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®
Un Son Para Ti
Rubén Blades Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Fue fácil de componer
Pues solo deje fluir
Lo que el corazón sintiera
Y sus palabras sinceras
Solo las repetí
Su tono es sentimental
Y aunque eso es universal
Solo he de cantarlo yo
Porque es a mí
A quién le brindas la luz de tus ojos
Porque soy yo
El que se embriaga con tus labios rojos
El que recorre tu piel
Envuelto en dulces caricias
Al que le das tus suspiros
Cuando hacemos el amor
Un son dedicado a ti
Fue fácil de componer
Pues solo deje fluir
Lo que el corazón sintiera
Y sus palabras sinceras
Compusieron este son
Coro: dulce amor, mi querer
The lyrics to Rubén Blades's song "Un Son Para Ti" convey the sentiment of a man who is deeply in love with a woman, and who has written a song for her that expresses his emotions. He states that writing the song was easy, as he simply allowed his heart to feel and expressed those feelings through words. The lyrics themselves are sentimental and are written in a minor key, which adds to the emotional intensity of the song. Despite the universal nature of these emotions, the singer notes that he is the one who will sing this song, because it is intended for his beloved only.
The song then goes on to describe the depth of the singer's love for the woman, and how she illuminates his world with the light of her eyes, and how he feels intoxicated by the touch of her lips. He describes the intimate moments they share, where he runs his hands over her skin and they exchange sweet caresses. The lyrics express the singer's belief that he is the only one who truly understands the depth of his love for her, and that their relationship is unique and special.
Overall, "Un Son Para Ti" is a touching tribute to the power of love, and the depth of feeling that it can inspire in a person. The lyrics are simple but heartfelt, and the melody conveys the emotional intensity of the sentiment behind them.
Line by Line Meaning
Un son dedicado a ti
This song is dedicated to you
Fue fácil de componer
It was easy to compose
Pues solo deje fluir
Just let it flow
Lo que el corazón sintiera
What the heart felt
Y sus palabras sinceras
And its sincere words
Solo las repetí
I just repeated them
Su tono es sentimental
Its tone is sentimental
Y está en la escala menor
And it's in a minor key
Y aunque eso es universal
And although that is universal
Solo he de cantarlo yo
Only I have to sing it
Porque es a mí
Because it's to me
A quién le brindas la luz de tus ojos
To whom you give the light of your eyes
Porque soy yo
Because I am
El que se embriaga con tus labios rojos
The one who gets drunk with your red lips
El que recorre tu piel
The one who runs through your skin
Envuelto en dulces caricias
Wrapped in sweet caresses
Al que le das tus suspiros
To whom you give your sighs
Cuando hacemos el amor
When we make love
Coro: dulce amor, mi querer
Chorus: Sweet love, my love
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: DANIEL BALLESTER MONTOYA, JAVIER MARTINEZ GOMEZ, JAIME SANCHEZ DE OCANA SANS, PEDRO SANJUAN GUIJARRO, ANGEL SASTRE MONTALVO, PEDRO MANUEL SIERRA SIERRA
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Ali Linares
Tremendo tema!!!
Vicente Galvan
Genial- el cantante se llama-Medoro Madera/ tremenda nota siempre innovando.
Juan Carlos Castaño Rodríguez
Rubén Blades canta como Medoro Madera, su alter ego. Surgió por inspiración de Pete “El Conde” Rodríguez; según recuerdo, Blades manifestó que El Conde es uno de sus cantantes favoritos.
Rafael Lastra
Buena, buena
Lasalsa 1964
los coros los tendras?
Juliana Arboleda HSE
Te amoooooo SQV
Alejandro Salazar
Rubén blades
Ludwig Girigorie
Feno.enal.
Mario Alberto Urriola Duarte
El cantante se llama medoro madera.
Graciela Muñoz
Muy bonita canción...no entendí bien...El que canta es...Ruben Blades ..y entonces quién es???👀 🤔 😏..Meodoro Madero???