In 1976 he started with a group of amateurs in Puerto Rico, and his first recording was with the Mario Ortiz Orchestra. He then moved on to Orquesta La Grande, and during the two years Gilberto was with them, he met Mr. Elias Lopés who later helped mold and polish the promising young singer, releasing three recordings.
In 1980, he got an important opportunity recording "Homenaje a Eddie Palmieri" with the Puerto Rico All Stars. He then went on to record with Tommy Olivencia. From 1981 through 1986 he was with the Willie Rosario Orchestra where he recorded six albums.
Santa Rosa then signed with Ralph Cartagena's Combo Records. In 1986, he debuted on Good Vibrations fronting his own salsa orquesta. After releasing three more albums on Combo, including "De Amor y Salsa", he switched to CBS Records and issued the chart-topping salsa romantica set Punto De Vista in 1990, which went platinum and spawned the smash hits "Vivir Sin Ella" and "Perdoname". Santa Rosa's 1991 CBS/Sony follow-up, Perspectiva, was another monster hit.
Since the mid-80s, the mainstream salsa recording industry in Puerto Rico and the USA has been largely preoccupied with developing and marketing the images of "good looking" young male vocalists, rather than producing solid, stimulating music performed by swinging soneros (improvising salsa singers). Santa Rosa, however, who was one of the first of this new crop of solo singers, is regarded as being amongst the small number who deserve to be called a sonero.
In 1990, Santa Rosa was in the illustrious company of Andy Montañez and Pedro Brull (from Mulenze ), as one of the contemporary soneros assembled by bandleader Don Perignon for his all-star La Puertorriqueña project. In 1990, he won the Billboard Lo Nuestro award for Best Male Singer. He has also performed at New York's prestigious annual salsa festival. But 1990 was an important year in other respects. Santa Rosa made acting debut in the play "La pareja dispareja", where he was joined by Rafo Muñiz and Luis Vigoreaux.
He visited Japan in 1995 as Puerto Rico's musical ambassador and sang one of his songs, "De cara al viento" in Japanese in his effort to bridge the cultural barriers. Since then Santa Rosa's fame reached across borders and continents; commanding recognition as salsa artist in most demand. In 1996 he released yet another smash album Esencia which included hit songs such as No Quiero Nada Regala'o.
Santa Rosa's recent work has not been limited to soloist recordings. He joined other artists in the First President's Festival in the Dominican Republic; Andy Montañez in New York's Lincoln Center, in 1997; and Olga Tañon in the Universal Studios Amphitheater in Holloywood, in 1997.
In 1999, he released Expresión, which reinforced his international fame. The album included the hit song "Que alguien me diga", written by Omar Alfanno, which was at the top of Billboard‘s latin chart for various weeks. The album also included the song Fulana, unlike his well known salsa, demonstrating his wide range of interests and ability. The album was selected as one of the 20 best recordings of the year by the National Foundation Popular Culture of Puerto Rico.
Tu
Gilberto Santa Rosa Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Lo de verte como amiga
Fingir que es muy normal
Que entre este ir y venir
Sigan pasando días
Es casi un imposible
Si voy donde tu estas
Como si ya no fueras
Mi única verdad
Hay en tu pensamiento
Dirás que tontería
Se que soy mal actor
Se ve desde un avión
Que te amo todavía
Y yo me quedo sin palabras
Y tu no me dices nada
Ser tu amiga es no abrazarte
De la forma en que quisiera
Es tan solo una mentira
Quiero ser de otra manera
Estar tan cerca de tu cuerpo
A un solo paso de tu boca
De esas ganas que al mirarte me provocas
Y aunque se que esto es un cuento
Aquí voy en el intento
De salvar lo que nos queda de amistad
Me faltan estrategias
Tu me conoces tanto
Tal vez tu en mi lugar
Hubieses dicho ya
Todo esto que me aguanto
Pero yo soy así
Que quieres que te diga
Por miedo de no verte
Prefiero imaginarte
Como cuando eras mía
Y yo me quedo sin palabras
Y tu no me dices nada
Ser tu amigo es no abrazarte
De la forma en que quisiera
Es tan solo una mentira
Quiero ser de otra manera
Estar tan cerca de tu cuerpo
A solo un paso de tu boca
De estas ganas que al mirarte me provocas
Y aunque se que esto es un cuento
Aquí voy en el intento
De salvar lo que nos queda
Ser tu amigo es no abrazarte
De la forma en que quisiera
Es tan solo una mentira
Quiero ser de otra manera
Estar tan cerca de tu cuerpo
A solo un paso de tu boca
De estas ganas que al mirarte me provocas
Y aunque se que esto es un cuento
Aquí voy en el intento
De salvar lo que nos queda
De amistad
De salvar
Lo que nos queda de amistad
In Gilberto Santa Rosa's song "Tu," the singer is struggling to maintain a friendship with someone they are still deeply in love with. The lyrics suggest that the singer and this person used to be romantically involved ("como cuando eras mía" - "like when you were mine"), but now that they are no longer together, the singer is finding it difficult to keep their feelings in check when they are around each other. The refrain of the song repeats the idea that it's nearly impossible for them to pretend that they are just friends and that they don't feel anything more than that for each other. The singer references "ganar que al mirarte me provocas" - "these desires that looking at you provokes," indicating that even seeing their friend is enough to drive them crazy with longing.
The song's lyrics also suggest a sense of resignation on the part of the singer - they know that it's not possible to make this person feel the same way about them, but they are still trying to salvage a friendship from the wreckage of their failed relationship. Even though they are struggling with their feelings, they are determined to make it work: "aquí voy en el intento" - "here I am, trying." The singer admits that they don't have a great plan for how to make this friendship work, but they are still hoping for the best. Ultimately, the song is a bittersweet reflection on how difficult it can be to move past a failed romance and find a way to maintain a meaningful connection with someone who used to be so important to you.
Line by Line Meaning
Es casi un imposible
It's almost impossible
Lo de verte como amiga
To see you as a friend
Fingir que es muy normal
Pretend it's normal
Que entre este ir y venir
That between this coming and going
Sigan pasando días
Days continue to pass
Si voy donde tu estas
If I go where you are
Disimular al verte
To pretend that seeing you
Como si ya no fueras
As if you were no longer
Mi única verdad
My only truth
Hay en tu pensamiento
There is in your thoughts
Dirás que tontería
You will say it's silly
Se que soy mal actor
I know I'm a bad actor
Se ve desde un avión
It's visible from an airplane
Que te amo todavía
That I still love you
Y yo me quedo sin palabras
And I am left speechless
Y tu no me dices nada
And you don't say anything
Ser tu amiga es no abrazarte
Being your friend means not hugging you
De la forma en que quisiera
In the way I would like to
Es tan solo una mentira
It's just a lie
Quiero ser de otra manera
I want to be different
Estar tan cerca de tu cuerpo
To be so close to your body
A un solo paso de tu boca
Just one step away from your mouth
De esas ganas que al mirarte me provocas
Of those desires that you provoke in me when I look at you
Y aunque se que esto es un cuento
And even though I know this is a story
Aquí voy en el intento
Here I am in the attempt
De salvar lo que nos queda
To save what's left of us
Me faltan estrategias
I lack strategies
Tu me conoces tanto
You know me so well
Tal vez tu en mi lugar
Maybe you in my place
Hubieses dicho ya
Would have already said
Todo esto que me aguanto
All of this that I hold back
Pero yo soy así
But that's how I am
Que quieres que te diga
What do you want me to say
Por miedo de no verte
For fear of not seeing you
Prefiero imaginarte
I prefer to imagine you
Como cuando eras mía
Like when you were mine
Ser tu amigo es no abrazarte
Being your friend means not hugging you
De la forma en que quisiera
In the way I would like to
Es tan solo una mentira
It's just a lie
Estar tan cerca de tu cuerpo
To be so close to your body
A solo un paso de tu boca
Just one step away from your mouth
De estas ganas que al mirarte me provocas
Of these desires that you provoke in me when I look at you
Y aunque se que esto es un cuento
And even though I know this is a story
Aquí voy en el intento
Here I am in the attempt
De salvar lo que nos queda
To save what's left of us
De amistad
Of friendship
De salvar
Of saving
Lo que nos queda de amistad
What's left of our friendship
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Manuel Ramos Quintana
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
ZAIRA CORTES
on No Pense Enamorarme Otra Vez
ME SORPRENDIO TU AMOR