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®
Maria Lionza
Rubén Blades Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
En Venezuela, vive una Diosa
En la Montaña de Sorte por Yaracuy
Vive una Diosa, una noble reina
De gran belleza y de gran bondad
Amada por la naturaleza
E iluminada de caridad
Y su techo hecho de estrellas
La luna, el sol, el cielo
Y la montaña sus compañeros
Los ríos, quebradas y flores
Son sus mensajeros
Oh salve reina, María Lionza
Por Venezuela va con su onza
Y cuidando esta
Y va velando a su tierra entera
Desde el guajiro hasta Cumana
Cuida el destino de los latinos
Vivir unidos y en libertad
En la montaña de Sorte por Yaracuy
En Venezuela
María Lionza, hazme un milagrito
Y un ramo de flores te vo' a llevar
María Lionza, hazme un milagrito
Y un ramo de flores te vo' a llevar
Un ramo 'e flores, de flores blancas
Cual la pureza de tu bondad
María Lionza, hazme un milagrito
Y un ramo de flores te vo' a llevar
A to' a la gente allá en los Cerritos
Y allá en Caracas protégela
María Lionza, hazme un milagrito
Y un ramo de flores te vo' a llevar
Doña María cueste lo que cueste
A la autopista del este lo voy a llevar
María Lionza, hazme un milagrito
Y un ramo de flores te vo' a llevar
Y va cuidando a su Venezuela
Desde el guajiro hasta Cumana
María Lionza, hazme un milagrito
Y un ramo de flores te vo' a llevar
María Lionza, hazme un milagrito
Y un ramo de flores te vo' a llevar
Fue por el rio Guanaguanare
Que Coromoto la vio brillar
María Lionza, hazme un milagrito
Y un ramo de flores te vo' a llevar
Ella es la reina que el pueblo adora
Ella es la Diosa más popular
María Lionza, hazme un milagrito
Y un ramo de flores te vo' a llevar
Flores para tu altar
Doña María te voy a llevar
María Lionza, hazme un milagrito
Y un ramo de flores te vo' a llevar
Con tabaco y aguardiente
La ceremonia ya va a empezar
María Lionza, hazme un milagrito
Y un ramo de flores te vo' a llevar
Nos despedimos con un saludo
De Puerto Rico y de Panamá
Rubén Blades's song Maria Lionza is a tribute to the Venezuelan deity of the same name. The song begins by describing the goddess's home on the mountain of Sorte in Yaracuy, Venezuela. She is known for her beauty and kindness, and she is beloved by nature and filled with charity. Her home has walls made of wind and a roof made of stars, and the moon, the sun, the sky, and the mountain are all her companions. The rivers, streams, and flowers serve as her messengers.
The song continues with a prayer to Maria Lionza, asking her to perform a miracle and to accept a bouquet of white flowers as a tribute. The song also emphasizes her role as a protector of Venezuela, from the countryside to the city. In the final verse, the song describes the ceremony leading up to her invocation, with tobacco and liquor.
Rubén Blades's Maria Lionza is a poignant homage to the deity who has become an important part of Venezuelan folklore. The song pays tribute to the goddess, emphasizing her beauty, kindness, and protective nature, and celebrating her connection to the land and its people.
Line by Line Meaning
En la montaña de Sorte por Yaracuy
In the mountain of Sorte in Yaracuy, Venezuela
En Venezuela, vive una Diosa
There lives a goddess in Venezuela
Vive una Diosa, una noble reina
A noble queen, she lives as a goddess
De gran belleza y de gran bondad
She possesses great beauty and kindness
Amada por la naturaleza
She is loved by nature
E iluminada de caridad
And illuminated with charity
Y sus paredes son hechas de viento
Her walls are made of wind
Y su techo hecho de estrellas
And her roof is made of stars
La luna, el sol, el cielo
The moon, the sun, the sky
Y la montaña sus compañeros
And the mountain, her companions
Los ríos, quebradas y flores
The rivers, streams, and flowers
Son sus mensajeros
Are her messengers
Oh salve reina, María Lionza
Oh hail queen, Maria Lionza
Por Venezuela va con su onza
Goes with her ounce through Venezuela
Y cuidando esta
And taking care of it
Y va velando a su tierra entera
And is watching over her entire land
Desde el guajiro hasta Cumana
From the rural to the urban areas
Cuida el destino de los latinos
Takes care of the destiny of the Latinos
Vivir unidos y en libertad
To live united and in freedom
María Lionza, hazme un milagrito
Maria Lionza, perform a little miracle for me
Y un ramo de flores te vo' a llevar
I'll bring you a bouquet of flowers
Un ramo 'e flores, de flores blancas
A bouquet of white flowers
Cual la pureza de tu bondad
As pure as your kindness
A to' a la gente allá en los Cerritos
To all the people there in los Cerritos
Y allá en Caracas protégela
And protect them there in Caracas
Doña María cueste lo que cueste
Lady Maria, no matter the cost
A la autopista del este lo voy a llevar
I'll take her to the East Freeway
Fue por el rio Guanaguanare
It was by the Guanaguanare river
Que Coromoto la vio brillar
That Coromoto saw her shine
Ella es la reina que el pueblo adora
She is the queen that the people adore
Ella es la Diosa más popular
She is the most popular goddess
Flores para tu altar
Flowers for your altar
Con tabaco y aguardiente
With tobacco and firewater
La ceremonia ya va a empezar
The ceremony is about to start
Nos despedimos con un saludo
We say goodbye with a greeting
De Puerto Rico y de Panamá
From Puerto Rico and Panama
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Ruben Blades
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@annyfr2541
Soy mexicana
Pero como me gusta esta canción.
Espero un día ir a visitar ese lugar donde se venera a María Lionza.
Mi hija y yo queremos ir.a visitar
Siempre.andamos cantando
Flores para tu altar
Doña Maria
Le voy a llevar.
@Elizabeth-hv5ud
Cuando escucho a Ruben me siento orgullosa de ser Panameña. Y cuando vaya a conocer venezuela, ire a donde Maria Lionza.❤❤❤❤Dios mediante.
@victorortiz2393
Hola Elizabeth saludos desde Venezuela cuando vengas a Venezuela me escribes tienes aquí donde llegar a mi apartamento y te llevo a yaracuy Sanfelipe para que Conozcas los santeros de Maria Leonza eso es un paraíso de tanta vegetación vivo a 6 horas de ese lugar cuenta conmigo para ese viaje saludos y cuidata mucho te puedo decir que yi conozco mucho Panamá también casi todo lo conozco hasta chiriqui
@mynameisobel5750
te va a encantar amiga!!! Bienvenida seasss lindo panamá
@fernandoaguilar7833
En el nombre de Jesús Cristo lo mejor sería que conozcas al señor Jesucristo el te ama
@mynameisobel5750
@@fernandoaguilar7833 Venezuela es un país laico así que váyase con su fundamentalismo religioso a otro lado y dejé la gente en paz raro de mierda
@gabrielalvarado5853
No lo recomendaría mucho la verdad.
@richardjani832
Un Panameño y Puertorriqueño cantantandolé a Venezuela... Eso se llama Salsa. Saludos ahora de México. 🇵🇦🇵🇷🇻🇪🇲🇽
@claudianavarro6183
Más perfecto imposible!!!! Saludos de una venezolana 💛💙❤
@richardjani832
@Claudia Navarro Gracias por el saludo... Espero te encuentres bien hermosa mujer... Saludos a Venezuela.
@eduardochuy7991
si te refieres al maestro Willie Colon,el es de New York