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.
No Te Comprendi
José Alfredo Jiménez Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
te quize hacer como una vez te habia soñado
pero no tuve ni derecho a preguntarte
de donde vienes que tan negro es tu pasado
llegaste a mi como las aguas de los mares
con tanta fuerza que en tus brazos me prendí
tal vez venias de recorrer muchos lugares
talvez los hombres que te amaron te engañaron
quien sabes que buscabas yo no te comprendí
llegaste a mi como las aguas de los mares
con tanta fuerza que en tus brazos me prendí
tal vez venias de recorrer muchos lugares
de mundos tan distintos que no te comprendí
talvez los hombres que te amaron te engañaron
quien sabes que buscabas yo no te comprendí
The lyrics of José Alfredo Jiménez's song No Te Comprendí speak of a love that was promised by the singer's beloved but left unfulfilled due to a lack of understanding. The singer had hoped to make their love a reality as it had once been dreamed of, but the singer was not even given the right to ask about their beloved's past.
The beloved came to the singer with the strength of the sea, and the singer was so enamored that they were caught in the beloved's embrace. However, the beloved came from worlds so different that the singer could not understand them. Perhaps the men who had loved the beloved had deceived them, or maybe the beloved was searching for something that the singer simply could not comprehend.
The lyrics of this song reflect the feelings of many people who have been in a relationship with someone whose past they do not know or whose intentions are unclear. It is easy to become lost in the fervor of a new relationship, but sometimes it takes time and understanding to truly comprehend our partner's true self.
Line by Line Meaning
Por ese amor que con tus labios me juraste
I loved you because of the promises you made me with your lips
te quize hacer como una vez te habia soñado
I wanted to make you just as I had dreamt of you once
pero no tuve ni derecho a preguntarte
But I didn't have the right to ask you
de donde vienes que tan negro es tu pasado
Where do you come from that your past is so dark?
llegaste a mi como las aguas de los mares
You came to me like the waters of the sea
con tanta fuerza que en tus brazos me prendí
With such force that I became ensnared in your arms
tal vez venias de recorrer muchos lugares
Maybe you had travelled to many places
de mundos tan distintos que no te comprendí
From such vastly different worlds that I couldn't understand you
talvez los hombres que te amaron te engañaron
Maybe the men who loved you had deceived you
quien sabes que buscabas yo no te comprendí
Who knows what you were looking for, but I didn't understand you
Contributed by Zoe P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
hernan eliecer salazar salgado
con el nombre de jose alfredo jimenez se define todo lo que es mexico, en cada una de sus obras se siente el pueblo mexicano y como un gran eco nos llega a todo el mundo entero
Elizardo Carrillo
Carajo, don Jose Alfredo; que bella musica! Gracias por hacernos los herederos de tan hermoso legado.
Ramiro Gomez
No me canso de escuchar estas canciones , que se nos fue a tenprana edad pues si nos ubiera durado otros años mas nos hubiera dejado muchas mas canciones ,, que dios lo tenga en su gloria pues aun los mexicanos lloramos tu partida...
carlos alberto diaz marin
no sera la mejor voz de mexico pero se le oye hermoso,, canta con el alma, canta con el corazon, canta con toda su vida y vive lo que siente gracias mexico por jose alfredo
Jaime Herrera
Pa' canciones con sentimiento...no existe otro como el Maestro Jose Alfredo.... que en sus canciones nos entrego el corazon y el alma...y atraves de sus versos... nos ponemos en sus zapatos...y aveces es la cruel realidad de lo que nos pasa...y con su letra nos ayuda seguir adelante...
Mega shonay
felicidades mexicanos que gran compositor tienen,y digo tienen por que el maestro DON JOSE ALFREDO JIMENEZ,esta vivo con solo escuchar sus composiciones pareciera que ya sabia lo que a cada uno nos pasaria,sin duda todas sus canciones son hechos de la vida real,no te rajes guanajuato viva DON JOSE ALFREDO JIMENEZ ,saludes desde honduras.
Myriam Espitia Espitia
"Saludos desde Colombia al más grande de los grandes, su voz, su composición nunca pasarán de moda ni serán superadas, gracias por su gran inspiración"
Maria Carrillo
Sin duda, la letra y voz de este hombre es incomparable y no habra quien lo iguale. El vive en mi corazon y aunque yo no soy de Guanajuano la musica de el para mi es un encanto y no la cambio por lo que se escucha hoy en dia.
Eva Hernandez
hermosisima cancion como todas las de este gran senoron verdaderamente no hay quien lo iguale como compositor ni cantante el componia y cantaba con el corazon DIOS lo tiene en su santo reino cantandole y alabandolo a EL indudablemente
Victor Martinez
Muy grande yo pienso que nunca nadie como el señor