Gipsy Kings is a music group from Arles and Montpellier, France. They expla… Read Full Bio ↴Gipsy Kings is a music group from Arles and Montpellier, France. They explained the evolution of their sound in the 1996 PBS documentary of their lives and music "Tierra Gitana (Gipsy Land)". Young brothers Nicolas, Canut and Paul Reyes accompanied their father, famed flamenco singer Jose Reyes, who started out singing "cante jondo" (deep chant), traditional flamenco with long-running themes of passion, love, death, etc. But they began playing rumba flamenca because "we liked to watch pretty girls dance," said Nicolas.
Latin American beats had been joined with flamenco by gitanos since at least the 1950s, mixing complex strumming with rhythmic, percussive tapping on their guitars' tops. The new Reyes generation — soon to meet and join up with three guitar-playing brothers from the Baliardo family — began creating more pop-oriented songs. They played at roma parties and at street corners until they got their chance to record under the group's new name, Gipsy Kings.
Sharp-eyed individuals might have noted that all the left-handed members of the group play guitars strung upside-down; this is usually as a result of the individuals' not having their own guitars when growing-up. Borrowing and playing a right-hander's the wrong way up was the only way to learn.
Band's story
They became popular with their self-titled first album, Gipsy Kings, which included the songs "Djobi Djoba ", "Bamboleo " and the romantic ballad "Un Amor". The song "Volare" on their second album Mosaique is a rumba version of Domenico Modugno's Italian hit "Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu". The Gipsy Kings were enormously popular in France and throughout Europe along with the middle east. In 1989, Gipsy Kings was released in the United States and it spent 40 weeks on the charts, one of very few Spanish language albums to do so. Their cover version of "Hotel California" is an excellent example of fast flamenco guitar leads and rhythmic strumming (this version was featured in the Coen Brothers' movie The Big Lebowski).
In 1991 the Gipsy Kings provided flamenco guitar and backing vocals on Bananarama's version of "Long Train Running", using the pseudonym "Alma de Noche" ("Soul of the Night"). Also in '91, for a multi-artist project called "Simply Mad About the Mouse" — a compilation of new versions of songs from Disney films — the Kings contributed an annaly-crafted, fast-paced rumba flamenca version of "I've Got No Strings" from "Pinocchio" - replete with feverish flamenco guitar leads and rhythmic hand-claps (palmas). The lyrics' enthusiasm for freedom, not being tied down, fit the gipsy creed perfectly.
Their 1993 album "Love and Liberte" won the Latin Grammy Award for "Best Pop Album of the Year," and contained the enduring song "Montana," an emotional account of Roma chased from their birthplace by prejudice and persecution.
The '95 compilation "The Best of the Gipsy Kings" went platinum, staying on the charts more than one year. Albums "Mosaïque," "Allegria," "Este Mundo," "Gipsy Kings Live," "Love & Liberte," "Tierra Gitana," "Cantos de Amor" and "Volare! - the Very Best of the Gipsy Kings" went gold.
Lead guitarist Tonino Baliardo — who has always written the group's instrumentals — released his first solo album, Essences, in 2001; a second self-titled one followed in 2003.
Flamenco purists criticized their use of drum kits, electronic bass, and electronic keyboards and rock and reggae beats. Defenders say they helped create a new style.
Gipsy Kings' total album sales worldwide now exceed 18 million; they toured worldwide again in 2007. They are the world's best-selling music group from France in history, according to their website, where dates and places of their current tour can be found.
Years active: from 1987 till present.
Members
Gipsy Kings are members of two related families: the Reyes and the Baliardos (Reyes means Kings in Spanish). They are cousins of the flamenco great Manitas de Plata, lead guitarist Tonino Baliardo married his granddaughter. Nicolas, Canut, Paul, Andre and Patchai Reyes are sons of flamenco singer Jose Reyes. The Gipsy Kings are:
Nicolas Reyes: lead vocals, guitar
Paul Reyes: backup vocals, guitar
Canut Reyes: backup vocals, guitar
Patchai Reyes: backup vocals, guitar
Andre Reyes: backup vocals, guitar
Diego Baliardo: guitar
Paco Baliardo: guitar
Tonino Baliardo: lead guitar
Chico Bouchikhi was also a member of the Gipsy Kings, but quit after the album Mosaique.
Latin American beats had been joined with flamenco by gitanos since at least the 1950s, mixing complex strumming with rhythmic, percussive tapping on their guitars' tops. The new Reyes generation — soon to meet and join up with three guitar-playing brothers from the Baliardo family — began creating more pop-oriented songs. They played at roma parties and at street corners until they got their chance to record under the group's new name, Gipsy Kings.
Sharp-eyed individuals might have noted that all the left-handed members of the group play guitars strung upside-down; this is usually as a result of the individuals' not having their own guitars when growing-up. Borrowing and playing a right-hander's the wrong way up was the only way to learn.
Band's story
They became popular with their self-titled first album, Gipsy Kings, which included the songs "Djobi Djoba ", "Bamboleo " and the romantic ballad "Un Amor". The song "Volare" on their second album Mosaique is a rumba version of Domenico Modugno's Italian hit "Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu". The Gipsy Kings were enormously popular in France and throughout Europe along with the middle east. In 1989, Gipsy Kings was released in the United States and it spent 40 weeks on the charts, one of very few Spanish language albums to do so. Their cover version of "Hotel California" is an excellent example of fast flamenco guitar leads and rhythmic strumming (this version was featured in the Coen Brothers' movie The Big Lebowski).
In 1991 the Gipsy Kings provided flamenco guitar and backing vocals on Bananarama's version of "Long Train Running", using the pseudonym "Alma de Noche" ("Soul of the Night"). Also in '91, for a multi-artist project called "Simply Mad About the Mouse" — a compilation of new versions of songs from Disney films — the Kings contributed an annaly-crafted, fast-paced rumba flamenca version of "I've Got No Strings" from "Pinocchio" - replete with feverish flamenco guitar leads and rhythmic hand-claps (palmas). The lyrics' enthusiasm for freedom, not being tied down, fit the gipsy creed perfectly.
Their 1993 album "Love and Liberte" won the Latin Grammy Award for "Best Pop Album of the Year," and contained the enduring song "Montana," an emotional account of Roma chased from their birthplace by prejudice and persecution.
The '95 compilation "The Best of the Gipsy Kings" went platinum, staying on the charts more than one year. Albums "Mosaïque," "Allegria," "Este Mundo," "Gipsy Kings Live," "Love & Liberte," "Tierra Gitana," "Cantos de Amor" and "Volare! - the Very Best of the Gipsy Kings" went gold.
Lead guitarist Tonino Baliardo — who has always written the group's instrumentals — released his first solo album, Essences, in 2001; a second self-titled one followed in 2003.
Flamenco purists criticized their use of drum kits, electronic bass, and electronic keyboards and rock and reggae beats. Defenders say they helped create a new style.
Gipsy Kings' total album sales worldwide now exceed 18 million; they toured worldwide again in 2007. They are the world's best-selling music group from France in history, according to their website, where dates and places of their current tour can be found.
Years active: from 1987 till present.
Members
Gipsy Kings are members of two related families: the Reyes and the Baliardos (Reyes means Kings in Spanish). They are cousins of the flamenco great Manitas de Plata, lead guitarist Tonino Baliardo married his granddaughter. Nicolas, Canut, Paul, Andre and Patchai Reyes are sons of flamenco singer Jose Reyes. The Gipsy Kings are:
Nicolas Reyes: lead vocals, guitar
Paul Reyes: backup vocals, guitar
Canut Reyes: backup vocals, guitar
Patchai Reyes: backup vocals, guitar
Andre Reyes: backup vocals, guitar
Diego Baliardo: guitar
Paco Baliardo: guitar
Tonino Baliardo: lead guitar
Chico Bouchikhi was also a member of the Gipsy Kings, but quit after the album Mosaique.
My Way
Gipsy Kings Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Yo sé, que no vendrás
Por eso ya
Tanto la olvido
Dejar un nuevo amor
Tanto mejor
Ay como el mío
Dejar y la vive
Ay! de este mundo, de tristeza
Dejar y la vive
A mi manera
Yo quiero ser
Ay! nada más
Prefieraré
Y recordar
Un nuevo amor
Tanto mejor
Quisiera olvidar
Ay! todo lo mejor
Quisiera vivir
Ay nada más
O si my way
Yo sé, que no vendrás
Por eso ya
Tanto la miro
Dejar un nuevo amor
Tanto mejor
Ay como el mío
Dejar y la vive
Ay! de este mundo, de tristeza
Dejar y la vive
A mi manera
Yo quiero ser
Ay! nada más
Prefieraré
Y recordar
Un nuevo amor
Tanto mejor
Quisiera olvidar
Ay! todo lo mejor
Quisiera vivir
Ay nada más
O si my way
Lo lai lo lei
Lo lai lo lai
Lo lai lo lei
Lo lai lo lai
Lo lai lo lei
Lo lai lo lai
O si my way
Lo lai lo lei
Lo lai lo lai
Lo lai lo lei
Lo lai lo lai
Lo lai lo lei
Lo lai lo lai
O si my way
Por eso ya
Tanto la olvido
Dejar un nuevo amor
Tanto mejor
Ay como el mío
Dejar y la vive
Ay! de este mundo, de tristeza
A mi manera
Yo quiero ser
Ay! nada más
Prefieraré
Y recordar
Un nuevo amor
Tanto mejor
Quisiera olvidar
Ay! todo lo mejor
Quisiera vivir
Ay nada más
O si my way
Yo sé, que no vendrás
Por eso ya
Tanto la miro
Dejar un nuevo amor
Tanto mejor
Ay como el mío
Dejar y la vive
Ay! de este mundo, de tristeza
Dejar y la vive
A mi manera
Yo quiero ser
Ay! nada más
Prefieraré
Y recordar
Un nuevo amor
Tanto mejor
Quisiera olvidar
Ay! todo lo mejor
Quisiera vivir
Ay nada más
O si my way
Lo lai lo lei
Lo lai lo lai
Lo lai lo lei
Lo lai lo lai
Lo lai lo lei
Lo lai lo lai
O si my way
Lo lai lo lei
Lo lai lo lai
Lo lai lo lei
Lo lai lo lai
Lo lai lo lei
Lo lai lo lai
O si my way
The lyrics of this song by Gipsy Kings, "My Way", are about trying to move on from a past love and finding happiness in a new relationship. The singer acknowledges that the previous love interest is not coming back and has decided to forget them and move on. The new love interest is seen as an improvement, and the singer wants to live life their way, without the sadness and pain of the previous relationship dragging them down. They prefer to focus on the good memories and opportunities that the new love brings.
In the chorus, the singer repeats the phrase "Lo lai lo lei" which is a common theme in many songs by the Gipsy Kings. It is a phrase that has no direct translation, but is used to express joyful emotion and celebration.
Line by Line Meaning
Yo sé, que no vendrás
I know that you won't come
Por eso ya
That's why I
Tanto la olvido
Forget her so much
Dejar un nuevo amor
Let a new love
Tanto mejor
So much better
Ay como el mío
Oh, like mine
Dejar y la vive
Leave and live it
Ay! de este mundo, de tristeza
Oh, from this world of sadness
A mi manera
My way
Yo quiero ser
I want to be
Ay! nada más
Oh, nothing more
Prefieraré
I'll choose
Y recordar
And remember
Quisiera olvidar
I would like to forget
Ay! todo lo mejor
Oh, everything good
Quisiera vivir
I would like to live
O si my way
Or my way
Tanto la miro
Watch her so much
Lo lai lo lei
Lolaylolei (no meaning in Spanish or English)
O si my way
Or my way
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA/AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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Brayden Soriano
A truly amazing version of the Frank Sinatra classic 'My Way' !!! The acoustic guitars are incredible! Bravo Gypsy Kings!!!
angela saavedra campioni
Los adoro!!nadie como ellos han sabido interpretar estas cancion que te hacen emocionar,vibrar,enloquecer.....Siempre,siempre los Gipsy Kings!!!!
Cristina Marques
Eu adoro essa musica! Obrigada por postar <3
Alicesia Suleiman
Beautifully composed ! 5 Stars.
Lourdes Mafra Tambosi
Belissímo...é muito bom recordar...Saudades!
gipsy ef
Excelente!!! Simplemente GIPSY KINGS... Gitanos Viejos....Gitanos Buenos....Gitanos de Antes.... Y los mejores del mundo! MY WAY! A mi manera! quien mas que los Reyes para hacer de este clasico una version tan exquisita como esta!!!
gipsy ef
Excelente!!! Simplemente GIPSY KINGS... Gitanos Viejos....Gitanos Buenos....Gitanos de Antes.... Y los mejore del mundo! MY WAY! A mi manera! quien mas para hacer de este clasico una version tan exquisita como esta!!! excelente!!!!
vince
Though I don't understand the language, there is something haunting in the way the song is sung and moves me deeply... Thanks for posting.
Fran Pizarro
una excelente cancion se me pone los pelos de punta cada vez que la escucho, muy buena si señor, los mejores.
Ana Fontoura
Adoro esse grupo!Òtima música!