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.

Rango Theme Song
Los Lobos Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

From out the dust
came a man true and bold
Champion of the fandango
By night he drank whiskey
by day killed bad man
And the townspeople knew him as rango

Comin'down the mountainside

the people hailed his name
And of his legend they sango
With iron in his heart
steel in his claw
He pumped their heads all full of lead and rango

Rango
Rango
Rango
Rango
Rango

A ladies man indeed from his head down to his knees
Rango was doing the tango
But in came bad bill from his hide out on the hill
With a notion to kill rango.

Rango
Rango
Rango
Rango
Rango

Rango
Rango
Rango
Rango
Rango

Now rango he is gone but his legend still lives on in the
Brothels and saloon of durango
He lived as he died
A six gun at his side
And all the ladies cried for rango

Rango
Rango
Rango
Rango

Rango
(Rango, rango...)

Overall Meaning

The Los Lobos song Rango Theme Song tells the story of a man who emerges from the dust and becomes a champion of the fandango, a dance accompanied by guitar and singing, and a revered figure among the townspeople who call him Rango. However, his exploits extend beyond dancing - Rango is also a notorious killer of "bad men" who cross his path. He is a ladies' man, but his reputation and his life are threatened when the infamous outlaw Bad Bill comes to town with the intent to kill Rango. In the end, Rango meets his demise, but his legendary status lives on in the brothels and saloons of Durango.

The song is an homage to the spaghetti westerns of the 60s and 70s, with its references to gunslingers, outlaws, and dusty towns in the American West. But it also uses humor and irony to subvert some of the clichés of the genre, such as the idealized hero who is both skilled with a gun and graceful on the dance floor. The lyrics paint a vivid portrait of a larger-than-life character who embodies both the romanticized and the brutal aspects of the western mythos.

Line by Line Meaning

From out the dust
In a difficult and challenging environment

came a man true and bold
An honest and daring person emerged

Champion of the fandango
An expert in the dance known as fandango

By night he drank whiskey
In the evening, he consumed alcohol

by day killed bad man
During the daytime, he eliminated evil-doers

And the townspeople knew him as rango
The people of the town identified him as Rango

Comin'down the mountainside
Descending from a higher place

the people hailed his name
They cheered for him upon his arrival

And of his legend they sango
They sang and retold his story

With iron in his heart
He possessed a strong resolve

steel in his claw
He grasped his weapon tightly