Blades's father is a percussionist-turned-detective and his mother was a singer and radio performer. His grandfather, Reuben Blades, was an English-speaking native of St. Lucia who came to work on the canal, as he tells in the song West Indian Man on the album Amor y Control ("That's where the Blades comes from.") (1992)
After obtaining degrees in political science and law at Panama's Universidad Nacional, Blades worked at the Bank of Panama as a lawyer. In 1974, Blades moved to the United States, staying temporarily with his exiled parents in Miami before moving to New York City. Blades began his musical career in New York writing songs while working in the mailroom at Fania Records, and soon was working with salseros Ray Barretto and Larry Harlow. Shortly thereafter Blades started collaborating with trombonist and band leader Willie Colón, and they recorded several albums together. Their album Siembra (1978) became the best-selling salsa record in history.
After 1980, Blades tried to terminate his contract with Fania, but he was contractually obliged to record several more albums. These are generally considered toss-offs and Blades himself told his fans to avoid them. When he was free of his contractual obligations, Blades signed with another label, Elektra, and assembled a top-notch band (known variously as Seis Del Solar or Son Del Solar) and recorded a number of albums with them.
In the early 1980s, Blades began his career in films as a composer of soundtracks.
In 1982, Blades got his first acting role in The Last Fight writing the title song as well as portraying a singer-turned-boxer vying for a championship against a fighter who was played by real life world champion boxer Salvador Sánchez.
In 1985, Blades gained widespread recognition as co-writer and star of the independent film Crossover Dreams as a New York salsa singer willing to do anything to break into the mainstream. This same year he earned a master's degree in international law from Harvard University. He was also the subject of Robert Mugge's documentary The Return of Ruben Blades, which debuted at that year's Denver Film Festival. During the 1990s, he acted in films, mounted his unsuccessful presidential bid, founding the party Movimiento Papa Egoró, and continued to make salsa records.
His many film appearances include The Milagro Beanfield War (1988), The Two Jakes (1990), Mo' Better Blues (1990), and Devil's Own (1997). In 1999, he played Mexican artist Diego Rivera in Tim Robbins' Cradle Will Rock.
In 1997, Blades headed the cast of singer/songwriter Paul Simon's first Broadway musical, The Capeman, based on a true story about a violent youth who becomes a poet in prison. In the 2003 film Once Upon a Time in Mexico, starring Johnny Depp, Antonio Banderas, and Willem Dafoe, he played the role of a retired FBI agent.
Blades' 1999 album Tiempos which he made with the 12-piece Costa Rican band Editus, represented a break from his salsa past and a rejection of commercial trends in Latin music.
Some might say that "his biggest mistake was releasing an English-language album in 1988 in the wake of his 1987 Grammy for Escenas" [sic] but in fact, he tends to avoid commercial choices. After winning his first Grammy for Escenas in 1986 he recorded the album Agua de Luna based on the short stories of Gabriel Garcia Marquez in 1987. The next year he released the English language collaboration with rock artists Sting, Elvis Costello, and Lou Reed the same year as Antecedente, another Grammy winner. In 2003 he followed the World Music Grammy winner Mundo with a web site free download project. As he said in 2005 when receiving the ASCAP Founders Award about his non-commercial choices, "That's the way I think."
In 2004 he put his artistic careers on hold when he began serving as Minister of Tourism of Panama.
Source: Wikipedia®
Amor Mudo
Rubén Blades Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Aunque jamás lo llegues a saber.
No encuentro la manera de que salgan
Y te digan de mi querer.
El tiempo pasa sin que se decida lo nuestro,
Es un amor sin resolver.
Yo sé que no hay excusa ya que valga
Y que pierdo la calma, en cada ayer.
Me asusta esta pasión; ¿por qué se calla?
Quizás conoce de algo que no sé yo.
Pero también acepto que es mi falla
El creer que tú tal vez le digas no.
Detrás de mi silencio hay un cariño
Que nunca antes a nadie le ofrecí.
Pero ante ti, respondo como un niño
Y escondo mi ilusión de ser feliz.
Rubén Blades's song "Amor Mudo" talks about the difficulty of expressing one's love for someone else. The lyrics emphasize that behind the singer's silence are a hundred words that describe how they feel, but they cannot find the courage to express them to their beloved. The singer knows that time is passing by, and their love remains unacknowledged and unresolved. The singer realizes that there's no valid excuse for their silence and that they lose their calmness every time they think of the missed opportunity to express their love.
The songwriter talks about how silence can bear witness to hidden emotions and suggests that the fear of rejection might be holding the singer back from expressing their love. The lyrics show the singer's fear towards their passion and how it, in turn, scares them. They also note how they accept that suppressing their feelings is their own fault while still wondering what could have been if their love was reciprocated.
"Amor Mudo" is a love song that encapsulates the struggles that come with hidden emotions. The lyrical content of the song is relatable, and its melody and tone evoke powerful emotions of longing and regret.
Line by Line Meaning
Detrás de mi silencio hay cien palabras,
I have many things I want to say, but I can't express them.
Aunque jamás lo llegues a saber.
Even if you never find out.
No encuentro la manera de que salgan
I can't find a way to express these words.
Y te digan de mi querer.
And tell you how I feel.
El tiempo pasa sin que se decida lo nuestro,
We've been spending time together, but we haven't progressed.
Es un amor sin resolver.
Our love is complicated and undecided.
Yo sé que no hay excusa ya que valga
I know there is no excuse that will justify my silence.
Y que pierdo la calma, en cada ayer.
My silence is causing me to lose my mind as time passes.
Me asusta esta pasión; ¿por qué se calla?
I'm afraid of this feeling. Why won't it come out?
Quizás conoce de algo que no sé yo.
Maybe there's something I'm not aware of.
Pero también acepto que es mi falla
I also accept that it's my fault.
El creer que tú tal vez le digas no.
I believe that you might reject me.
Detrás de mi silencio hay un cariño
Behind my silence is my love for you.
Que nunca antes a nadie le ofrecí.
That I have never offered to anyone before.
Pero ante ti, respondo como un niño
But in front of you, I act like a child.
Y escondo mi ilusión de ser feliz.
And I hide my dreams of being happy.
Contributed by Alexander M. Suggest a correction in the comments below.