La Lupe (aka La Yiyiyi, born Guadalupe Victoria Yolí Raymond, 23 Dec 1936 -… Read Full Bio ↴La Lupe (aka La Yiyiyi, born Guadalupe Victoria Yolí Raymond, 23 Dec 1936 - d. 1992) was a Latin & salsa singer.

Born in the barrio of San Pedrito, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba - her father was a worker at the local Bacardi distillery and was a major influence on her life. He strictly encouraged her to become a school teacher. Just like her counterpart, Celia Cruz, she was a schoolteacher before she became a singer.

She married in 1958 and formed a musical trio with her husband Eulogio "Yoyo" Reyes and another female singer. This group "The Tropicuba Trio" broke up with the marriage in 1960. She began to perform her own act at a small nightclub in Havana, La Red, and acquired a devoted following also appearing on radio. She released her first album, Con el Diablo en el Cuerpo (With the Devil Inside) on Discuba in 1961. Her expressive performances with their violent sexuality attracted criticism that she was a poor example to the revolutionary state, this led to professional difficulties which together with personal problems made it difficult to stay in Cuba.

In 1962 she found herself exiled to the United States. In New York City she performed at a cabaret named La Barraca, where she was discovered by Mongo Santamaria and started a new career, making more than 10 records in five years.

Her passionate performances covered the range of Cuban music: son montuno, bolero, Guantanamera venturing into other Caribbean styles like merengue, boogaloo, golpe tocuyano, busamba, salsa. In the sixties she was the most acclaimed Latin singer in New York City due her partnership with Tito Puente. She was the first Latin singer to sell out a concert at Madison Square Garden. She also did a wide variety of cover versions in either Spanish or accented English, including "Yesterday", "Dominique" by The Singing Nun, "Twist & Shout", "Unchained Melody", "Fever" and "America" from from the play/film West Side Story.

A devout follower of Santería, she continued to practice her religion regardless of the influence, fortune, and fame she had acquired throughout the height of her career. However, due to the decision by her record label, Fania Records, to end her contract in the last 1970s (mainly because the label wanted to focus on the less controversial, yet commercially-successful Celia Cruz), she saw herself destitute by the early 1980s. After being led to believe she was miraculously healed by an evangelical Christian faith healer, she abandoned her Santeria roots and became a born-again Christian. She died in the Bronx and was survived by her husband William Garcia, their daughter Rainbow, and her son Rene Camaro (whose father was Eulogio Reyes). She is interred permanently in Saint Raymond's Cemetery in the Bronx.

In the 1990s, interest in her music was re-sparked when Pedro Almodóvar included "Puro Teatro", one of her boleros of love and breakup in his film classic Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. Due to her similarities to American singer Judy Garland such as her strong, yet raspy voice, and her energetic and unpredictable stage performances, she has become an icon among many gays in Latin America and Spain.

In 2002, The New York City renamed East 140th Street in The Bronx as La Lupe Way in her memory.

No Me Quieras Tanto
La Lupe Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Yo siento en el alma
Tener que decirte
Que mi amor se extingue Como una pavesa
Y que poco a poco
Se queda sin luz

Yo sé que te mueres
Cual pálido lirio

Y sé que me quieres, Que soy tu delirio
Y que en ésta vida
Yo He sido tu cruz

Ay! Amor ya no me quieras tanto
Ay! Amor no sufras más por mí
Si no más puedo causarte llanto
Ay! Amor olvídate de mí

Me da pena que sigas sufriendo tu amor desesperado
Yo quisiera que tú te encontras De nuevo otro querer
Otro ser que te brinde la dicha Que yo no te he brindado
Y poder alejarme de tí Para nunca más volver

Ay! Amor ya no me quieras tanto
Ay! Amor olvídate de mí

Me da pena que sigas sufriendo tu amor desesperado
Yo quisiera que tú te encontras De nuevo otro querer
Otro ser que te brinde la dicha Que yo no te he brindado
Y poder alejarme de tí Para nunca más volver

Ay! Amor ya no me quieras tanto

Ay! Amor olvídate de mi...
De mí!

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to La Lupe's song No Me Quieras Tanto, translated to English as 'Don't Love Me So Much', express the singer's desire to end a relationship that has lost its spark. The singer confesses that their love has dwindled slowly like a dying ember, and they do not want to cause any more pain to their partner who loves them so passionately. The singer acknowledges that they have been their partner's biggest challenge in life, and that they have failed to provide them with the happiness they sought in the relationship.

Despite acknowledging their partner's love and devotion, the singer implores them to move on and find happiness with someone else. They feel remorse that their partner is still suffering because of their unrequited love, and they want them to be able to find the love and fulfillment they deserve. The repetition of the chorus, "Ay! Amor ya no me quieras tanto, Ay! Amor olvídate de mí" emphasizes the singer's desire to end the relationship and to let their partner move on.

Line by Line Meaning

Yo siento en el alma
I feel in my soul

Tener que decirte
To have to tell you

Que mi amor se extingue
That my love is dying out

Como una pavesa
Like an ember

Y que poco a poco
And that little by little

Se queda sin luz
It's losing its light

Yo sé que te mueres
I know you're dying

Cual pálido lirio
Like a pale lily

Y sé que me quieres,
And I know you love me

Que soy tu delirio
That I'm your obsession

Y que en ésta vida
And that in this life