Leonardo " Flaco" Jiménez began performing, at the age of seven, with his father, Santiago Jimenez, who was a pioneer of conjunto music and began recording at age fifteen as a member of Los Caporales. He played in the San Antonio area for several years, and then began working with Douglas Sahm in the 1960s. Sahm, better known as the founding member of the Sir Douglas Quintet, played with Jiménez for some time. Flaco then went on to New York City and worked with Dr. John, David Lindley, Peter Rowan, Ry Cooder and Bob Dylan. He appeared on Cooder's world music album Chicken Skin Music and on the Rolling Stones' Voodoo Lounge. This led to greater awareness of his music outside America and, after touring Europe with Ry Cooder, he returned to tour in America with his own band, and on a joint bill with Peter Rowan. Jiménez, Peter Rowan and Wally Drogos were the original members of a band called The Free Mexican Airforce.
Jiménez won a Grammy Award in 1986 for Ay Te Dejo en San Antonio, one of his father's songs. He was also a member of the Tejano fusion group Texas Tornados, with Augie Meyers, Doug Sahm and Freddy Fender. The Texas Tornados won a Grammy Award in 1990, and Jiménez earned one on his own in 1996, when his self-titled album Flaco Jiménez won the Grammy Award for Best Mexican-American Performance. In 1999, Flaco earned another Grammy Award for Best Tejano Performance for Said and Done (released by Barbed Wire Records), and one for Best Mexican-American Performance as a part of supergroup Los Super Seven. Jiménez has also won a Best Video award at the Tejano Music Awards and earned a Lifetime Achievement Award from Billboard Latin Magazine for "Streets of Bakersfield" with Dwight Yoakam and Buck Owens.
Jiménez appeared in the movie Picking Up the Pieces, with Woody Allen and Sharon Stone, and also featured on the soundtrack. His music has featured in the soundtrack for other movies such as Y Tu Mamá También, The Border, Tin Cup, and Striptease. The Hohner company collaborated with Jiménez to create the Flaco Jimenez Signature Series of accordions.
His brother, Santiago Jiménez, Jr., is also an accomplished accordionist who has recorded extensively.
Jiménez's latest CD, Ya Volvi De La Guerra, was issued in 2009 by Fiesta Records.
En El Cielo No Hay Cerveza
FLACO JIMENEZ Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Por eso ando tomando noche y día
Porque ya cuando se me llegue el día
En el mundo seguirá la ferrusquilla
In heaven there is no beer
That's why we drink it here
And when we're gone frome here
In de hemel daar is geen bier
Daarom drinken wij het hier
Als wij zijn heengegaan
Drinlen al onze vriensen al het bier
En el cielo no hay cerveza que beber
Por eso ando tomando noche y día
Porque ya cuando se me llegue el día
En el mundo seguirá la ferrusquilla
In heaven there is no beer
That's why we drink it here
And when we're gone frome here
All my friends will be drinking all the beer
The lyrics to Flaco Jimenez's song "En El Cielo No Hay Cerveza" convey a playful lament for the lack of access to alcohol in heaven. The repeated refrain, "En el cielo no hay cerveza que beber" ("In heaven there is no beer to drink"), sets up the joke that the singer must drink all of the beer on earth before he dies, as his friends in the afterlife won't have any to drink.
The lyrics create a sense of camaraderie and enjoyment in the act of drinking, with the singer suggesting that he's constantly consuming alcohol and enjoying himself despite the eventual end of his life. The final line of the chorus, "En el mundo seguirá la ferrusquilla" ("In the world the party goes on"), reinforces this idea that life is to be celebrated with alcohol and good company.
Overall, the lyrics present a lighthearted take on the inevitability of death, emphasizing the importance of enjoying oneself and spending time with friends while one is still alive.
Line by Line Meaning
En el cielo no hay cerveza que beber
There is no beer to drink in heaven
Por eso ando tomando noche y día
That's why I keep drinking night and day
Porque ya cuando se me llegue el día
Because when my time comes
En el mundo seguirá la ferrusquilla
The party will go on in the world without me
Contributed by Bentley V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@eduardosebastian542
me la aprenderé en acordeon :'D
@floresinquieto
flaco jimenez the best in mexican texan .music same as santiago jimenez and mr.santiago .and lets get drunk cause en el cielo no ay beer pa beber..
.
@jamesp2333
Great tune, sounds like something from Breaking Bad 👌
@deejay290260
The third part is actually in dutch indeed. Due to a musical collaboration between Flac0 & Rowwen Héze, a dutch Tex-Mex-band. (and the greatest beerdrinkers in the world are actually the Flemish people)
@brunorockykat5453
Cerra el ort0 👍
@33jardinero33
Tell that to my pastor
@sydbarrett9183
Bueno actualmente no hay cerveza ni aqui en la tierra jaja
@ArowanaVV
I'm Dutch and this is definitely not German. "In de hemel daar is geen bier, daarom drinken wij het hier. Als wij zijn heengegaan, drinken al onze vrienden al het bier" Which in German would be something along the lines of; "In den Himmel gibt es kein Bier, das ist, warüm wir es trinken hier. Wenn wir weg sind, trinken alle unsere Freunde all das Bier" Though you'll have to excuse my terrible German haha
@Dr.ZoidbergPhD
So is it dutch or german?
@ArowanaVV
Never understood why after the Spanish and English parts they suddenly start singing in Dutch haha.