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 Palabra Adiós
Rubén Blades Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Deje tras de si un amor que nunca palidecio, yo se
Cuanto duele una separacion cuando deja en algun corazon
Melancolia y desepcion
Adios (ay adios) tantas veces me dijiste adios
Para luego procurar de mi que regresara para darte amor
Mas yo (lalalalala) a pesar de lo que ya te ame
Para siempre te dire esta vez publicamente mi final adios
Esta vez publicamebnte mi final adios.
Lalalalala ya esta bueno a to esas chicas plasticas arrivederchi
Lalalalalalala a todas las que se quieren ir sayonara
Lalalalalala a las que estan pensando en irse ob bidelf
Lalalalalalalalalal y a toda la A solon, katai, good bye, chao, ya esta bueno
En ti guardo mil recuerdos que no olvido, carmen merced. triste es decirte la palabra adios...
Me voy para carolina voso me voy montando una
Guagua que dice prohibido fumar y prohibido volver a un amor que fallo
En ti guardo mil recuerdos que no olvido
Ay pecadora
Que triste es decirte la palabra adios
Yo me acuerdo del primer beso en nuestra primera cita
Y aunque se que no hay regreso el gusto no se me quita
Adios (ay adios) tantas veces me dijiste adios para luego procurar de mi
Que regresara para darte amor, mas yo lalalalala a pesar de lo
Que ya te ame para siempre te dire esta vez publicamente mi final adios
Mas yo a pesar de lo que ya te ame, para siempre te dire esta vez
Publicamente mi final adios
Chao
Lalalalalalalallallalala
Mas que nada hoy te digo adios
Lalalalalalalalalala
Trinanananono yo no vuelvo no
Lalalalalala
Para que llorar se
La canción "La Palabra Adiós" de Rubén Blades habla sobre la dolorosa separación de una relación amorosa. La canción comienza con una reflexión sobre la facilidad con la que se puede utilizar la palabra "adiós" aunque signifique dejar atrás un amor que nunca se desvaneció. Blades habla desde su perspectiva personal, explicando cuánto duele una separación cuando deja una sensación de melancolía y desilusión en el corazón. Aunque su pareja le dijo adiós en varias ocasiones, Blades regresó porque la amaba pero esta vez, quiere que sea público que se está despidiendo de ella para siempre.
Blades dice que guardará mil recuerdos de su relación con Carmen Merced, pero al final, tuvo que decirle adiós aunque sea triste. La canción termina con Blades diciendo que se va para Puerto Rico y que no volverá. Él reconoce que no tiene sentido llorar y está decidido a comenzar de nuevo.
Line by Line Meaning
Adios, es tan facil la palabra adios, aunque
Deje tras de si un amor que nunca palidecio, yo se
Cuanto duele una separacion cuando deja en algun corazon
Melancolia y desepcion
Saying goodbye is easy, even though it leaves behind a love that never faded. I know how painful a separation can be, leaving melancholy and disappointment in someone's heart.
Adios (ay adios) tantas veces me dijiste adios
Para luego procurar de mi que regresara para darte amor
Mas yo (lalalalala) a pesar de lo que ya te ame
Para siempre te dire esta vez publicamente mi final adios
Goodbye, you told me so many times just to try to make me come back to give you love. But despite my love for you, I will publicly say my final goodbye forever.
Mas yo a pesar de lo que ya te ame, para siempre te dire
Esta vez publicamebnte mi final adios.
But I will always tell you, publicly, my final goodbye despite my love for you.
lalalalala ya esta bueno a to esas chicas plasticas arrivederchi
Lalalalalalala a todas las que se quieren ir sayonara
Lalalalalala a las que estan pensando en irse ob bidelf
Lalalalalalalalalal y a toda la A solon, katai, good bye, chao, ya esta bueno
To all the fake plastic girls, arrivederchi. To all those who want to leave, sayonara. To those who are thinking of leaving, ob bidelf. And to everyone else, goodbye, chao, it's enough.
En ti guardo mil recuerdos que no olvido, carmen merced. triste es decirte la palabra adios...
Carmen Merced, I keep a thousand memories of you that I will never forget. It's sad to say goodbye to you.
Me voy para carolina voso me voy montando una
Guagua que dice prohibido fumar y prohibido volver a un amor que fallo
En ti guardo mil recuerdos que no olvido
Ay pecadora
Que triste es decirte la palabra adios
Yo me acuerdo del primer beso en nuestra primera cita
Y aunque se que no hay regreso el gusto no se me quita
I'm going to Carolina, taking a bus that says 'no smoking' and 'no going back to a failed love.' I keep a thousand memories of you that I will never forget, oh sinner. It's sad to say goodbye to you. I remember the first kiss on our first date, even though I know there's no going back, the memory remains.
Chao
Lalalalalalalallallalala
Mas que nada hoy te digo adios
Lalalalalalalalalala
Trinanananono yo no vuelvo no
Lalalalalala
Para que llorar se
Goodbye, more than anything today I tell you adios. I'm not coming back, no need to cry.
Writer(s): Tite Curet
Contributed by Joseph N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.