José Alfredo Jiménez (born in Dolores Hidalgo, Guanajuato, Mexico on 19 Jan… Read Full Bio ↴José Alfredo Jiménez (born in Dolores Hidalgo, Guanajuato, Mexico on 19 January 1926 - died 23 November 1973 in Mexico City, Mexico) was a legendary Mexican singer-songwriter in the ranchera style. His songs are considered part of the Mexican musical heritage and comparable, for instance, to what Woody Guthrie meant to American folk music.

The restaurant where he worked as a young man, "La Sirena" was frequented by Andres Huesca, who heard some of his compositions of the then young singer, among which was "Cuando el Destino" and "Yo". Huesca immediately decided to record this and following this in 1948 for the first time on the radio station XEX-AM and months after the XEW-AM, which was catapulted to fame. He married Paloma Gálvez and had two children, José Alfredo and Paloma.

He had no musical training—according to the singer Miguel Aceves Mejía, Jiménez didn't play an instrument and didn't even know the Spanish terms for "waltz" and "key". Nonetheless he composed more than 1000 songs. Among the most famous are "Ella", "Media Vuelta", "El Rey", "El Jinete", "Si Nos Dejan", "Amanecí Entre Tus Brazos", "Cuando el Destino", "El Caballo Blanco", "Llegó Borracho el Borracho" and "Que Te Vaya Bonito", as well as "Camino de Guanajuato", where he sang about his home State of Guanajuato as well as his home town of Dolores Hidalgo Guanajuato.

In addition to his own hit recordings, many of his songs have been recorded successfully by recording artists around the Spanish-speaking world, most notably by Pedro Infante, Rocío Durcal, Javier Solís, Pedro Fernández, Jorge Negrete, Vikki Carr, Luis Miguel, Lola Beltrán, Lucha Villa, Vicente Fernández and by Spaniards Julio Iglesias, Joaquín Sabina and Manolo García.

Jiménez passed at a young age, like others of his contemporaries: Negrete, Infante and Solís, the so-called "Three Mexican Roosters", or Tres Gallos Mexicanos all died young. He was struck-down by hepatitis at age 47 and is regarded, along with Agustín Lara and Juan Gabriel, as one of the best songwriters that Mexico has ever produced. He was certainly one of the most prolific composers in the history of popular music, world-wide.

Shortly before his death, he wrote and recorded his last song, "Gracias", thanking the public for all of the affection they had shown him. His tomb has become a place of pilgrimage for serious music fans from around the Spanish-speaking world.

El Siete Mares
José Alfredo Jiménez Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Soy marino vivo errante
Cruzo por lo siete mares
Y como soy navegante
Vivo entre las tempestades
Desafiando los peligros que me dan los siete mares

Cuando el mar esta tranquilo
Y hay estrellas en el cielo

Entre penas y suspiros le hablo a la mujer que quiero
Y solo el mar me contesta
Ya no llores marinero

Me dicen el siete mares
Porque ando de puerto en puerto
Llevando con migo mismo
Un amor ya casi muerto

Yo ya quisiera quedarme
Juntito a mi grana cariño
Pero esa no fue mi vida
Navegar es mi destino

Estrellita marinera
Compañera de nosotros
Que noticia tienes ora
De esa que me trae tan loco
Si es que todavía me quiere
Dímelo poquito a poco

Olas altas olas grandes
Que me arrastran y me alejan
Cuando anclemos en Tampico
quédense un ratio quietas
Tan siquiera cuatro noches
Si es que entienden mis tristezas

Me dicen el siete mares
Porque ando de puerto en puerto
Llevando con migo mismo
Un amor ya casi muerto

Yo ya quisiera quedarme
Juntito a mi grana cariño

Pero esa no fue mi vida
Navegar es mi destino

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of José Alfredo Jiménez's song El Siete Mares describe the life of a sailor who is constantly wandering across the seas. As a navigator, they live through storms and face danger in their journey through the seven seas. The sailor speaks of his beloved woman with whom he talks when the sea is calm and the stars are shining in the sky. It seems that the sailor's love is fading away, and he wishes to stay with his beloved but he cannot resist his destiny as a seafarer.

The sailor describes himself as El Siete Mares, which means the seven seas, as he travels from one port to another, carrying his almost-dead love with him. He acknowledges the fact that his life as a sailor is not by choice but by destiny. The sailor pleads with the waves to let him stay anchored in Tampico for at least four nights to heal his soul.

The lyrics of El Siete Mares depict the hard and lonely life of a sailor away from loved ones, chasing their destiny. The song highlights the longing for love and connections and the battle between one's destiny and heart's desires.

Line by Line Meaning

Soy marino vivo errante
I am a sailor, constantly wandering.

Cruzo por lo siete mares
I cross the seven seas.

Y como soy navegante
And since I am a seafarer,

Vivo entre las tempestades
I live amid storms.

Desafiando los peligros que me dan los siete mares
Challenging the dangers that the seven seas offer me.

Cuando el mar esta tranquilo
When the sea is calm,

Y hay estrellas en el cielo
And the stars are shining in the sky,

Entre penas y suspiros le hablo a la mujer que quiero
I talk to the woman I love amid sorrows and sighs.

Y solo el mar me contesta
But only the sea answers me.

Ya no llores marinero
Do not cry, sailor.

Me dicen el siete mares
They call me the seven seas.