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.
Trista Pena
Gipsy Kings Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
triste pena,
ya, déjalo ya.
Yo sé que un día volverá,
triste pena,
yo la voy a buscar.
amor, amor amargo,
amor bien agitanado,
amor con mi querer.
Hoy para vivir,
amor, confundir
y no saber llorar.
Hoy para vivir
No saber, confundir
un amor de verdad.
Pero ya lo siento, ya.
La que me ha querío,
amor más agitanado,
amor más agitanado,
amor, ya sin tu querer
The lyrics of Gipsy Kings' Trista Pena are a lament over lost love. The artist speaks of a deep knowledge that the lover they lost will eventually return, but urges their sorrow to leave them be. They speak of actively seeking out the lost love, but their heart is conflicted as they do not completely remember their ex. Instead, they describe an "amor agitanado," a passionate, tumultuous love that is both sweet and bitter.
The chorus of the song speaks to the confusion and sadness that comes with living in a world where love is misunderstood and misinterpreted. The artist sings about the frustration of not being able to cry and of being lost in the confusion, unable to differentiate between true love and mere infatuation. The final lines of the song, however, seem to signal a resignation to the fact that they can no longer have their lost love. They sing of the love that was once so passionate now being without its former intensity, suggesting that time has cooled the flames of passion that once burned between them.
Line by Line Meaning
Yo sé que un día volverá, triste pena, ya, déjalo ya.
I know that one day the sad feeling will come back, but it's okay, let it go now.
Yo sé que un día volverá, triste pena, yo la voy a buscar.
I know that one day the sad feeling will come back, and I will go search for it.
Y no me acuerdo de ella, amor, amor amargo, amor bien agitanado, amor con mi querer.
And I don't remember her, the bitter love, the love that was stirred up, the love that I gave.
Hoy para vivir, amor, confundir y no saber llorar.
Today, to live is to confuse love and not know how to cry.
Hoy para vivir No saber, confundir un amor de verdad. Pero ya lo siento, ya.
Today, to live means not knowing, confusing true love. But I already feel it, I do.
La que me ha querío, amor más agitanado, amor más agitanado, amor, ya sin tu querer
The one who loved me, the love that was stirred up the most, the love that is now gone.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: ANDRE REYES, JACQUES BALIARDO, JALHOUL BOUCHIKHI, MAURICE BALIARDO, NICOLAS REYES, TONINO BALIARDO
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@kenestrada7920
I know that someday she will return
sad pain
leave her alone now
I know that someday she will return
sad pain
I'm going to look for her
And I don't remember her
a love, a bitter love
like
a love with my wanting
Today to live
I confused love
and you don't know how to cry
today, tomorrow to live
you don't know how to confuse
a real love
but I already feel it
The one whom I most loved
like love
like love
a love without your love
Today to live
I confused love
and you don't know how to cry
today, tomorrow to live
you don't know how to confuse
a real love
but I already feel it
Today to live
I confused love
and you don't know how to cry
Today to live
I confused love
and you don't know how to cry
but a real love
@Grem305
The most underrated song of all times. !!! Absolutely brillant.
@krisss79
It's not come on. We are still listening this song. That's the real success.
This is not just a song is a almost everybody's story with a lost love. In Spanish is like goosebumps "triste pena". There are no words in English to express that.
@Janillo2782
I TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOU!!!!!!
@biljanajancic1670
OMG... haven... beautiful, beautiful song. Greetings from Serbia.
@omegaknight01
Prelepa pesma!!!
@illyrianblood5319
serbia is albania
@hafidmabrouki1071
@@omegaknight01 aaqaaaaaAAaaa
@milosmilojevic1987
@@illyrianblood5319 albania is Serbia
@petitvto5584
Kosovo
@alfredocalvario5606
" La sensibilidad humana es el espíritu universal que nos hermana en todo el mundo sin importar fronteras ni color de piel ni el idioma ...lo que importa es la paz y Felicidad que nos transmite esté tipo de música...que viva el flamenco, ooole...!!! Saludos desde México "