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.
En El Cielo No Hay Cerveza
Flaco Jiménez Lyrics
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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.