In March 1987 they released Soy una arveja, an album which unlike their previous record featured dark, humorous and satirical lyrics based around characters from the city of Tajo, a fictional city (an inside-joke between the members). This would also be their first album to feature the drummer Álvaro Pintos.
They would later release Emilio Garcia in 1988 and Canciones del Corazon in 1991. However, in 1994 with the release of Otra navidad en las trincheras the band unexpectedly gained massive popularity in Uruguay and stopped being a cult band. This caused Otra navidad en las trincheras to become the #1 best selling album in the country for a long time.
After the success of their previous album they released Barranca Abajo, a concept album revolving around the life of a fictional character named José Barrancas created by the band. The next year El tren bala was released and generated controversy throughout the country due to the Ministry of Education and Culture's attempts to ban the album over the song "El dia que Artigas se emborracho" which made fun of uruguayan national hero José Gervasio Artigas. However, this only expanded the group's popularity. Afterwards Revista ¡¡Ésta!! was released in 1998.
Riki Musso temporarily left the band in 2000 before the release of Cortamambo due to differences with their label and bandmates about the album cover. However, his brother convinced him to stay. Their 2004 self-titled album was the first to feature Juan Campodonico who would later produce all of their post-Cortamambo discography including Raro, a power pop album which made the band well known in other countries, allowing them to tour through South America. Riki would leave the band a second time due to musical differences with Bipolar being his last contribution to El Cuarteto de Nos.
Gustavo Antuña replaced guitarist Riki Musso in 2010 and joined the band alongside keyboardist Santiago Marrero. The first album to feature them both was the more pop rock influenced Porfiado which won two latin grammy awards.
Al cielo no
El Cuarteto De Nos Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Porque ya no había nada de donde agarrarme
No es que yo sea un tipo bajoneado
Pero no me iba a salvar ni Superman drogado
Una cosa sí tenía bien clarita
Al cielo no iba a ir ni aunque me dieran guita
El infierno para mí era una maravilla
Así que sí, sí, iba a pedir
Al cielo no pretendía ir
Y a ver con quien tenía que ir a hablar
Que yo tenía cuña en Uruguay
Así que no
Por favor
Al cielo no
Al cielo no
Al cielo no
Al cielo no
Al cielo siempre me lo había imaginado
Como cuando se moría un dibujo animado
Como algún cuadro horrible de Miguel Ángel
O como el paraíso que contaba el Dante
Pero quien me convenció de que el cielo era un bodrio
Yo ya le tenía un poquito de odio
Fueron las palabras de mi abuela Popa
Cuando se me aparecía jugando a la copa
Que decía "mirá mi amor
Acá en el cielo todo es de terror
Porque no hay quiniela ni hay maní
Ni ningún bar donde tomar anís"
Así que no
Por favor
Al cielo no
Al cielo no
Al cielo no
Al cielo no
De rebote me enteré que la eternidad
Dura mucho tiempo y a veces más
Y no puedo soportar que todo prosiga
Sentado en una nube como un vejiga
Tocando mal el arpa y desafinando
Rodeado de angelitos siempre meando
Sacando telarañas de mis genitales
Porque allá son todas vírgenes las orientales
Prefería en el infierno estar
Aunque tuviera que soportar
A Rivera, Oribe y a Garzón
Y la hinchada de Peñarol
Así que no
Por favor
Al cielo no
Al cielo no
Al cielo no
Al cielo no
Al cielo no - Ave María
Al cielo no
Al cielo no
Al cielo no...
The song "Al cielo no" by El Cuarteto de Nos is a humorous take on the afterlife and the singer's aversion to the idea of going to heaven. The lyrics describe how the singer has decided to kill himself because he feels there is nothing left for him in life. However, he is not willing to go to heaven, even if he were offered money, because he believes that the experience would be terrible. Instead, he envisions the afterlife as being like a horrible cartoon, a terrible painting, or like Dante's idea of paradise.
The singer's aversion to heaven is partly due to his grandmother's description of it, which he heard during a game of "copa", a divination game. His grandmother described heaven as being a terrifying place where there is no quiniela (a type of lottery), no peanuts, and no place to drink anise. The singer is also put off by the idea of spending eternity in the clouds playing a poorly tuned harp and surrounded by urinating cherubs. He even suggests that he would rather be in hell, with all its torments, than spend eternity in the boredom of heaven.
Overall, the song is a humorous take on death and the afterlife and pokes fun at the idea of heaven as a perfect place. It also reflects the singer's fear of the unknown and his reluctance to give up his earthly existence.
Line by Line Meaning
Resulta que agarré y que decidí matarme
I reached a point where I decided to kill myself
Porque ya no había nada de donde agarrarme
Because there was no support or help left for me
No es que yo sea un tipo bajoneado
It's not that I'm a depressed person
Pero no me iba a salvar ni Superman drogado
But not even a high Superman could save me from my situation
Una cosa sí tenía bien clarita
One thing I knew for sure
Al cielo no iba a ir ni aunque me dieran guita
I wasn't going to heaven even if they paid me to go
El infierno para mí era una maravilla
To me, hell was a better option
Quemándome igual que un pollo a la parrilla
Burning like a chicken on the grill
Así que sí, sí, iba a pedir
So yes, I was going to ask
Al cielo no pretendía ir
I had no intention of going to heaven
Y a ver con quien tenía que ir a hablar
And see who I had to talk to
Que yo tenía cuña en Uruguay
That I had connections in Uruguay
Al cielo siempre me lo había imaginado
I had always imagined heaven
Como cuando se moría un dibujo animado
Like when a cartoon character dies
Como algún cuadro horrible de Miguel Ángel
Like some horrible painting by Michelangelo
O como el paraíso que contaba el Dante
Or like the paradise described by Dante
Pero quien me convenció de que el cielo era un bodrio
But someone convinced me that heaven was a bore
Yo ya le tenía un poquito de odio
I already had a little bit of hate for it
Fueron las palabras de mi abuela Popa
It was my grandma Popa's words
Cuando se me aparecía jugando a la copa
When she appeared to me while playing a game
Que decía "mirá mi amor
She said "look my dear
Acá en el cielo todo es de terror
Here in heaven, everything is terrible
Porque no hay quiniela ni hay maní
Because there's no gambling or peanut vendors
Ni ningún bar donde tomar anís"
Or any bar to have some anise liquor"
De rebote me enteré que la eternidad
By chance I found out that eternity
Dura mucho tiempo y a veces más
Lasts a very long time, and sometimes more
Y no puedo soportar que todo prosiga
And I can't bear that everything keeps going
Sentado en una nube como un vejiga
Sitting on a cloud like a bladder
Tocando mal el arpa y desafinando
Playing the harp badly and out of tune
Rodeado de angelitos siempre meando
Surrounded by little angels always peeing
Sacando telarañas de mis genitales
Removing cobwebs from my genitals
Porque allá son todas vírgenes las orientales
Because all oriental girls are virgins up there
Prefería en el infierno estar
I preferred to be in hell
Aunque tuviera que soportar
Even if I had to bear
A Rivera, Oribe y a Garzón
Rivera, Oribe, and Garzón
Y la hinchada de Peñarol
And the fans of Peñarol
Al cielo no - Ave María
Not to heaven - Ave Maria
Al cielo no
Not to heaven
Al cielo no
Not to heaven
Al cielo no
Not to heaven
Al cielo no
Not to heaven
Contributed by Taylor J. Suggest a correction in the comments below.