Joaquín Ramón Martínez Sabina (Úbeda, Jaén, Spain, 12 February 1949), known… Read Full Bio ↴Joaquín Ramón Martínez Sabina (Úbeda, Jaén, Spain, 12 February 1949), known artistically as Joaquín Sabina, is a singer - songwriter, and poet. He has released fourteen studio albums, two live albums, and three compilation albums. He has collaborated and composed songs for Ana Belén and Miguel Ríos amongst others.

Joaquín Sabina, is the second son of Adela Sabina del Campo and Jerónimo Martinez Gallego, which was a policeman. He attended a Carmelite primary school and he started writing his firsts poems and composing music at 14 years old. He was part of a band called Merry Youngs which imitated singers such as Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry or Little Richard.

In 1968 he enrolled in the University of Granada, but went into exile in London, using a fake passport, to avoid Francisco Franco's persecution. In London, he collaborated with other young artists in theater and cultural events.

In 1975, he started composing songs and singing at local bars. When the dictatorship ended in 1977 he returned to Spain and enrolled in the military.

In 1978 his first album, Inventario (Inventory), debuted with the number-one hit single Pongamos que hablo de Madrid (Let's say I'm talking about Madrid).

Afterwards, he released Malas compañías (The Wrong Crowd) and a live album called La mandrágora (The Mandragora), which caused much controversy due to the racy content of its lyrics. Spain was just coming out of the dictatorship, and Sabina's favorite topics have always been deemed "morally inappropriate" by some: the homeless, prostitutes, drunks, and Robin Hood-styled thieves. He is very much anti-stablishment.

In 1983 he released Ruleta Rusa (Russian Roulette) and two years later, Juez y parte (Judge and Jury). His political views led him to take part in the anti-NATO movement. He later published Joaquín Sabina y Viceversa.

In 1987 he released Hotel, dulce hotel (Hotel, Sweet Hotel), which sold a large number of records in Spain. That success followed with his next album El hombre del traje gris (The Man in The Gray Suit), and followed with a successful tour of South America.

In 1990 he released Mentiras piadosas (White Lies) and two years later Física y química (Physics and Chemistry), which led to another successful tour of the Americas.

His later albums Esta boca es mía (These Lips are Mine), Yo, mi, me contigo (I, Me, With You) and 19 días y 500 noches (19 Days and 500 Nights), won him recognition and multiple platinum albums.

After recovering from a stroke, he returned to the stage in 2002 with Dímelo en la calle (Let's Take It Outside). He later released a double album called Diario de un peatón (Diary of A Pedestrian), which included both his previous album and 12 new songs, along with a book illustrated by him.

In 2005 his new record Alivio de luto (Mourning Relief), put him in track to being one of the biggest names in Spanish musical stardom. The album comes with a DVD that includes interviews, music videos, acoustic versions of the songs and some home-made recordings.

Contrabando
Joaquín Sabina Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Mirando en el retrovisor
Los semáforos del miedo
Ando buscando un alquiler
Un cuarto de pensión
Una canción capaz de hacer
De tripas corazón
Dame
Madrina de los sueños de los presos

Patrona de los huérfanos de besos
Señora de la confusión
Dame tu santa bendición

Vago sin norte
Sin liquidez, sin pasaporte
No pido nada
Mañana cabe en un motel
Lleno de ojeras del pastel
Con rimel de la madrugada
Una canción capaz de hacer
De tripas corazón
Para seguir, para volver
Ando buscando una mujer
Tan puta como yo
Un juez y parte al ajedrez
La reina y el peón
Dame

Madrina de los sueños de los presos
Patrona de los huérfanos de besos
Dame tu santa bendición
Esposa de los hombres sin esposa
Peligro de las curvas peligrosas
Dame tu santa bendición
Señora de la confusión
Dame tu santa bendición
Inmaculada decepción
Dime que sí, dime que no

Dame tu santa bendición
Dime que tú, dime que yo

Overall Meaning

The verse of "Contrabando" by Joaquin Sabina is an introspective and melancholic description of a life on the run, constantly moving and searching for shelter, love and inspiration. In the first lines, the singer looks in the rearview mirror and sees the "traffic lights of fear", a metaphor for the anxiety and danger he is running away from. He then expresses his need for a new home, a simple room to rent where he can find the courage to write a song that can move people's hearts, despite his own troubled emotions. He addresses a feminine figure, referring to her as the "godmother of the inmates' dreams" and the "patron saint of the orphans of kisses", asking for her blessing and guidance. He feels lost, broke, and without proper identity papers, but he's not asking for pity or handouts, just a little hope and inspiration.

In the second verse, Sabina describes his temporary refuge in a cheap motel, where he spends sleepless nights trying to create, using the dark circles under his eyes as a metaphor for the struggles of his creative process. He then repeats his desire for a song that speaks from the gut and touches the soul, to help him keep going and maybe come back one day to the woman he's looking for, someone as promiscuous and free-spirited as he is, someone who can play both roles at the chessboard of life, being the queen and the pawn at the same time.

Line by Line Meaning

Mirando en el retrovisor
Looking back through the rearview mirror

Los semáforos del miedo
The traffic lights of fear

Ando buscando un alquiler
I'm looking for a place to rent

Un cuarto de pensión
A cheap hotel room

Una canción capaz de hacer De tripas corazón
A song that can move me deeply

Dame Madrina de los sueños de los presos Patrona de los huérfanos de besos Señora de la confusión Dame tu santa bendición
Give me your blessing, as the godmother of prisoners' dreams, patron saint of kissless orphans, and lady of confusion

Vago sin norte
I wander aimlessly

Sin liquidez, sin pasaporte
Without money, without a passport

No pido nada
I'm not asking for anything

Mañana cabe en un motel
Tomorrow fits in a motel

Lleno de ojeras del pastel Con rimel de la madrugada
Full of the remnants of last night, and mascara from staying up too late

Una canción capaz de hacer De tripas corazón
A song that can move me deeply

Para seguir, para volver Ando buscando una mujer Tan puta como yo Un juez y parte al ajedrez La reina y el peón
To keep going, to come back, I'm looking for a woman as reckless as I am, a judge and part of a chess game, the queen and the pawn

Dame Madrina de los sueños de los presos Patrona de los huérfanos de besos Dame tu santa bendición Esposa de los hombres sin esposa Peligro de las curvas peligrosas Dame tu santa bendición
Give me your blessing, as the godmother of prisoners' dreams, patron saint of kissless orphans, and wife of men without wives, danger of dangerous curves, give me your holy blessing

Señora de la confusión Dame tu santa bendición Inmaculada decepción Dime que sí, dime que no Dame tu santa bendición Dime que tú, dime que yo
Lady of confusion, give me your holy blessing, immaculate deception, tell me yes, tell me no, give me your holy blessing, tell me you, tell me me

Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: ANTONIO PEREZ GARCIA DE DIEGO, FRANCISCO JOSE LOPEZ VARONA, JOAQUIN RAMON MARTINEZ SABINA, JOAQUIN RAMON SABINA

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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