Pau Donés, born and raised in Barcelona, worked for various groups before being able to take on his current project, Jarabe de Palo. He began at age 15 with his brother Marc, with whom he formed a group known as J.& Co.Band and later another one named Dentaduras Postizas. During this period, he completed his musical tracks in Barcelona with a job at an advertising firm.
His greatest success came to him after a trip to Cuba, where he was inspired to write La Flaca which became the title of his first album, "La Flaca," in 1996. A year later came the big surprise: millions of albums were sold around the world, and "La Flaca" became the song of the summer in 1997.
After this great success on his first album, Pau was determined to show that the band would not be a one-hit wonder, and with this idea, he launched Depende (1998), which was produced by Joe Dworniak in Moody Studios in London over two months. This album featured collaborations with the likes of Ketama and continued with Jarabe de Palo's ironic and ingenious lyrics, which managed to connect with the Hispanic public and even made inroads among Italians.
In 2001 they released De vuelta y vuelta, their most conceptual album. It showed a change in the band with the first music video of the album, in which Pau appears shaving his head, shedding his long-haired features. This album featured collaborations with the likes of Antonio Vega, Jovanotti, Vico C, and Celia Cruz.
In 2003 the band tried to show a change to more positive songs with their album Bonito, which featured the likes of Los Mártires del Compás, the singer-songwriter Elena Andujar, and their Italian friend, Jovanotti.
In the autumn of 2004, the band announced that they would go on tour with their new album, 1 m2 (Un metro cuadrado (A Square Meter)) featuring the likes of Jorge Drexler, Lucrecia, and Chrissie Hynde (The Pretenders).
The group has received great awards such as Premios de la Música, Premio Ondas, and Grammy nominations. They have collaborated with La Vieja Trova Santiaguera, Antonio Vega, Vico C and Celia Cruz (soundtrack of El milagro de P. Tinto). Pau has also composed tracks for Ricky Martin and starred in a music video with Alanis Morissette.
On 9 June 2020, Donés died near Barcelona after five years of dealing with colon cancer, causing the band to split up shortly after.
En Lo Puro No Hay Futuro
Jarabe de Palo Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Mi tío era el primo
De un amigo de mi abuelo
Que era indio americano
Que se había enamorado
De una tico patuá
Abarrotada de esclavos
Que de Jamaica robaron
En lo puro no hay futuro
La pureza está en la mezcla
En la mezcla de lo puro
Que antes que puro fue mezcla
La madre de mi tío
Se casó con un gitano
Que tocaba la guitarra
Con seis dedos en la mano
Y acompañaba a un payo
Que cantaba bulerías
Con un negro de Chicago
Que decía ser su hermano
En lo puro no hay futuro
Dicen que mi abuelo
Era un rubio bananero
Que a Cuba llegó de España
Pa' quedarse en La Habana
Y que yendo pa' Santiago
Conoció a una mulata
Mezcla de tabaco y caña
Que en francés a él le hablaba
Señores, en lo puro no hay futuro
Señores, la pureza está en la mezcla
Señores, en la mezcla de lo puro
Señores, que antes que puro fue mezcla
The song "En Lo Puro No Hay Futuro" by Jarabe de Palo speaks of the importance of diversity, mixing cultures, and breaking with the idea of pure, untainted origins. The lyrics reflect on the origins of the singer's family and tell stories of cultural mixing and diversity. The first stanza speaks of an American Indian who falls in love with a woman of African descent born on a slave ship from Jamaica. Then, the second stanza tells the story of the singer's uncle's mother who married a gypsy six-fingered guitar player who played flamenco music with a white man from Chicago who was his supposed brother.
Throughout the song, the chorus repeated the refrain "En lo puro no hay futuro" which means "In the pure, there is no future." The song argues against the idea of purity, suggesting that mixing and blending cultures is the way to go. It speaks to the universal idea of the importance of diversity and how, without these perceived impurities, we would not have the cultural richness we have today.
In conclusion, the song "En Lo Puro No Hay Futuro" tells a powerful story about the benefits of embracing cultural diversity, breaking down racial barriers, and exposing the limitations of the concept of purity.
Line by Line Meaning
En lo puro no hay futuro
The future does not lie in purity
Mi tío era el primo
My uncle was the cousin
De un amigo de mi abuelo
Of a friend of my grandfather
Que era indio americano
Who was a Native American
Que se había enamorado
Who had fallen in love
De una tico patuá
With a patois-speaking Costa Rican
Que nació en una goleta
Who was born on a schooner
Abarrotada de esclavos
Jam packed with slaves
Que de Jamaica robaron
Stolen from Jamaica
La pureza está en la mezcla
Purity lies in the mix
En la mezcla de lo puro
In the mixture of the pure
Que antes que puro fue mezcla
Which before being pure was a blend
La madre de mi tío
My uncle's mother
Se casó con un gitano
Married a gypsy
Que tocaba la guitarra
Who played the guitar
Con seis dedos en la mano
With six fingers on his hand
Y acompañaba a un payo
And accompanied a non-gypsy
Que cantaba bulerías
Who sang bulerías
Con un negro de Chicago
With a black man from Chicago
Que decía ser su hermano
Who claimed to be his brother
Dicen que mi abuelo
They say my grandfather
Era un rubio bananero
Was a blonde banana farmer
Que a Cuba llegó de España
Who arrived in Cuba from Spain
Pa' quedarse en La Habana
To stay in Havana
Y que yendo pa' Santiago
And while going to Santiago
Conoció a una mulata
He met a mulatto woman
Mezcla de tabaco y caña
A blend of tobacco and sugar cane
Que en francés a él le hablaba
Who spoke to him in French
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: PAU DONES CIRERA
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Miguel Angel
En lo puro no hay futuro
Mi tío era el primo
De un amigo de mi abuelo
Que era indio americano
Que se había enamorado
De una tico patuá
Que nació en una goleta
Abarrotada de esclavos
Que de Jamaica robaron
En lo puro no hay futuro
La pureza está en la mezcla
En la mezcla de lo puro
Que antes que puro fue mezcla
La madre de mi tío
Se casó con un gitano
Que tocaba la guitarra
Con seis dedos en la mano
Y acompañaba a un payo
Que cantaba bulerías
Con un negro de Chicago
Que decía ser su hermano
En lo puro no hay futuro
Dicen que mi abuelo
Era un rubio bananero
Que a Cuba llegó de España
Pa' quedarse en La Habana
Y que yendo pa' Santiago
Conoció a una mulata
Mezcla de tabaco y caña
Que en francés a él le hablaba
Señores, en lo puro no hay futuro
Señores, la pureza está en la mezcla
Señores, en la mezcla de lo puro
Señores, que antes que puro fue mezcla
Jose A. Blanco Bouza
Hasta siempre Pau...te seguiremos disfrutando
claudia garcia
mexicana con alemán, la pureza está en la mezcla
Mariló Muñoz
PAU DONÉS, EL MEJOR !! 😘😘😘🤟
Pascal
I first heard this song thanks to my spanish teacher in 9th grade i am grateful that she make us listen to it
Fabrizio B. Mendizabal
100% mestizo ❤
Oscar Tay
Vuelta alto Pau!
Virtudes Navarro
Similar? 😂
Maxime_xy
En lo pro no Hay futuro