Daniel Doroteo de los Santos Betancourt, also known as "El Jefe" ("The Boss… Read Full Bio ↴Daniel Doroteo de los Santos Betancourt, also known as "El Jefe" ("The Boss") and "El Inquieto Anacobero" (6 June 1916 – 27 November 1992) born in Santurce, Puerto Rico, was a singer and composer of boleros, and an overall performer of multiple Caribbean music genres, such as guaracha, plena and rhumba.
Daniel Santos was born and raised with his three sisters in Trastalleres, a poor section of Santurce, in San Juan (Andy Montañez would later be raised just two streets from Santos' childhood house). He attended Las Palmitas Elementary School. Although he was doing well in school his father took him out of school when he was in the fourth grade and forced him to shine shoes because his family was facing a bad economic situation. In 1924, his family immigrated to New York City looking for a better way of life. When his parents enrolled him in school, he had to start from the first grade again because he did not know enough English. Santos joined his high school's choir but he dropped out of high school in his second year and moved out of his parents apartment.
Santos moved into a small low rent apartment; here, one day, while he was taking a shower, he started to sing "Te Quiero, Dijiste" (You said I Love You). A member of the Trio Lirico was passing by and heard him sing, he then knocked on Santos' door. The trio member invited Daniel to join the trio and he accepted. Santos debuted with them on September 13, 1930, he sang in various social events and was paid a dollar for every song that he sang
Santos struggled while living on his own in New York. In one occasion, he was stabbed once by a loan shark who lent him USD$52.00 and demanded payment soon after. When he recovered from the stab wound he made sure to find the loaner and hit him with a lead pipe, quote, "Fifty-two times. And I counted them!".
Santos joins Pedro Flores
In 1938, Santos was working at the Cuban Casino Cabaret in Manhattan. He did a little bit of everything, from singing to being the master of ceremonies to waiting on tables. On one occasion, he was singing "Amor Perdido" (Love Lost), without knowing that the composer of the song Pedro Flores was in the audience. Flores liked what he heard so much that he invited Santos to join his group "El Cuarteto Flores" which also included Myrta Silva and in the future would also include Pedro Ortiz Davila "Davilita".
Santos recorded many songs with the Cuarteto Flores and started to gain fame. Among songs that he recorded were:
* "Perdon" (I'm Sorry),
* "Amor" (Love),
* "El Ultimo Adios" (The Last Good-bye),
* "Borracho no Vale" (Being Drunk don't Count) and many others.
In 1941, due to Puerto Rico's political relationship with the United States, most young Puerto Ricans were being drafted into the United States Army. Santos recorded "Despedida" (My Good-bye), a strongly emotional farewell song written by Flores from the viewpoint of an Army recruit who had to leave behind his girlfriend and his ailing mother. The song became an instant hit. Santos recalled in an interview once that he had to hold back tears while recording the song, since his draft papers had just arrived and he would soon have to live a situation similar to what the song's lyrics described, but that a friend started mocking him at the control booth, to which he decided to curse him on the spot, trading the word mama'o (an expletive in Puerto Rican Spanish) for mamá (mother). This incident produced two mannerisms that Santos eventually adopted in his singing style: chopped delivery (almost syllable by syllable, as suggested by Flores) and stretched last vowel in the last verse of each stanza, in almost every song he recorded afterwards.
"Linda"
In 1942, before Santos was drafted and sent to fight in World War II, he recorded his greatest hit "Linda", written specially for him by Flores after a former Dominican girlfriend of Santos', and sang for a while with Xavier Cugat's orchestra. He was later stationed in Okinawa and South Korea, where he had to defend himself constantly from racial attacks from fellow battalion members.
Political activist
After returning from the war, and partly because of the prejudice he experienced within the Army ranks, Daniel became active in the Puerto Rican Independence Movement and identified himself with the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party and its president Pedro Albizu Campos. His devotion for Albizu lasted all through his life, to the point of commissioning, later in his life, a full-sized statue of Albizu for his Florida estate.
Together with Davilita, he recorded "Patriotas" (Patriots) and "La Lucha por la Independencia de Puerto Rico" (The Fight for Puerto Rico's Independence) which was adopted from one of Juan Antonio Corretjer's poems. Santos called for Puerto Rico's independence through his music and as a consequence of his actions, he had problems with the FBI and the United States State Department whenever he wanted to travel abroad.
In the 1950s Santos traveled between Cuba and New York making presentations. He composed the song "Sierra Maestra", which Fidel Castro adopted as the official hymn of the movement of July 26 and which was always transmitted through "Radio Rebelde" (Rebel Radio) every morning. Santos continued to perform in Cuba even after Castro and his men overthrew Cuba's president Fulgencio Batista. However, when he heard that Castro was planning to train children for the military, Santos became disillusioned and left Cuba for good. During that same decade Daniel composed:
* "El Columpio de la Vida" (The Swing of Life),
* "Patricia",
* "El Preso" (The Prisoner) and
* "Bello Amor" (Beautiful Love) as well as 400 other compositions.
Santos was in a bad economical and emotional state after he left Cuba. He was invited to sing for the Sonora Matancera, which was contracted to work in "Radio Progreso". His luck improved, and he again gained fame and fortune. However, Santos spent most of his earnings on alcohol and women. He had 12 children and had been married 12 times. He made sure that he didn't marry a Puerto Rican woman, quote-unquote, "because I fear them, man!" (near the end of his life he did marry a Puerto Rican, Ana Rivera, who eventually became his companion in old age through one of his longer marriages and eventually his widow). He had also spent time in jail in Cuba, Ecuador and the Dominican Republic.[2]
Later years
During the last years of his life, Santos toured the United States and Latin-America to sell-out crowds.
Daniel Santos died on November 27, 1992 at his ranch, "Anacobero's Ranch", in Ocala, Florida. He is buried at what is virtually Puerto Rico's national pantheon, the Saint Mary Magdalene of Pazzis cemetery in Old San Juan, physically close to Pedro Albizu Campos and Pedro Flores. Due to the scarcity of empty space in the cemetery, when fellow Puerto Rican singer Yayo El Indio died, he was also buried in Santos' tomb.
Daniel Santos was born and raised with his three sisters in Trastalleres, a poor section of Santurce, in San Juan (Andy Montañez would later be raised just two streets from Santos' childhood house). He attended Las Palmitas Elementary School. Although he was doing well in school his father took him out of school when he was in the fourth grade and forced him to shine shoes because his family was facing a bad economic situation. In 1924, his family immigrated to New York City looking for a better way of life. When his parents enrolled him in school, he had to start from the first grade again because he did not know enough English. Santos joined his high school's choir but he dropped out of high school in his second year and moved out of his parents apartment.
Santos moved into a small low rent apartment; here, one day, while he was taking a shower, he started to sing "Te Quiero, Dijiste" (You said I Love You). A member of the Trio Lirico was passing by and heard him sing, he then knocked on Santos' door. The trio member invited Daniel to join the trio and he accepted. Santos debuted with them on September 13, 1930, he sang in various social events and was paid a dollar for every song that he sang
Santos struggled while living on his own in New York. In one occasion, he was stabbed once by a loan shark who lent him USD$52.00 and demanded payment soon after. When he recovered from the stab wound he made sure to find the loaner and hit him with a lead pipe, quote, "Fifty-two times. And I counted them!".
Santos joins Pedro Flores
In 1938, Santos was working at the Cuban Casino Cabaret in Manhattan. He did a little bit of everything, from singing to being the master of ceremonies to waiting on tables. On one occasion, he was singing "Amor Perdido" (Love Lost), without knowing that the composer of the song Pedro Flores was in the audience. Flores liked what he heard so much that he invited Santos to join his group "El Cuarteto Flores" which also included Myrta Silva and in the future would also include Pedro Ortiz Davila "Davilita".
Santos recorded many songs with the Cuarteto Flores and started to gain fame. Among songs that he recorded were:
* "Perdon" (I'm Sorry),
* "Amor" (Love),
* "El Ultimo Adios" (The Last Good-bye),
* "Borracho no Vale" (Being Drunk don't Count) and many others.
In 1941, due to Puerto Rico's political relationship with the United States, most young Puerto Ricans were being drafted into the United States Army. Santos recorded "Despedida" (My Good-bye), a strongly emotional farewell song written by Flores from the viewpoint of an Army recruit who had to leave behind his girlfriend and his ailing mother. The song became an instant hit. Santos recalled in an interview once that he had to hold back tears while recording the song, since his draft papers had just arrived and he would soon have to live a situation similar to what the song's lyrics described, but that a friend started mocking him at the control booth, to which he decided to curse him on the spot, trading the word mama'o (an expletive in Puerto Rican Spanish) for mamá (mother). This incident produced two mannerisms that Santos eventually adopted in his singing style: chopped delivery (almost syllable by syllable, as suggested by Flores) and stretched last vowel in the last verse of each stanza, in almost every song he recorded afterwards.
"Linda"
In 1942, before Santos was drafted and sent to fight in World War II, he recorded his greatest hit "Linda", written specially for him by Flores after a former Dominican girlfriend of Santos', and sang for a while with Xavier Cugat's orchestra. He was later stationed in Okinawa and South Korea, where he had to defend himself constantly from racial attacks from fellow battalion members.
Political activist
After returning from the war, and partly because of the prejudice he experienced within the Army ranks, Daniel became active in the Puerto Rican Independence Movement and identified himself with the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party and its president Pedro Albizu Campos. His devotion for Albizu lasted all through his life, to the point of commissioning, later in his life, a full-sized statue of Albizu for his Florida estate.
Together with Davilita, he recorded "Patriotas" (Patriots) and "La Lucha por la Independencia de Puerto Rico" (The Fight for Puerto Rico's Independence) which was adopted from one of Juan Antonio Corretjer's poems. Santos called for Puerto Rico's independence through his music and as a consequence of his actions, he had problems with the FBI and the United States State Department whenever he wanted to travel abroad.
In the 1950s Santos traveled between Cuba and New York making presentations. He composed the song "Sierra Maestra", which Fidel Castro adopted as the official hymn of the movement of July 26 and which was always transmitted through "Radio Rebelde" (Rebel Radio) every morning. Santos continued to perform in Cuba even after Castro and his men overthrew Cuba's president Fulgencio Batista. However, when he heard that Castro was planning to train children for the military, Santos became disillusioned and left Cuba for good. During that same decade Daniel composed:
* "El Columpio de la Vida" (The Swing of Life),
* "Patricia",
* "El Preso" (The Prisoner) and
* "Bello Amor" (Beautiful Love) as well as 400 other compositions.
Santos was in a bad economical and emotional state after he left Cuba. He was invited to sing for the Sonora Matancera, which was contracted to work in "Radio Progreso". His luck improved, and he again gained fame and fortune. However, Santos spent most of his earnings on alcohol and women. He had 12 children and had been married 12 times. He made sure that he didn't marry a Puerto Rican woman, quote-unquote, "because I fear them, man!" (near the end of his life he did marry a Puerto Rican, Ana Rivera, who eventually became his companion in old age through one of his longer marriages and eventually his widow). He had also spent time in jail in Cuba, Ecuador and the Dominican Republic.[2]
Later years
During the last years of his life, Santos toured the United States and Latin-America to sell-out crowds.
Daniel Santos died on November 27, 1992 at his ranch, "Anacobero's Ranch", in Ocala, Florida. He is buried at what is virtually Puerto Rico's national pantheon, the Saint Mary Magdalene of Pazzis cemetery in Old San Juan, physically close to Pedro Albizu Campos and Pedro Flores. Due to the scarcity of empty space in the cemetery, when fellow Puerto Rican singer Yayo El Indio died, he was also buried in Santos' tomb.
El Reloj
Daniel Santos Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Reloj no marques las horas
Porque voy a enloquecer
Ella se irá para siempre
Cuando amanezca otra vez
Nómas nos queda esta noche
Para vivir nuestro amor
Y tu tic-tac me recuerda
Mi irremediable dolor
Reloj detén tu camino
Porque mi vida se apaga
Ella es la estrella que alumbra mi ser
Yo sin su amor, no soy nada
Detén el tiempo en tus manos
Has esta noche perpetúa
Para que nunca se vaya de mí
Para que nunca amanezca
Reloj detén tu camino
Porque mi vida se apaga
Ella es la estrella que alumbra mi ser
Yo sin su amor, no soy nada
Detén el tiempo en tus manos
Has esta noche perpetúa
Para que nunca se vaya de mí
Para que nunca amanezca.
Porque voy a enloquecer
Ella se irá para siempre
Cuando amanezca otra vez
Nómas nos queda esta noche
Para vivir nuestro amor
Y tu tic-tac me recuerda
Mi irremediable dolor
Reloj detén tu camino
Porque mi vida se apaga
Ella es la estrella que alumbra mi ser
Yo sin su amor, no soy nada
Detén el tiempo en tus manos
Has esta noche perpetúa
Para que nunca se vaya de mí
Para que nunca amanezca
Reloj detén tu camino
Porque mi vida se apaga
Ella es la estrella que alumbra mi ser
Yo sin su amor, no soy nada
Detén el tiempo en tus manos
Has esta noche perpetúa
Para que nunca se vaya de mí
Para que nunca amanezca.
The song "El Reloj" by Daniel Santos is a heart-wrenching plea to time, asking it to stop and preserve a moment of fleeting love. The singer is desperate to hold onto his lover for just one more night, as he knows that come morning, she will be gone forever. The ticking of the clock serves as a constant reminder of his impending loss and only adds to his unbearable pain.
The lyrics are filled with a sense of helplessness and despair, as the singer knows that he cannot change the inevitable. He pleads with the clock to stop its ticking, hoping to freeze time and keep his lover with him forever. The repetition of the lines "Reloj no marques las horas" and "Reloj detén tu camino" emphasizes the singer's sense of urgency and desperation.
Overall, "El Reloj" is a powerful testament to the fleeting nature of love and the pain of loss. The singer's plea to time highlights the impossibility of holding onto something that is destined to slip away.
Line by Line Meaning
Reloj no marques las horas
Clock, please do not count the hours
Porque voy a enloquecer
Because if you do, I will go crazy
Ella se irá para siempre
She will leave forever
Cuando amanezca otra vez
When the sun comes up again
Nómas nos queda esta noche
We only have tonight left
Para vivir nuestro amor
To live our love
Y tu tic-tac me recuerda
And your tick-tock reminds me
Mi irremediable dolor
Of my irreparable pain
Reloj detén tu camino
Clock, stop your path
Porque mi vida se apaga
Because my life is fading away
Ella es la estrella que alumbra mi ser
She is the star that illuminates my being
Yo sin su amor, no soy nada
Without her love, I am nothing
Detén el tiempo en tus manos
Stop time in your hands
Has esta noche perpetúa
Make this night perpetual
Para que nunca se vaya de mí
So that she never leaves me
Para que nunca amanezca
So that it never dawns
Writer(s): Roberto Cantoral Garcia
Contributed by Adrian G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
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@Shagui1965Ale
Un cantante de verdad tengo 52 años y creci escuchando esta cancion por mis padres y aun hoy me estremece el sentimiento, la cadencia y ese requinto. Gracias don Daniel por dejarnpos esta belleza como legado.
@l.a.1411
4 años y contando sin ti papá, Don Pablo 😔😢
@hanselmera1380
Este señor es impresionante. Cada vez que uno escucha esto entra en un trance bohemio muy serio. Definitivamente, qué legado tan bravo.
@raulhuarankaaguilar4111
De todas las interpretaciones esta para mí es la mejor.
@jesusrinconroncon4031
ESTA CANCION JAMAS LA OLVIDARE JAMAS HUBIERA KERIDO DETENER EL TIEMPO PERO NO PUDE
@marcoaraujo250
Daniel Santos mi idolo musical, esta su mejor interpretacion, un mundo de recuerdos llegan a mi memoria al escucharla, por mas de 25 años la busque y el internet me la trajo, daniel fuiste el mas grande.
@juliocastillo9753
Con más de 500 LP grabados,y Sin trucos electronicos Como los de ahora,grabó,Boleros.Rock, guaguanco,guarachas,mejicanas,con mariachis ,tangos,plenas,canto en papiamento,inglés,portugués!!grabó con fania all stars, en mejico vendio mas las canciones de José Alfredo Jiménez,que los propios cantantes mejicanos,además,compositor,arreglista.fue director y actor de la película un ángel caído de Méjico,estudioso de las etnias caribeñas sobre todo las boricuas,un estudioso yconferencista,y es el único cantante que en vida le escriben tres novelas y un cuento!yo tengo 300 LP y tenia más pero se prestaron y Chao con ellos!y hay mucho más de Daniel,por eso es UNICO y punto!!!
,
@CarlosOliveira-qs9lg
Com certeza, o melhor.
@Kulichi8
porque mi vida se apaga.. ella sera siempre mi estrella que alumbra mi vida...
@luisquijano6168
Esa era música 🎵 no chingaderas cómo la de ahora por eso siempre siempre se escuchará... y espero les en señeros a nuestros hijo eso la buena música