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®
País Portátil
Rubén Blades Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Con su autoestima en el suelo
Con un enorme complejo
Que lo hace anti nacional
Es un lugar sin memoria
Donde ya nada sorprende
Vive el crimen indultado
Se vende un país portátil
Se ofrece un país portátil
Se alquila un país portátil
Se empeña un país portátil
Parado un país portátil
Con héroes falsificados
Ideales hipotecados
Y total mediocridad
Oferta un País portátil
Domesticado en engaños
Se garantiza por años la ausencia
De honestidad
Se vende un país portátil
Que castiga al que es honrado
Y a un pueblo auto condenado
Por no aceptar la verdad
Se vende un país portátil
Se ofrece en partes o entero
Con un préstamo extranjero
Hacerlo andar es muy fácil
Se vende un país portátil
Se ofrece un país portatíl
Se alquila un país portátil
Se empeña un país portátil
Esta es tu raíz
Defiende al país
Esta es tu raíz
Defiende al país
Esta es tu raíz
Defiende al país
Esta es tu raíz
Defiende al país
Esta es tu raíz
(Defiéndela donde quiera)
Defiende al país
(Dale amor a tu bandera)
Esta es tu raíz
(Cuando me muera me entierran allí)
Defiende al país
(Allá la tierra donde nací)
Esta es tu raíz
(Esta es nuestra raíz)
Defiende al país
(Dale amor al país)
Esta es tu raíz
(Recoje toda la historia)
Defiende al país
(Nuestra colectiva memoria)
Esta es tu raíz
(Se lo digo a toda la gente)
Defiende al país
(No te compran si no te vendes)
The song "País Portátil" by Rubén Blades is a commentary on the state of his home country of Panama, which he describes as a "portable country." Blades describes a nation with no memory, where nothing is surprising anymore, inhabited by criminals who are pardoned and charlatan presidents. He illustrates that the country is dominated by a huge complex of anti-nationalism, with falsified heroes and diluted ideals, where mediocrity is the norm. The corruption, lack of honesty and justice in the country is deeply ingrained, echoing throughout the society.
In this song, Blades is not only criticizing his country but also urging people to defend it. He emphasizes that the country is our root, our collective memory, and that it should be our duty to protect it. He urges people to defend their country and to not let it be bought or sold, highlighting the importance of national pride.
Overall, “País Portátil” is a heartfelt and urgent appeal by Blades to his fellow Panamanians to reclaim their nation’s true spirit from the forces that have diluted and damaged it.
Line by Line Meaning
Se vende un país portátil
A portable country is being sold
Con su autoestima en el suelo
Its self-esteem is low
Con un enorme complejo
With a massive complex
Que lo hace anti nacional
Making it anti-national
Es un lugar sin memoria
Its a place without memory
Donde ya nada sorprende
Where nothing is surprising anymore
Vive el crimen indultado
Living with unpunished crimes
O a un charlatán presidente
Or with a president who is a charlatan
Se ofrece un país portátil
A portable country is being offered
Se alquila un país portátil
A portable country is being rented
Se empeña un país portátil
A portable country is being pawned
Parado un país portátil
A portable country stands idle
Con héroes falsificados
With fake heroes
Ideales hipotecados
Mortgaged ideals
Y total mediocridad
And complete mediocrity
Oferta un País portátil
A portable country is on offer
Domesticado en engaños
Domesticated with deceit
Se garantiza por años la ausencia
Guarantees years of absence
De honestidad
Of honesty
Que castiga al que es honrado
Where the honest are punished
Y a un pueblo auto condenado
And a self-condemned people
Por no aceptar la verdad
For not accepting the truth
Se ofrece en partes o entero
Available in parts or in whole
Con un préstamo extranjero
With foreign loans
Hacerlo andar es muy fácil
Making it work is very easy
Esta es tu raíz
This is your root
Defiende al país
Defend the country
(Defiéndela donde quiera)
(Defend it wherever you go)
(Dale amor a tu bandera)
(Love your flag)
(Cuando me muera me entierran allí)
(When I die, bury me there)
(Allá la tierra donde nací)
(There is the land where I was born)
(Esta es nuestra raíz)
(This is our root)
(Dale amor al país)
(Love the country)
(Recoje toda la historia)
(Collect all the history)
(Nuestra colectiva memoria)
(Our collective memory)
(Se lo digo a toda la gente)
(I'm telling this to everyone)
(No te compran si no te vendes)
(They can't buy you if you don't sell yourself)
Writer(s): Ruben Blades
Contributed by Jacob O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.