundo raro
Y por ti aprendi
Por eso me pregunto
Al ver que me olvidaste
Por qué no me enseñaste
Como se vive sin ti?
Andrea Garcia
You got me used ...to all of those things
And you taught me
That they’re wonderful....
Subtly you came to me, Like temptation..
Filling with anxiety ...my heart....
I didn’t ensivage how to love in your weird wold...And because of you I learned ..
Now I ask myself...
knowing you’ve forgotten me...
why you didn’t show me how to live......without you 🌹
Martin Rico
Your I got used to all these things
And you taught me that they are wonderful
Sutil came to me as the temptation
Concern filling my heart
I could not conceive as wanted
In your strange world, and for you i learn
So I wonder to see that u forget me
Why not teach me how to live without you
Sutil came to me as the temptation
Concern filling my heart
I could not conceive as wanted
In your strange world, and for you i learn
So I wonder, seeing that u forget me
Why not teach me HOW you live without you?
Why not teach me HOW you live without you?
Bernardo Rodríguez
La escena donde sale esta canción es hermosa, perfecta en todos los sentidos, se ve la gente en su cotidianidad, simplemente viviendo
Laura Beltran
Muy cierto
Aldo Trejo
Cómo que le da un peso bien nostálgico, cómo entre triste y nostálgico
Rose FI
Amo a Chavela Vargas 😍❤🌺🎉!!!
Katja Widman
This voice... indescribable, The small things that slides through translation.. just touches and disturbes my damn heart and soul, amazing..
Misha
Como quisiera estar bailando esta canción sin importarme nada, solo tu respiración y el latido de tu corazón. ..
Kristian Villaseñor
No conozco otra canción ni otro interprete que desgargue esa solemnidad y ese desamor y te ponga la piel chinita!!
Mqrck Antua
No hay, no existe alguien mejor que ella.
Reynaldo Delgado
Ve escucha a Luis Miguel 🙄🤷♀️
Selene Wab
@Reynaldo Delgado la verdad de ask 🤢