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®
La Flor De La Canela
Rubén Blades Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Déjame que te diga la gloria
Del ensueño que evoca la memoria
Del viejo puente, del río y la alameda
Déjame que te cuente, limeño
Ahora que aún perfuma el recuerdo
Ahora que aún se mece en un sueño
Jazmines en el pelo y rosas en la cara
Airosa caminaba la flor de la canela
Derramaba lisura y a su paso dejaba
Aromas de mistura que en el pecho llevaba
Del puente a la alameda menudo pie la lleva
Por la vereda que se estremece
Al ritmo de su cadera
Recogía la risa de la brisa del río
Y al viento la lanzaba
Del puente a la alameda
Déjame que te cuente, limeño
Ay, deja que te diga, moreno
Mi pensamiento
A ver si así despiertas del sueño
Del sueño que entretiene, moreno
Tu sentimiento
Aspira de la lisura que da la flor de canela
Adórnala con jazmines
Matizando su hermosura
Alfombra de nuevo el puente
Y engalana la alameda
Que el río acompasará
Su paso, por la vereda
Y recuerda que, jazmines en el pelo y rosas en la cara
Airosa caminaba la flor de la canela
Derramaba lisura y a su paso dejaba
Aromas de mistura que en el pecho llevaba
Del puente a la alameda menudo pie la lleva
Por la vereda que se estremece
Al ritmo de su cadera
Recogía la risa de la brisa del río
Y al viento la lanzaba
Del puente a la alameda
Dímelo, moreno
De Panamá a Perú
Con sabor
Con sabor
El cabrito
Aja
Eso
Esa palma
Esa morena
De Panamá a Perú
La flor de la canela
Chapa esa flor
Rubén Blades's song "La Flor de la Canela" is a tribute to a Peruvian woman who used to walk around the bridge, river, and promenade of Lima. The song describes her beauty and grace, as she walked with jasmines in her hair and roses on her face. Her presence was intoxicating, leaving behind a trail of sweet aromas that lingered in the air. The lyrics are full of nostalgia and longing for a time well past, as the singer pleads with the listener to remember the woman, breathe in the sweet scent of cinnamon flowers, and bring back the beauty of the old bridge, the river, and the promenade.
Line by Line Meaning
Déjame que te cuente, limeño
Let me tell you, person from Lima
Déjame que te diga la gloria
Let me tell you about the glory
Del ensueño que evoca la memoria
Of the dream that evokes memory
Del viejo puente, del río y la alameda
Of the old bridge, the river, and the boulevard
Ahora que aún perfuma el recuerdo
Now that the memory still perfumes
Ahora que aún se mece en un sueño
Now that it still sways in a dream
Jazmines en el pelo y rosas en la cara
Jasmines in her hair and roses on her face
Airosa caminaba la flor de la canela
Airily walked the flower of cinnamon
Derramaba lisura y a su paso dejaba
She poured smoothness and left behind
Aromas de mistura que en el pecho llevaba
Mixtures of scents that she carried within her chest
Del puente a la alameda menudo pie la lleva
From the bridge to the boulevard, she takes small steps
Por la vereda que se estremece
On the pathway that shakes
Al ritmo de su cadera
To the rhythm of her hips
Recogía la risa de la brisa del río
She picked up the laughter of the river breeze
Y al viento la lanzaba
And threw it to the wind
Ay, deja que te diga, moreno
Oh, let me tell you, dark-skinned person
Mi pensamiento
My thoughts
A ver si así despiertas del sueño
To see if you wake up from the dream
Del sueño que entretiene, moreno
From the dream that entertains you, dark-skinned person
Tu sentimiento
Your feelings
Aspira de la lisura que da la flor de canela
Breathe in the smoothness given by the cinnamon flower
Adórnala con jazmines
Adorn it with jasmines
Matizando su hermosura
Mixing its beauty
Alfombra de nuevo el puente
Carpet the bridge anew
Y engalana la alameda
And adorn the boulevard
Que el río acompasará
That the river will harmonize
Su paso, por la vereda
Its steps, on the pathway
Dímelo, moreno
Tell me, dark-skinned person
De Panamá a Perú
From Panama to Peru
Con sabor
With flavor
El cabrito
The baby goat
Eso
That
Esa palma
That palm tree
Esa morena
That brown-skinned woman
La flor de la canela
The flower of cinnamon
Chapa esa flor
Grab onto that flower
Contributed by Aiden H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Andrelo
Gracias al pueblo peruano por regar nuestra América con su cultura, su arte y sus sabores. Un gran abrazo desde Argentina!
Enrique E Villamil M
Tremendo Homenaje a la Grande Peruana Chabuca Granda de nuestro cantautor Panameño. QUE HONRA.
Rolando Cervantes
Brillante ambos. Linda versión del segundo himno del Perú.
BENAVIDES DARLING
Saludos desde Colombia a mis hermanos de Panamá y Perú
Darkfenix Malaky
Hermosa interpretación, me hizo llorar recordando a nuestra grandiosa Chabuca.
Bill Serggio Castillo Gonzales
Mi PATRIA PERÚ te llevo en mi corazón por donde estoy .
Doris Guadalupe Ayros de Eggert
Preciosa música!
Grande Chabuca!!
Orgullosa del Perú.
Alejandra Parco Arias
Gran interpretación de Rubén Blades!!! Grande Rubén!!!!!!
franchutes SF
Grande Chabuca Granda ❤️🇵🇪 buena interpretación del maestro Rubén Blades
Doni Toch
Genial interpretación..