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.
Para Morir Iguales
José Alfredo Jiménez Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
y vete a donde quieras pero llévame en ti,
que al fin de tu camino comprenderás tus males,
sabiendo que nacimos para morir iguales.
Olvídate de todo, menos de mí,
porque ni tú ni nadie arrancarán de tu alma
los besos que te di; los besos, las caricias
que presenció la noche que te entregaste a mí.
El tiempo seguirá su marcha interminable.
Quién sabe a dónde vayas,
quién sabe a dónde acabes.
Y yo te buscaré por cielos y por mares,
rompiendo mi destino para morir iguales.
Olvídate de todo, menos de mí,
porque ni tú ni nadie arrancarán de tu alma
los besos que te di; los besos, las caricias
y tantas otras cosas
que presenció la noche que te entregaste a mí.
These lyrics are about a love that is so deep that the singer asks the listener to forget everything else except for them, and to take them wherever they go. The singer believes that at the end of the listener's journey, they will understand their troubles and woes. The song speaks of the inevitability of death, and how we all die equally. The singer implores the listener to remember the moments they shared, the kisses exchanged, the caresses felt, and everything else that happened on the night they gave themselves to each other. The singer knows that time will carry on endlessly and that the listener may end up anywhere, but they vow to search for them in every corner of the earth, breaking their own destiny so that they can die together.
This song speaks to the depth of true love and the fact that no matter what, in the end, we all die the same. We may live different lives and face different challenges, but death unites us all. The song is a reminder to cherish the moments that we share with loved ones and to hold onto them, even after they are gone. It also speaks to the power of love and how it can make us go to great lengths to be with someone, even if it means breaking our own fate.
Line by Line Meaning
Olvídate de todo, menos de mí,
Forget everything, but not me,
y vete a donde quieras pero llévame en ti,
Go anywhere you want, but take me with you,
que al fin de tu camino comprenderás tus males,
At the end of your journey, you will understand your troubles,
sabiendo que nacimos para morir iguales.
Knowing that we were born to die the same.
porque ni tú ni nadie arrancarán de tu alma
Because neither you nor anyone will be able to remove from your soul
los besos que te di; los besos, las caricias
the kisses I gave you; the kisses, the caresses
y tantas otras cosas que presenció la noche que te entregaste a mí.
and so many other things that the night you gave yourself to me witnessed.
El tiempo seguirá su marcha interminable.
Time will continue its endless march.
Quién sabe a dónde vayas,
Who knows where you will go,
quién sabe a dónde acabes.
who knows where you will end up.
Y yo te buscaré por cielos y por mares,
And I will search for you in skies and seas,
rompiendo mi destino para morir iguales.
breaking my destiny to die the same.
Contributed by Reagan K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.