History
Ricardo was born in the village of Jocotenango, near Antigua, Guatemala to Ricardo Arjona Moscoso and Noemí Morales de Arjona. When he was three years of age he and his family moved to Guatemala City.
He spent some time as a teacher at a rural primary school, where he reputedly said he spent three hours giving lessons and the rest of the day playing football. This earned him a visit from a Ministry of Education representative, who was sent to evaluate the level of education amongst Ricardo Arjona's pupils. The representative found that the students' level of education was actually above average.
Ricardo Arjona was a talented basketball player, and he played for the team Leones de Marte. He also toured Central America as a member of the Selección de básquetbol de Guatemala (Guatemala's National Basketball Team); until recently he held the record for the most points scored in a single game by a Guatemalan player.
Although he initially enrolled in architecture and engineering subjects, he eventually graduated with a degree from the School of Communication Sciences at the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala (USAC).
At USAC there is a library hall that bears his name. There is also a street named for him in his birthplace, Jocotenango, Guatemala.
Bar
Ricardo Arjona Lyrics
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Comandas de tequila, luces rojas
Tertulias que se olvidan cuando llega
La maldita resaca
Meseras con billetes en la blusa
Trincheras de una luz semi difusa
Que les quita la cara a los que esconden secretos personales
El bar es un hotel
Medio pelo que le cura el desconsuelo a los que no saben
Que hacer con el desvelo, como yo
Papeles por debajo de la mesa
Cócteles que te alivian la tristeza
Canciones como dagas en el pecho de la melancolía
Historias que no van a ningún lado
Glorias de un pasado tan pasado
Y mis sueños merodeando suicidados en la vieja tarima
Yo llevo aquí metido media vida
Y sigo solo y sin salida
Y recordando todas las putas noches
Que ahí se sentaba ella
Que ahí se enamoro de mi
Ahí mientras cantaba
Pintaba en servilletas mensajes subversivos
Mientras se las sujetaba
Ahí se sentaba ella
Ahí se enamoro de mi
Ahí en esa silla ella
Un día se aburrió, de mi
Dolores se llamaba que ironía
Dolores no buscaba compañía
Que le durara mas que el alter show y el sudor camerino
Se unió a los delirios del trasnoche
Se alió a los colirios y al derroche
Y yo que bautice de amor lo que era compañía
Jamás vimos la luna porque el bar
Nunca nos hizo recordar que afuera el mundo
Continuaba, sin nosotros
Porque ahí se sentaba ella
Ahí se enamoro de mi
Ahí mientras cantaba
Pintaba en servilletas mensajes subversivos
Mientras se las sujetaba
Ahí se sentaba ella
Ahí se enamoro de mi
Ahí en esa silla ella
Un día se aburrió, de mi
Se me acabo el carisma si me vieras
Mi voz ya no es la misma si me oyeras
La noches una puta divertida, pero cobra factura
Me fumo otro cigarro y la mañana
Me opaca como barro en la ventana
Y vuelvo como, siempre a recordar
Ahí se sentaba ella
Ahí se enamoro de mi
Ahí en esa silla ella
Un día se aburrió, de mi
Un jueves decidió no regresar
Y no existe noche en este bar
Que yo no cante su canción
Por si regresa
In "Bar" by Ricardo Arjona, the singer describes the atmosphere of a bar through detailed imagery. The air is thick with the scent of nicotine, the tables are rickety, and the lighting is dim except for the red lights on the walls. The patrons are forgetful, focused only on the temporary remedy of alcohol to ease their sorrows. The waitresses wear money in their blouses, and the lighting disguises the faces of those hiding personal secrets. The singer has been going to this bar for half his life, and though it once held sweet memories, he now sees it as a cage with no escape. He remembers the woman he loved who used to sit in the same spot, paint subversive messages on napkins, and listen to him sing. She eventually grew bored and left, leaving the singer alone in the bar.
Throughout the song, there is a sense of disillusionment and nostalgia within the singer. He is weighed down by the monotonous routine of drinking and singing in the same place night after night. He feels trapped and unable to leave, even as he watches others come and go. He is haunted by the memory of the woman who once shared the space with him, and he hopes that one day she will return. The song is a poignant reminder of how the familiar can become suffocating and how we sometimes cling to the past out of fear of what the future holds.
Line by Line Meaning
Olor a nicotina, mesas cojas
The smell of nicotine lingering, shaky tables
Comandas de tequila, luces rojas
Tequila orders, red lights glowing
Tertulias que se olvidan cuando llega / La maldita resaca
Chats that fade away once the accursed hangover strikes
Meseras con billetes en la blusa
Waitresses with bills tucked in their blouses
Trincheras de una luz semi difusa / Que les quita la cara a los que esconden secretos personales
Trenches made from semi-diffused light / That hide the faces of those hiding personal secrets
El bar es un hotel
The bar is a halfway house
Medio pelo que le cura el desconsuelo a los que no saben / Que hacer con el desvelo, como yo
A place for those who don't know what to do with their restlessness like me / A mediocre cure for their despair
Papeles por debajo de la mesa
Papers strewn under the table
Cócteles que te alivian la tristeza
Cocktails that alleviate your sadness
Canciones como dagas en el pecho de la melancolía
Songs like daggers in the heart of melancholy
Historias que no van a ningún lado
Stories that lead nowhere
Glorias de un pasado tan pasado
Glorious memories of a bygone era
Y mis sueños merodeando suicidados en la vieja tarima
My dreams wandering aimlessly in the old stage
Yo llevo aquí metido media vida
I've been stuck here for half my life
Y sigo solo y sin salida
I'm still alone and without an escape
Y recordando todas las putas noches
Remembering all the damn nights
Que ahí se sentaba ella
Where she used to sit
Que ahí se enamoro de mi
Where she fell in love with me
Ahí mientras cantaba
There, while she sang
Pintaba en servilletas mensajes subversivos
Painting subversive messages on napkins
Mientras se las sujetaba
While holding onto them
Dolores se llamaba que ironía
Her name was Dolores, what an irony
Dolores no buscaba compañía
Dolores wasn't looking for company
Que le durara mas que el alter show y el sudor camerino
Something that would last longer than the alternative show and the dressing room sweat
Se unió a los delirios del trasnoche
She joined in on the late-night delirium
Se alió a los colirios y al derroche
She allied herself with the colorful and wasteful
Y yo que bautice de amor lo que era compañía
I baptized as love what was just companionship
Jamás vimos la luna porque el bar
We never saw the moon because the bar
Nunca nos hizo recordar que afuera el mundo
Never reminded us that the outside world
Continuaba, sin nosotros
Kept going, without us
Se me acabo el carisma si me vieras
I lost my charm if you were to see me
Mi voz ya no es la misma si me oyeras
My voice isn't the same if you were to hear me
La noches una puta divertida, pero cobra factura
The night is a fun whore, but she charges a fee
Me fumo otro cigarro y la mañana
I smoke another cigarette and the morning
Me opaca como barro en la ventana
Obscures me like dirt on the window
Y vuelvo como, siempre a recordar
And I always come back to remember
Un jueves decidió no regresar
One Thursday she decided not to come back
Y no existe noche en este bar
And there is no night in this bar
Que yo no cante su canción
Where I don't sing her song
Por si regresa
In case she comes back
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: RICARDO ARJONA
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Mayra M.
on Mesiáš
Esta canción no es más que una triste burka. Se presta para muchas interpretaciones y al final no dice nada.