Flaco Jiménez (born March 11, 1939) is a Tejano music legend from San Anton… Read Full Bio ↴Flaco Jiménez (born March 11, 1939) is a Tejano music legend from San Antonio, Texas. Jiménez's father, Santiago Jimenez Sr. was a pioneer of conjunto music. He plays the accordion. By the time he was seven years old, Flaco was performing with his father. He began recording at 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 Jimenez 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 innovative world music album Chicken Skin Music. This led to greater awareness of his music outside America and after touring Europe with Ry Cooder he returned to tour with his own band, and on a joint bill with Peter Rowan.

Jimenez won a Grammy Award in 1986 for "Ay Te Dejo En San Antonio", a song of his father's. He was also a member of the supergroup Texas Tornados, with Augie Meyers, Doug Sahm and Freddy Fender. The Texas Tornados earned a Grammy Award in 1990, and Jimenez earned one on his own in 1996, when his Flaco Jimenez won the Grammy Award for Best Mexican-American Performance. In 1999, Flaco earned another Grammy Award for Best Tejano Performance (Said and Done, Barb Wire Records), and one for Best Mexican-American Performance as a part of supergroup Los Super Seven. Jimenez 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.

El rosal
Flaco Jiménez Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Un rosal entristecido,
Le dejaron a Margarita,
Ven a platicar con migo,
Ven a consolar mi vida.

(GUITARA)

Y la flor le contesto,

Eso si que yo no puedo,
Llegaste un pocito tarde,
Ya tengo mi jardinero.

(GUITARA)

Y el rosal se marchito,
Y no volvio a florecer,
Asi acabaste mi vida,
Por negarme TU querer.

(GUITARA)

Un rosal entristecido,
Le dejaron a Margarita,
Ven a platicar con migo,
Ven a consolar mi vida.

(GUITARA)

Y la flor le contesto,
Eso si que yo no puedo,
Llegaste un pocito tarde,
Ya tengo mi jardinero.

(GUITARA)

Y el rosal se marchito,
Y no volvio a florecer,
Asi acabaste mi vida,
Por negarme TU querer.

(GUITARA)

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Flaco Jiménez's song "El Rosal" talk about a saddened rose bush that belonged to a woman named Margarita. The rose bush is personified as being sad or depressed because it was left behind by Margarita. The lyrics then go on to say that the singer is inviting Margarita to come and talk to him, to comfort him, and to help him overcome the loss of the rose bush in his life.

The next set of lyrics give the rose's response to the singer. The rose tells the singer that it cannot do anything to help him because he arrived too late. The rose already has a gardener to take care of it, and therefore, it cannot be of help to him. The last verse of the song talks about how the rose bush wilted and died, and it never bloomed again. The song ends with the realization that the singer's life has ended because he was denied the love he sought for, and the only thing he has to show for it is a dead rose bush.

Line by Line Meaning

Un rosal entristecido
A sad rosebush is left behind

Le dejaron a Margarita
Abandoned by Margarita

Ven a platicar con migo
Come talk to me

Ven a consolar mi vida
Come console my life

Y la flor le contesto
And the flower answered him

Eso si que yo no puedo
I cannot do that

Llegaste un pocito tarde
You arrived a little too late

Ya tengo mi jardinero
I already have my gardener

Y el rosal se marchito
And the rosebush withered away

Y no volvio a florecer
And it never bloomed again

Asi acabaste mi vida
That's how you ended my life