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®
El Capitan Y La Sirena
Rubén Blades Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
de "La Calle de la Amargura"!
Nordeste!
Una vez, un barco en plena altamar
Se hundió en una fiera tormenta.
Una bella sirena salvó al Capitán
Y lo devolvió hasta la arena.
Y aunque también lo amó La Sirena,
Venían de mundos distintos los dos,
Y su amor les sería una condena.
Qué hacer? Qué hacer cuando el amor nos da pena?
Qué hacer? Qué hacer?
Busca tu estrella, sigue tu estrella,
Busca una estrella, sigue tu estrella!
Los amantes trataron de usar la razón
Para así resolver su dilema,
Y por más que entregaron todo el corazón,
No se pudo arreglar su problema.
- "Yo no sé respirar en la tierra, mi amor" -
Con dolor le decía La Sirena
- "Yo no sé respirar bajo el agua del mar" -
Contestaba el marino, con pena.
Qué hacer? Qué hacer, cuando el amor nos condena?
Y cuando caminen por esa "Calle de Amargura",
Busquen su estrella, sigan su estrella,
Busquen su estrella, sigan su estrella,
Busquen su estrella, sigan su estrella.
The Rubén Blades song, "El Capitan Y La Sirena," tells the story of a captain and a mermaid who fall in love but are unable to be together due to their differing worlds. The song begins with a cryout to the youth in the neighborhood of La Calle de la Amargura in Nordeste. The story unfolds as a ship sinks during a fierce storm, and the captain is rescued by a beautiful mermaid who returns him to the shore. The two fall in love, but their differing worlds make their love impossible. They try to use reason to resolve their dilemma, but it doesn't work, and they ultimately accept that they are not meant to be together.
The song expresses the universal theme of star-crossed lovers who are kept apart by fate. Through its use of metaphor, the song captures the deep emotions and struggles of love, loss, and acceptance. Despite the sadness of their story, the song ends on a hopeful note, encouraging listeners to search for and follow their star, even when the road is difficult, as it is on La Calle de la Amargura.
Line by Line Meaning
todos los muchachos y las muchachas
de "La Calle de la Amargura"!
Nordeste!
Greetings to all the boys and girls from "The Street of Bitterness" in the northeast!
Una vez, un barco en plena altamar
Se hundió en una fiera tormenta.
Una bella sirena salvó al Capitán
Y lo devolvió hasta la arena.
Once upon a time, a ship in the high seas sank in a fierce storm. A beautiful mermaid saved the Captain and returned him to the shore.
Y el Capitán de ella se enamoró,
Y aunque también lo amó La Sirena,
Venían de mundos distintos los dos,
Y su amor les sería una condena.
The Captain fell in love with her, and although the Mermaid loved him too, they came from different worlds, and their love would be their doom.
Qué hacer? Qué hacer cuando el amor nos da pena?
Qué hacer? Qué hacer?
Busca tu estrella, sigue tu estrella,
Busca una estrella, sigue tu estrella!
What to do? What to do when love causes us pain? Look for your star, follow your star, find a star, follow your star!
Los amantes trataron de usar la razón
Para así resolver su dilema,
Y por más que entregaron todo el corazón,
No se pudo arreglar su problema.
The lovers tried to use reason to solve their dilemma, and although they gave their all, their problem could not be fixed.
- "Yo no sé respirar en la tierra, mi amor" -
Con dolor le decía La Sirena
- "Yo no sé respirar bajo el agua del mar" -
Contestaba el marino, con pena.
"I don't know how to breathe on land, my love," said the Mermaid with pain. "I don't know how to breathe underwater," replied the sailor with sadness.
Qué hacer? Qué hacer, cuando el amor nos condena?
Y cuando caminen por esa "Calle de Amargura",
Busquen su estrella, sigan su estrella,
Busquen su estrella, sigan su estrella,
Busquen su estrella, sigan su estrella.
What to do? What to do when love condemns us? And when you walk on that "Street of Bitterness," look for your star, follow your star, find a star, follow your star, look for your star, follow your star.
Contributed by Thomas O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.