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®
No Hay Chance
Rubén Blades Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Que te de perdón
Yo no soy Dios para perdonar
Pero soy hombre pa' no olvidar
Una mala intención
Te di la mano sincera
Y me la echaste pal suelo
Y otra vez me pusiste un huevo
Tu no te compones ya
Yo no soy Dios para perdonar
Pero soy hombre pa' no olvidar
Una mala intención
Yo te di un chance a ti
Y me fallaste de nuevo
Ay te di un chance, chance mi pana
Y otra vez pusiste un huevo
Yo te di un chance a ti
Y me fallaste de nuevo
Me fallaste, me fallaste
Me fallaste más a mi
Y de ti en la esquina tos' se rieron
Yo te di un chance a ti
Y me fallaste de nuevo
Ay que te di un chance por mi hermana
Pero tu, tu no eres nada bueno
Yo te di un chance a ti
Y me fallaste de nuevo
El fallo, fallo eres tu
El fallo, fallo, fallo bandolera
Yo te di un chance a ti
Y me fallaste de nuevo
Yo te di un chance a ti
Y me fallaste de nuevo
Palo, palo, palo, palo tuyo y bofetada para ti
Porque no eres nada bueno
Yo te di un chance a ti
Y me fallaste de nuevo
Ay con tu pinta de niño 'Yo no fui'
Y tremendo traqueteo
Yo te di un chance a ti
Y me fallaste de nuevo
De flor che y no tienes nada
Tu lo que eres un chancletero
Yo te di un chance a ti
Y me fallaste de nuevo
Pero te di, te di la mano como un hombre
Y saliste mas vacilero
Yo te di un chance a ti
Y me fallaste de nuevo
Te están buscando
Los niños de los dientes oscuros
Del carro negro de antena larga
Yo te di un chance a ti
Y me fallaste de nuevo
Si en la esquina te conocen
Que tu no eres nada bueno
Yo te di un chance a ti
Y me fallaste de nuevo
Ay te pareces a la gente
Que uno invita a una fiesta
Y se van después que comieron
Yo te di un chance a ti
Y me fallaste de nuevo
Ay que ya te di un chance
Pero que te di un chance
Y tu saliste marinero
Yo te di un chance a ti
Y me fallaste de nuevo
Embarcaste a medio barrio por ti
Cuanta gente ahí lo sufrieron
The first verse of Rubén Blades's song No Hay Chance starts with his friend asking him for forgiveness, but Rubén is not a god who can forgive him for his bad intentions. However, he is a man who does not forget such things. The second verse talks about how Rubén once gave his friend an opportunity and how his friend let him down. He finds it hard to trust him again.
In the next verse, it's revealed that he gave him another chance to redeem himself, but he failed again, leaving Rubén frustrated. The repeated phrase, "yo te di un chance a ti y me fallaste de nuevo" translates to, "I gave you a chance, and you failed me again." He goes on to call out his friend, saying that he is a failure and a liar. He also talks about how people in his community are talking about his friend and how he has let them down.
Overall, the song is about how Rubén gave his friend multiple chances. However, his friend failed him every time, and Rubén has had enough of it. The lyrics are an expression of his frustration and disappointment towards his friend.
Line by Line Meaning
Hoy tu me pides, hoy me solicitas
Que te de perdón
You are asking me today to forgive you
Yo no soy Dios para perdonar
Pero soy hombre pa' no olvidar
Una mala intención
I am not God to forgive, but I am human enough to not forget a bad intention
Te di la mano sincera
Y me la echaste pal suelo
I gave you a sincere handshake, but you used it to bring me down
Te di otro chance mi pana
Y otra vez me pusiste un huevo
Tu no te compones ya
I gave you another chance, but once again, you disappointed me. You do not seem to be improving
Yo te di un chance a ti
Y me fallaste de nuevo
Ay te di un chance, chance mi pana
Y otra vez pusiste un huevo
I gave you a chance, but you failed me again. I even gave you one more chance, but you still messed up
Me fallaste, me fallaste
Me fallaste más a mi
Y de ti en la esquina tos' se rieron
You let me down. You let me down even more, and everyone in the corner laughed at you
Ay que te di un chance por mi hermana
Pero tu, tu no eres nada bueno
I even gave you a chance for my sister's sake, but you are not a good person
El fallo, fallo eres tu
El fallo, fallo, fallo bandolera
Yo te di un chance a ti
Y me fallaste de nuevo
The fault is yours, you are the failure. I gave you a chance, but you disappointed me again
Palo, palo, palo, palo tuyo y bofetada para ti
Porque no eres nada bueno
You deserve a beating because you are not a good person
Ay con tu pinta de niño 'Yo no fui'
Y tremendo traqueteo
You act like a kid saying 'It wasn't me,' but everyone knows you are in trouble
De flor che y no tienes nada
Tu lo que eres un chancletero
You dress up nice, but you have nothing. You are just a slacker
Te están buscando
Los niños de los dientes oscuros
Del carro negro de antena larga
The dark-toothed children from the black car with a long antenna are looking for you
Si en la esquina te conocen
Que tu no eres nada bueno
If people in the corner know you, they know that you are not a good person
Ay que ya te di un chance
Pero que te di un chance
Y tu saliste marinero
I already gave you a chance, but you disappointed me. You turned out to be unreliable
Embarcaste a medio barrio por ti
Cuanta gente ahí lo sufrieron
You caused pain to half the neighborhood with your actions. How many people have been hurt because of you?
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: BLADES
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Omar Sergio De la cruz
“Te pareces a esa gente que uno invita a una fiesta y se van después que comieron “qué tal Frase inteligentísimo Rubén
Herme Cortes
También está el que llega tarde a la fiesta casi en el momento de servir la comida para no ayudar a acomodar mesas ni sillas y luego de comer se van para tampoco ayudar a recoger. 😂😂😂🤪😂los hay !!!! No hay chance Rubén !!!
Neftalí Alejo
El poeta de la calle como siempre buen tema
Francisco Ramirez
unos de los mejores temas de ruben y fania all stars
Rafael Rodriguez
Fania Records era la compañia no Fania all Stars, que era la agrupación para descargar y hacer giras. Ese tema lo grabó Rubén en el tercer L.P. que según compromisos contractuales tenía que grabar con Fania records (la compañia) en 1987, ya ese tema lo había cantado Ismael Miranda con Larry Harlow en 1976 "Con mi viejo amigo"
Jhoan Sierra
Buen tema para aquellos que son traicioneros. Y le sigue yo te conozco camaleón otra súper salsa para los fariseos
Lian Dario
@Nicolas Korbyn Happy to help xD
Nicolas Korbyn
@Lian Dario WTF IT ACTUALLY WORKED! Just got access to my instagram account details within about 40 mins by using the site.
I had to pay 15 $ but definitely worth the price =)
Thanks so much, you saved my account :D
Nicolas Korbyn
@Lian Dario Thanks for your reply. I got to the site thru google and Im in the hacking process now.
Looks like it's gonna take quite some time so I will reply here later with my results.
Lian Dario
@Nicolas Korbyn Instablaster :)