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®

Te Odio Y Te Quiero
Rubén Blades Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Me muerdo los labios
Para no llamarte
Me queman tus besos
Me sigue tu voz
Pensando que hay otro
Que pueda besarte
Se llena mi pecho
De rabia y rencor

Sumido en la fiebre brutal
De mis ansias
Te llevo muy dentro
Muy dentro de mí
Te niego y te busco
Te odio y te quiero
Y llevo en el pecho un infierno por ti
Te odio y te quiero
Por que a ti te debo
Mis horas amargas
Mis horas de miel
Te odio y te quiero
Fuiste el milagro
La espina que duele
Y el beso de amor
Por eso te odio
Por eso te quiero
Con todas las fuerzas
De mi corazón
Me muerdo los labios
Para no llamarte
Me queman tus besos
Me sigue tu voz
Pensando que hay otro
Que pueda besarte
Se llena mi pecho
De rabia y rencor
Sumido en la fiebre
Brutal de mis ansias
Te llevo muy dentro
Muy dentro de mí
Te niego y te busco
Te odio y te quiero
Y llevo en el pecho un infierno por ti
Te odio y te quiero
Por que a ti te debo
Mis horas amargas
Mis horas de miel
Te odio y te quiero
Fuiste el milagro
La espina que duele
Y el beso de amor
Por eso te odio
Por eso te quiero

Con todas las fuerzas
De mi corazón.

Overall Meaning

The song Te Odio Y Te Quiero by Ruben Blades is an emotional and intense expression of the complex feelings of love and hate for someone. The lyrics are about a person who is deeply in love with someone but at the same time feels hurt and betrayed by them. The first lines, "Me muerdo los labios para no llamarte, me queman tus besos, me sigue tu voz" convey the longing and desire to be with this person but also the pain and hurt they have caused.

The singer is struggling with feelings of jealousy as he believes there may be someone else who could be with the person he loves. He is consumed by his feelings and is unable to escape them, as he says "te llevo muy dentro, muy dentro de mi" which means that the person he loves is deeply ingrained in his heart and soul.

The most poignant line of the song is "te odio y te quiero," which means "I hate you and I love you." This line captures the essence of the song, that love and hate can coexist and that sometimes the line between them can become blurred. The final verse, "Por eso te odio, por eso te quiero, con todas las fuerzas de mi corazón" translates to "That's why I hate you, that's why I love you, with all the strength of my heart."

Overall, the song Te Odio Y Te Quiero is a powerful and emotive portrayal of the complex nature of love and the tumultuous feelings that can come with it.

Line by Line Meaning

Me muerdo los labios
I bite my lips to restrain myself from calling you

Para no llamarte
So that I don't call you

Me queman tus besos
Your kisses burn me

Me sigue tu voz
Your voice keeps following me

Pensando que hay otro que pueda besarte
Thinking that someone else might kiss you

Se llena mi pecho de rabia y rencor
My chest fills with anger and resentment

Sumido en la fiebre brutal de mis ansias
Immersed in the brutal fever of my desires

Te llevo muy dentro, muy dentro de mí
I carry you deep inside of me

Te niego y te busco
I deny you but also seek you

Te odio y te quiero
I hate you and love you

Y llevo en el pecho un infierno por ti
And I carry a hell within me because of you