Rubén Blades (born July 16, 1948) is a Panamanian salsa singer, songwriter,… Read Full Bio ↴Rubén Blades (born July 16, 1948) is a Panamanian salsa singer, songwriter, actor and politician. As songwriter, Blades brought the lyrical sophistication of South American nueva canción and Cuban nueva trova to salsa, creating thinking persons' dance music. He remains wildly popular in that country and much admired throughout Latin America, and he managed to attract 20% of the vote in his failed attempt to win the Panamanian presidency in 1994. In September 2004, he was appointed minister of tourism by Panamanian president Martín Torrijos. Blades is completely bilingual, working both in English and Spanish. His most famous song is "Pedro Navaja", a song about a panderer whose day to die has come.

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®

Puente Del Mundo
Rubén Blades Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Verde cinta de tierra
Que estando ausente llevo por dentro
Olas de Norte y Sur se unen en tu centro

Roja, azul, blanca aurora
Nació del tajo de una sandía
Un alma de inmigrante fue tu semilla
Y la sangre del indio formó tu orilla

¡Piedra de cielo! ¡Agua de luna!
Ngobe Bugle, Emberá, Chocó, blanco, negro y Kuna
Perfiles de una esperanza que no se esfuma

Un paraíso compraron cuentas de vidrio
Telas y espejos
Fuente de juventud para un viejo imperio

La luz dentro de tu entraña se transformó
En camino de acero
Y nuestra gente en sombras de la que fueron

¿Cuándo seremos manos, en vez de dedos?
Con claro oscuro, con socabón, ¡con fiesta y duelo!
Pedazos de corazón formaron tu suelo
Siempre estaremos aquí, aunque estemos lejos

En el puente del Mundo
Abiá Yala bin sógue

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Rubén Blade's song Puente Del Mundo celebrates the rich cultural diversity of Panama, referred to as "the bridge of the world." The first lines, "Verde cinta de tierra / Que estando ausente llevo por dentro," suggest that despite being physically away from Panama, the country is always present within the singer's heart. The next line, "Olas de Norte y Sur se unen en tu centro," highlights the physical location of Panama between the North and South America, and how the country serves as a link between the two regions.

Blades then goes on to describe how Panama is a product of immigration, birthed from the "tajo" (cut) of a watermelon, referring to Panama's creation during the construction of the Panama Canal. The line "Un alma de inmigrante fue tu semilla / Y la sangre del indio formó tu orilla" acknowledges the contributions of immigrants and indigenous people in shaping the country's identity.

Blades also touches on the exploitation of Panama by foreign powers, referencing how a "viejo imperio" (old empire) traded glass beads and mirrors for the country's resources. However, despite the struggles, the country's diversity and resilience are celebrated, as Blades declares that Panama's people will always be there, "always present, even when we are far away."

Overall, Puente Del Mundo is a powerful ode to the cultural richness of Panama, its history, and its people.

Line by Line Meaning

Verde cinta de tierra
Green ribbon of land

Que estando ausente llevo por dentro
That I carry inside when absent

Olas de Norte y Sur se unen en tu centro
Waves from the north and south meet at your center

Roja, azul, blanca aurora
Red, blue, white dawn

Nació del tajo de una sandía
Born from the cut of a watermelon

Un alma de inmigrante fue tu semilla
An immigrant soul was your seed

Y la sangre del indio formó tu orilla
And the blood of the native formed your shore

¡Piedra de cielo! ¡Agua de luna!
Stone from the sky! Water from the moon!

Ngobe Bugle, Emberá, Chocó, blanco, negro y Kuna
Ngobe Bugle, Emberá, Chocó, White, Black, and Kuna

Perfiles de una esperanza que no se esfuma
Profiles of a hope that does not fade away