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®
Decisiones
Rubén Blades Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
En su clase de Geografía
La maestra habla de Turquía
Mientras que la susodicha
Sólo piensa en su desdicha y en su dilema
Ay, qué problema!
En casa, el novio ensaya qué va a decir
Cuando los padres se enteren
Y aunque él, otra solución prefiere
No llega a esa decisión
Porque esperar es mejor, a ver si la regla viene
Decisiones (Ave María)
Cada día (Si señor)
Alguien pierde, alguien gana Ave María!
Decisiones, todo cuesta
Salgan y hagan sus apuestas
Ciudadanía!
El señor de la casa de alquiler
A pesar de que ya tiene mujer
Ha decidido tener una aventura
(A lo casanova)
Y le ha propuesto a una vecina que es casada
De la manera más vulgar y descarada que
Cuando su marido
Al trabajo se haya ido lo llame
Para él ser su enamorado
La señora, que no es boba
Se lo cuenta a su marido y el bravo decide
Cómo no, invitar al atrevido y ella lo cita
Cual lo acordado
Y el vecino sale todo perfumado
Con ropa limpia que su esposa le ha planchado
Y trae una flor que se encontró en el tendedero
(A lo "Love Story")
Dentro en casa de la vecina está el marido
Indeciso sobre dónde dar primero
Con un bate de beisbol del extranjero
Y suena el timbre, ring-ring
(y no es el Gran Combo)
Comienza la segunda del noveno
Decisiones (Ya pa' qué), cada día (Tu verás)
Alguien pierde, alguien gana
Ave María!
Decisiones, todo cuesta
Salgan y hagan sus apuestas
Ciudadanía!
El borracho está convencido que a él
El alcohol no le afecta los sentidos
Por el contrario
Que sus reflejos son mucho más claros
Y tiene más control
Por eso hunde el pie en el acelerador
Y sube el volumen de la radio
Para sentirse mejor (bien chevere)
Y cuando la luz cambiando a amarilla
Las ruedas del carro chillan
Y el tipo se cree un James Bond
Decide la luz del semáforo comerse
Y no ve el truck aparecerse en la oscuridad
Pito, choque y la pregunta
"Qué pasho?"
Pa' la eternidad
(Persígnate Brother)
Decisiones, cada día
Alguien pierde, alguien gana
Ave María!
Decisiones, todo cuesta, Persígnate
Salgan y hagan sus apuestas
Ciudadanía!
Rubén Blades's song Decisiones talks about various different situations in which people have to make tough decisions. The song includes three different scenarios: the first one speaks about a high school girl who has not decided what to do about an unplanned pregnancy, the second scenario is about a man who is having an affair with his married neighbor and is caught by her husband, and the last scenario is about a drunk driver who ends up causing a fatal accident.
In the first scenario, Rubén Blades sings about a girl who is in a geography class but is distracted by her unplanned pregnancy. She is unable to focus on what her teacher is saying and is instead thinking about what to do with her situation. The second scenario speaks about a man who is having an affair with his married neighbor and is caught by her husband. The third scenario talks about a drunk driver who decides to ignore the red light and ends up causing a fatal accident.
The song highlights the tough decisions that people make every day and how these decisions can have consequences. The chorus of the song emphasizes that every decision comes with a cost, and people must weigh the pros and cons before making decisions.
Overall, Decisiones is a song that encourages people to be thoughtful and considerate when making decisions, no matter how small or significant.
Line by Line Meaning
La ex-señorita no ha decidido qué hacer
The former misses has not decided what to do
En su clase de Geografía
In her geography class
La maestra habla de Turquía
The teacher is talking about Turkey
Mientras que la susodicha
While the aforementioned girl
Sólo piensa en su desdicha y en su dilema
Only thinks about her unhappiness and her dilemma
Ay, qué problema!
Oh, what a problem!
En casa, el novio ensaya qué va a decir
At home, the boyfriend rehearses what he is going to say
Seguro que va a morir
He's sure he's going to die
Cuando los padres se enteren
When the parents find out
Y aunque él, otra solución prefiere
And although he prefers another solution
No llega a esa decisión
He does not arrive at that decision
Porque esperar es mejor, a ver si la regla viene
Because waiting is better, to see if the period comes
Decisiones (Ave María)
Decisions (Hail Mary)
Cada día (Si señor)
Everyday (Yes sir)
Alguien pierde, alguien gana Ave María!
Someone loses, someone wins Hail Mary!
Decisiones, todo cuesta
Decisions, everything has a cost
Salgan y hagan sus apuestas
Go out and make your bets
Ciudadanía!
Citizenship!
El señor de la casa de alquiler
The man from the rented house
A pesar de que ya tiene mujer
Despite already having a wife
Ha decidido tener una aventura
Has decided to have an adventure
(A lo casanova)
(Casanova style)
Y le ha propuesto a una vecina que es casada
And he has proposed to a married neighbor
De la manera más vulgar y descarada que
In the most vulgar and shameless way
Cuando su marido
When her husband
Al trabajo se haya ido lo llame
Has gone to work, he calls her
Para él ser su enamorado
To be his lover
La señora, que no es boba
The woman, who is not stupid
Se lo cuenta a su marido y el bravo decide
She tells her husband and the brave man decides
Cómo no, invitar al atrevido y ella lo cita
Of course, he invites the bold one and she sets the date
Cual lo acordado
As agreed
Y el vecino sale todo perfumado
And the neighbor comes out all perfumed
Con ropa limpia que su esposa le ha planchado
With clean clothes that his wife ironed
(A lo 'Love Story')
(Like 'Love Story')
Dentro en casa de la vecina está el marido
Inside the neighbor's house is her husband
Indeciso sobre dónde dar primero
Indecisive about where to hit first
Con un bate de beisbol del extranjero
With a foreign baseball bat
Y suena el timbre, ring-ring
And the doorbell rings, ring-ring
(y no es el Gran Combo)
(and it's not the Gran Combo)
Comienza la segunda del noveno
The second of the ninth inning begins
Decisiones (Ya pa' qué), cada día (Tu verás)
Decisions (Now what), every day (You'll see)
Alguien pierde, alguien gana Ave María!
Someone loses, someone wins Hail Mary!
Decisiones, todo cuesta, Persígnate
Decisions, everything has a cost, cross yourself
Salgan y hagan sus apuestas
Go out and make your bets
Ciudadanía!
Citizenship!
El borracho está convencido que a él
The drunk is convinced that for him
El alcohol no le afecta los sentidos
Alcohol doesn't affect his senses
Por el contrario
On the contrary
Que sus reflejos son mucho más claros
That his reflexes are much clearer
Y tiene más control
And he has more control
Por eso hunde el pie en el acelerador
That's why he steps on the accelerator
Y sube el volumen de la radio
And turns up the volume of the radio
Para sentirse mejor (bien chevere)
To feel better (very cool)
Y cuando la luz cambiando a amarilla
And when the light changes to yellow
Las ruedas del carro chillan
The car wheels squeal
Y el tipo se cree un James Bond
And the guy thinks he's James Bond
Decide la luz del semáforo comerse
He decides to eat the traffic light
Y no ve el truck aparecerse en la oscuridad
And doesn't see the truck appearing in the darkness
Pito, choque y la pregunta
Honking, crash and the question
"Qué pasho?"
"What happened?"
Pa' la eternidad
For eternity
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Ruben Blades Bellido De Luna
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@FlowMindz_
Más buena música aquí: https://bit.ly/3APETbg
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@Kashiname
Nunca le habia puesto atencion a la letra y eso que toda la vida la he escuchado en las casas de los vecinos... ahora que caigo en cuenta de la letra todavia me extraña que a pesar de que ellos hayan escuchado esta cancion una y mil veces, todavia toman malas decisiones...
@marcolopez6743
Hermoso tema 🎉
@Lanutriatraviesa
Qué linda es América Latina sin reguetón
@dianaguerrero8579
Que linda era esa porquería ya se apoderó de el continente
@rafaelfiallo3425
Ay letra ay
@teban6246
Llevo rato buscandola y eso que mi mamá siempre la canta 😂
@manuelfelipemaldonadobotac3806
30 de julio de 2023 - Colombia presente!!!
@pespocolombia
Quien vino por escucharla en Tropicana, la más bacana?
@robinsondelossantosperez1090
Se escuchadas mas alto esta salsa👀