Los Lobos is a Mexican-American rock band from East Los Angeles, California… Read Full Bio ↴Los Lobos is a Mexican-American rock band from East Los Angeles, California, USA, heavily influenced by rock and roll, Tex-Mex, country music, folk, blues, and traditional Spanish / Mexican music such as boleros and norteño.

Vocalist/guitarist David Hidalgo and drummer Louie Pérez met at Garfield High School in East Los Angeles, and bonded over their mutual affinity for obscure musical acts such as Fairport Convention, Randy Newman and Ry Cooder. Pérez recalls, "We’re looking at each other, 'You like this stuff? I thought I was the only weird one.' So I went over to his house one day for about a year, which we spent listening to records, playing guitars, and starting to write songs." The two borrowed reel-to-reel recorders from a friend and created multi-track recordings of music spanning from parody songs to free-form jazz. They later enlisted fellow students Cesar Rosas and Conrad Lozano to complete the group's line-up in 1973.

Formed in the late 1970's, band members Dave Hidalgo, Cesar Rojas, Steve Berlin, Louie Pérez and Conrad Lozano became the bellwether for Mexican-American music in the U.S. when they recorded the music for "La Bamba" in 1987, which added popular acclaim to the critical praise they had received for their 1984 album "How Will the Wolf Survive?".

They have since become one of the mainstays of the Latin music scene as well as rock music in general, staying together through over 20 albums, and for almost three decades, through changing music climate and personal tragedies, they've continued cranking out albums and touring to dedicated fans.

Marie Marie
Los Lobos Lyrics

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Marie Marie
Playing guitar on the back porch
I sit in my car
While she sings so sad
Marie Marie

Marie Marie
It's so lonely in these farmlands

Please come with me
To the bright lights downtown
Marie Marie

I said, "Hey, pretty girl
Don't you understand
I just want to be your lovin' man"

Marie Marie
The sun is down in the corn fields
The evening is dark
And you sing so sad
Marie Marie

Marie Marie
I got two weeks in back pay
There's gas in my car
And your folks say I must go
Marie Marie

I said, "Hey, pretty girl
Don't you understand
I just want to be your lovin' man"

Marie Marie
Playing guitar on the back porch
I leave in my car

While you sing so sad
Marie Marie

Overall Meaning

The song "Marie Marie" by Los Lobos is a melancholic ballad about an unrequited love. The singer is sitting in his car listening to a girl named Marie as she plays guitar on her back porch. He is captivated by her sad singing and begs her to come with him to the bright lights downtown, away from the loneliness of the farmlands. But despite his desires, Marie's family wants him to leave, and he has no choice but to go, leaving her behind.

The lyrics evoke a sense of longing and sadness, as the singer is clearly smitten with Marie but unable to convince her to join him. The repetition of her name adds to the emotional intensity of the song, and the description of the corn fields and the dark evening creates a sense of isolation and despair.

Overall, "Marie Marie" is a beautiful and poignant song that captures the heartbreak of unrequited love and the pain of being unable to escape one's circumstances.

Line by Line Meaning

Marie Marie
The first line of the song, referring to the woman who the song is about

Playing guitar on the back porch
Marie is playing guitar on the back porch, alone or with the singer

I sit in my car
The singer is sitting in his car, watching Marie play guitar

While she sings so sad
Marie is singing a sad song while playing guitar