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.
Pasaste A La Historia
José Alfredo Jiménez Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Ya te puedo mirar cara a cara
Y hablarte de cosas que no sean de amor
Ya me puedes contar sin que sufra
que pronto te casas
Ya me puedes decir lo que quieras
lo mismo me da
Fueron tantas tus malas acciones
Que no fue posible querer y llorar
Comprendí que el amor que vivimos
Nomás yo lo daba
Y agarrando mi orgullo del suelo
Pensé en olvidar
Que cariño tan grande te tuvo mi pecho
Va a pasar mucho tiempo
Pa' que otro te diga sinceras palabras de amor
Tal vez nunca te digan te quiero
Con llanto en el alma
Tal vez nunca te besen temblando
Con loca pasión
Que cariño tan grande te tuvo mi pecho
Cuantas penas y cuantas vergüenzas
Quedaron escritas con tanto dolor
Pero al fin como negro recuerdo
Pasaste a la historia
De ese libro que no terminamos
Por falta de amor
The lyrics of José Alfredo Jiménez's song Pasaste A La Historia speak of a past love that has come to an end. The bitterness and pain that the singer felt because of the past relationship have dissipated, and they are now able to face their former lover without any emotional turmoil. The singer says that they are ready to speak to their ex about things other than love, and that they can hear about their upcoming wedding without suffering pain.
The singer reflects on the love they shared, and how they were the only one contributing to it. They have decided to let go of their pride and attempt to forget their suffering. The chorus of the song implies that the love they had for their ex was so great, it will be hard for anyone else to love them as sincerely as they did. The verses are a reflection of the pain and misery the singer went through in the past relationship, and how they have moved on from it.
Line by Line Meaning
Ya paso la amargura que tú me dejaste
The bitterness you left me with has finally passed
Ya te puedo mirar cara a cara
I can finally look you in the eye
Y hablarte de cosas que no sean de amor
We can talk about things other than love
Ya me puedes contar sin que sufra que pronto te casas
You can tell me without causing me pain that soon you'll be married
Ya me puedes decir lo que quieras lo mismo me da
You can tell me whatever you want, it doesn't matter to me
Ya pasó lo que nunca pensé que pasará
What I never thought would happen has finally happened
Fueron tantas tus malas acciones que no fue posible querer y llorar
Your bad actions were so many that it wasn't possible to love and cry
Comprendí que el amor que vivimos Nomás yo lo daba
I realized that I was the only one giving love in our relationship
Y agarrando mi orgullo del suelo pensé en olvidar
Picking up my pride from the ground, I thought about forgetting
Que cariño tan grande te tuvo mi pecho
My heart had so much love for you
Va a pasar mucho tiempo Pa' que otro te diga sinceras palabras de amor
It will be a long time before someone else tells you sincere words of love
Tal vez nunca te digan te quiero Con llanto en el alma
Maybe no one with tears in their soul will ever say they love you
Tal vez nunca te besen temblando Con loca pasión
Maybe no one will ever kiss you trembling with crazy passion
Cuantas penas y cuantas vergüenzas Quedaron escritas con tanto dolor
So many sorrows and shames were written with so much pain
Pero al fin como negro recuerdo Pasaste a la historia
But in the end, like a dark memory, you became part of history
De ese libro que no terminamos Por falta de amor
From that book that we never finished due to lack of love
Contributed by Nathaniel A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
J. Luis Valle
Yo quiero darles las gracias a todos los latinoamericanos por reconocer en algo a nosotros los mexicanos. Porque en musica tubimos el honor de tener a los mejores compositores y rambien quien interpretara sus canciones como nadie mas podria.
Fausta Sánchez
Un amor hermosas canciones mi favorita lo nuestro pasó a la historia lindos recuerdos y al mismo tiempo tristes recuerdos no me canso de escuchar este gran artista
Nestor augusto arevalo Paez
Por favor ayúdenos a de declarar a este poeta como patrimonio de la humanidad
Evy Azael
"Comprendí que el amor que vivimos nomás yo lo daba"....Marzo 2018 y apenas escucho está canción tan llegadora, fuiste grande José Alfredo Jiménez 👌👌👌👏👏👏👏
GONZÁLEZ GARCÍA ALEJANDRA
No podría sobrellevar este mal de amores sin este señoron 😣 sus canciones me ayudan a sacar lo que siento 😣 por un hombre que aún me puede hacer tanto daño al corazón ✨
el almirante
Yo pensé que había escuchado todas sus canciones .... y me encuentro este monumento. Que viva Dolores, Guanajuato, tierra de José Alfredo. Saludos al estilo Jalisco.
maripocita martinez
Me encanta no se por que! quien no atenido una pagina de su vida igual a esta historia. Canción echa poesía.¡ Viva nuestra música Mexicana!
Juan Ride
la mejor cancion mejicana. musica que no pasara de moda. desde colombiia con mucho carino
lourdes eibar
en memoria de mis padres que les encantaba este gran hombre un abrazo d/d españa
carlos alberto diaz marin
eso si es despecho y a lo grande . . .que belleza de cancion mexicana