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®
Noches del Ayer
Rubén Blades Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Todo se va llenado de un suave olor
Del cielo multicolor cuelgan mil estrellas
Que evuelven a Calidonia en su resplandor
La vieja casona Miller se va animando
Con las sombras de los que vuelven de trabajar
Y nuestro querido Alcón se abraza de Ascanio
Y los dos se quedan velando nuestro canal
Pasan colores y gente
En urgen de confusión
El pito del tren invita, vamos a Colón
Cierra su puesto el buhonero
Ya descansa el malecón
La ultima chiva ha pasando, duerme el marañón
Aunque estoy por otras tierras
Ya pronto vuelvo
Alla por la cinco de Mayo los voy a ver
Rodeado de aromas a pueblo y con luz de estrellas
Caminando por mis barrios recordare
(Que parrandas las que armabamos alla)
En calle segunda carrasquilla
En la esquina de Colocol
Fue donde aprendi a rumbear
(Que parrandas las que armabamos alla)
(Que parrandas las que armabamos alla)
Me acuerdo de Felipe el cabezón
Parao en Salsipuedes gritando Panamerica
(Que parrandas las que armabamos alla)
Con los salvajes, con bultos Persuaders
Los Biches y los Exciters
Y después a comer a la puñala'
De Colón con los Gun Bays, el artist top
(Que parrandas las que armabamos alla)
Que parranda, que parranda
Parao en la 5 de Mayo, limpio pero contento
Vacilando un carnaval
(Que parrandas las que armabamos alla)
De allá al Rio Abajo, el rancho grande
Con Max Simón, el Guad Lema Ron
Bueno, bueno, pa′ gozar
(Que parrandas las que armabamos alla)
En el clase Sitropa comenzaba bien la cosa
Y terminaba eso en trompa
(Que parrandas las que armabamos alla)
En mis tiempos la pregunta en los bailes era
Bueno, ¿y cómo nos vamos a colar?
The opening verse of Rubén Blades's Noches del Ayer sets the stage with an idyllic description of a tranquil evening in Panama City. The day's heat recedes as the sun sets, and the surrounding area fills with a sweet scent. The sky is alive with the colors of a breathtaking sunset, and thousands of stars twinkle above. Meanwhile, the old Miller house comes to life as people return from work. Blades then paints a picture of a pair of men, Alcón and Ascanio, who stay up watching the canal amidst the vivid beauty of Panama's night.
The second half of the song reminisces about some of Blades's favorite pastimes growing up in Panama. As he thinks about the past, he sings about the sounds and streets of Panama City neighborhoods where he and his entourage of friends would party. Rubén Blades fondly recalls a time when the corner streets of calle segunda carrasquilla and Colocol were alive with music, food, and dancing, which was a part of the culture in Panama. He reflects on his favorite places and moments of his youth, including the excitement of heading to Colón, where he learned to party in a new way as he discovered new neighborhoods, personalities, and cultures, and explores the possible ways to "crash" different parties and events.
Line by Line Meaning
La tarde se va agarra′ de la falda del día
The afternoon is leaving, clinging onto the hem of the day
Todo se va llenado de un suave olor
Everything is filling up with a sweet smell
Del cielo multicolor cuelgan mil estrellas
From the multicolored sky, a thousand stars hang
Que envuelven a Calidonia en su resplandor
They envelop Calidonia in their radiance
La vieja casona Miller se va animando
The old Miller house is coming to life
Con las sombras de los que vuelven de trabajar
With the shadows of those returning from work
Y nuestro querido Alcón se abraza de Ascanio
And our dear Alcon hugs Ascanio
Y los dos se quedan velando nuestro canal
And both stay up watching over our canal
Pasan colores y gente
Colors and people pass by
En urgen de confusión
In a hurry of confusion
El pito del tren invita, vamos a Colón
The train whistle invites us, let's go to Colón
Cierra su puesto el buhonero
The street vendor closes his stall
Ya descansa el malecón
The boardwalk is already at rest
La ultima chiva ha pasando, duerme el marañón
The last bus has passed, the Marañón river sleeps
Aunque estoy por otras tierras
Although I am in other lands
Ya pronto vuelvo
I'll be back soon
Alla por la cinco de Mayo los voy a ver
I'll see them over on Cinco de Mayo
Rodeado de aromas a pueblo y con luz de estrellas
Surrounded by the smells of my hometown and the light of the stars
Caminando por mis barrios recordare
Walking through my neighborhoods, I'll remember
(Que parrandas las que armabamos alla)
(What parties we used to throw there)
En calle segunda carrasquilla
On Second Street in Carrasquilla
En la esquina de Colocol
On the corner of Colocol
Fue donde aprendi a rumbear
It's where I learned to party
Me acuerdo de Felipe el cabezón
I remember Felipe the big-headed one
Parao en Salsipuedes gritando Panamerica
Standing in Salsipuedes shouting Panamerica
Con los salvajes, con bultos Persuaders
With the Savages, the Persuaders, and the Exciters
Los Biches y los Exciters
The Biches and the Exciters
Y después a comer a la puñala'
And then eating at La Puñala restaurant
De Colón con los Gun Bays, el artist top
From Colón with the Gun Bays, the top artist
Que parranda, que parranda
What a party, what a party
Parao en la 5 de Mayo, limpio pero contento
Standing on 5 de Mayo, clean but happy
Vacilando un carnaval
Enjoying a carnival
De allá al Rio Abajo, el rancho grande
From there to Rio Abajo, the big ranch
Con Max Simón, el Guad Lema Ron
With Max Simon, the Guad Lema Ron
Bueno, bueno, pa′ gozar
Alright, alright, let's enjoy ourselves
En el clase Sitropa comenzaba bien la cosa
At the Sitropa class, things started off well
Y terminaba eso en trompa
And that always ended in a mess
En mis tiempos la pregunta en los bailes era
In my time, the question at dances was
Bueno, ¿y cómo nos vamos a colar?
Alright, how are we going to sneak in?
Writer(s): Ruben Blades
Contributed by Elena G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@22ejwc
tema fuera de serie ...hay que haber nacido en PANAMA y haber vivido esos tiempos para entenderlo y sentirlo....Ruben eres un poeta. DIOS te bendiga.
@carlosadrianmonterorodrigu1011
Que temazo tenía tiempo que no lo escuchaba este disco es un homenaje a Panamá que grande Rubén
@pr-ji1ni
Nunca he estado en Panamá, pero la imagino así como la describe Rubén en esta canción y me lleno de esperanza imaginando que algún día podré visitar un país tan hermoso.
@LuisGomez-ju7bw
Hay gente en panama que critican el que Rubén viva en el exterior, pero no se dan cuenta que es el artista que más homenaje la ha brindado a Panamá con sus letras, donde va describiendo los barrios y los lugares de nuestro panama
@garitamoro1906
Buenas siempre me recuerdo la primera vez que escuché a Ruben 1978 yo trabaja en la pizeria de mi padre y uno de los muchachos que trabaja en la pizeria lo estaba escuchando y nunca había oído algo igual al otro día fui rápido y compre toda su música y soy uno de sus más grandes seguidores incluso lo llegue a conocer lo por que mi mader que conocía a su madre pues mi abuelita también conocía alos blades y el resto historia
@joseivargas3047
Excelente tema del maestro Blades........ Todo mi respeto y admiración.
@lopz33
Un día como hoy, 16 de julio de 1948, nació en Panamá, Rubén Blades Bellido de Luna, el Poeta de la Salsa. ¡Felicitaciones, Maestro!🎶🎂🎊🎤🎵😀
@fernandomartinez5952
De Los mejores compositores.
@lopz33
¡Tremendo tema!