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®
Vino Añejo
Rubén Blades Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Que mi espera visitaron
Se detuvieron un instante
Y siguieron su camino
Dejando solo como huella
Memorias de dolor
Al usar mi corazón
Como un punto de partida
Corre largo y sin mentiras.
Mi ayer está lleno de historia
Escrita en tantas despedidas
Que el tiempo adquiere hasta la forma
De mil tristezas repetidas
Apareciste entre mi sombra
Cual estrella en firmamento
Y me has hecho sentir dentro
Que se cierran las heridas
Que causaron mis intentos
Por creer en otras vidas.
Quédate en mi
Te ofrezco un alma
En decepciones concebida
Que con tu amor has transformado
En una casa de alegría
Amada quédate conmigo
Que esta vez sea diferente
Ya no quiero continuar
Por las otras amargado
Jamás merece perdón
El que nunca a perdonado.
Noooooo pasaras he madurado
En tu cuerpo y tus sentidos
Tú, pedernal en mi tiniebla
Yo, vino añejo te he ofrecido
Te pido quédate conmigo
En esta curva del camino
Ya no me duele el pasado
Ni lamento lo perdido
No me importa hacerme viejo
Si me hago viejo contigo.
Coro:
Tú pasaras
Por siempre te quedaras
Conmigo.
The song Vino Añejo by Rubén Blades talks about his past experiences with love and heartbreak, and how the woman in the song is different from the others. The singer talks about how previous women he has loved have treated him poorly, using his heart as a stepping stone in their own lives, leaving him with memories of pain. However, the woman in this song is different. She has come into his life and made him feel like his past wounds are healing. The singer asks her to stay with him, promising her his soul which was conceived in disappointments. He wants this woman to be a part of his life and not just a passing visitor like his previous loves. The singer has matured and is offering her a rare, expensive and vintage wine. He begs her to stay with him, offering his heart and longing for a different love experience, one of happiness and joy.
The lyrics of this song are truly exceptional, as they bring out the emotions of the singer and the thoughts that arise from the experiences of a heartbroken man. The lyrics express how much the singer wants this woman to stay with him and how much she has changed him. This song can resonate with many people who have experienced heartbreak and want to move on. The music, which is a fusion of salsa and jazz, enhances the emotions brought out by the lyrics.
Line by Line Meaning
No pasaras como las otras
You won't pass through me like the others did
Que mi espera visitaron
Who visited my waiting
Se detuvieron un instante
Stopped for a moment
Y siguieron su camino
And went on with their journey
Dejando solo como huella
Leaving only a trace
Memorias de dolor
Memories of pain
Al usar mi corazón
Using my heart
Como un punto de partida
As a starting point
Sin pensar en que mi amor
Without thinking that my love
Corre largo y sin mentiras.
Runs long and without lies
Mi ayer está lleno de historia
My past is full of history
Escrita en tantas despedidas
Written in so many goodbyes
Que el tiempo adquiere hasta la forma
That time acquires the shape
De mil tristezas repetidas
Of a thousand repeated sadnesses
Apareciste entre mi sombra
You appeared in my shadow
Cual estrella en firmamento
Like a star in the sky
Y me has hecho sentir dentro
And you've made me feel inside
Que se cierran las heridas
That the wounds are healing
Que causaron mis intentos
That caused my attempts
Por creer en otras vidas.
To believe in other lives.
Quédate en mi
Stay with me
Te ofrezco un alma
I offer you a soul
En decepciones concebida
Conceived in disappointments
Que con tu amor has transformado
That you transformed with your love
En una casa de alegría
Into a house of joy
Amada quédate conmigo
Beloved stay with me
Que esta vez sea diferente
Let this time be different
Ya no quiero continuar
I don't want to continue anymore
Por las otras amargado
Bitter because of the others
Jamás merece perdón
Never deserves forgiveness
El que nunca a perdonado.
He who has never forgiven.
Noooooo pasaras he madurado
No, you won't pass, I have matured
En tu cuerpo y tus sentidos
In your body and your senses
Tú, pedernal en mi tiniebla
You, flint in my darkness
Yo, vino añejo te he ofrecido
I, old wine have offered you
Te pido quédate conmigo
I ask you to stay with me
En esta curva del camino
In this curve of the road
Ya no me duele el pasado
The past doesn't hurt me anymore
Ni lamento lo perdido
Nor lament what's lost
No me importa hacerme viejo
I don't care getting old
Si me hago viejo contigo.
If I grow old with you.
Tú pasaras
You will pass
Por siempre te quedaras
Will stay forever
Conmigo.
With me.
Contributed by Joseph J. Suggest a correction in the comments below.