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®
Ya No Te Puedo Querer
Rubén Blades Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Que yo te quiera
No quiero verte llorar
Ni quiero que pases pena.
Despreciaste mi cariño
Cuando yo te lo entregaba
Y un cuchillo me clavabas
Lo mismo que estas sufriendo
Yo tambien por ti sufri
Haste que me eh muerto
Y no te aucerdes de mi
No te puedo querer,
Porque no sientes lo que yo siento
No te puedo querer,
Apartame de tu pensamiento
Un día te quise
Y al verme llorando
Tu te reias de mi padecer
Ahora es tarde no hay remedio
Ya no te puedo querer.
Yo bien quisiera quererte
Pero no puedo
La culpa la tengo yo
Que mando en mi sentimiento
Tu jamas podras negarlo que te quise ciegamente
Y esclavo estuve siempre de tu gusto y voluntad
Si ahora ya no te quiero no te debes de quejar
Si te pago con monedas
Que tu me enseñaste a usar
No te puedo querer,
Porque no sientes lo que yo siento
No, no, no te puedo querer,
Apartame de tu pensamiento
Un día te quise
Y al verme llorando
Tu te reias de mi padecer
Ahora es tarde no hay remedio
Ya no te puedo querer.
Ya no te puedo querer
Aunque me duela
Ya no te puedo querer
Que desengaño
Ya no te puedo querer
Aunque me duela
Ya no te puedo querer
Aunque te extraño
Ya no te puedo querer
Oye me ahora
Ya no te puedo querer
Aunque quisieras
Ya no te puedo querer
Es simplicidad
Ya no te puedo querer
De esa manera
Ya no te puedo querer
Misericordia
Buenos aires
Oyeme mama
Ayy bien por ahi seis del solar
Oyeme mama
Arrollando pa mi cantar
Oyeme mama
Oye lo que digo
Oyeme mama
Que sin ti yo sigo
Oyeme mama
Pero no me olvido
Oyeme mama
Ya no te puedo querer
Ya no te puedo querer
Ya no te puedo querer
The lyrics to Ruben Blades's song Ya No Te Puedo Querer express a feeling of love lost due to betrayal and pain. The singer does not want the other person to beg for love or to suffer because of their actions. The singer tells the other person that they cannot love them because they do not feel the same way. The singer admits that they once loved them, but now they cannot because the other person laughed at their pain when they were in love. The song ends with the singer repeating that they cannot love the other person anymore, even though it hurts them.
The lyrics are a powerful representation of the emotions someone may feel after they have been hurt by someone they once loved. They highlight the importance of mutual respect and understanding in any relationship. Interestingly, the lyrics use a combination of poetic language and informal words and phrases, likely to convey the singer's deep emotions in a relatable and accessible way.
Line by Line Meaning
No quiero que me supliques
I don't want you to beg me
Que yo te quiera
To love you
No quiero verte llorar
I don't want to see you cry
Ni quiero que pases pena.
Nor do I want you to suffer
Despreciaste mi cariño
You scorned my love
Cuando yo te lo entregaba
When I was giving it to you
Y un cuchillo me clavabas
And you stabbed me with a knife
En mitad del corazón
In the middle of my heart
Lo mismo que estas sufriendo
What you are suffering right now
Yo tambien por ti sufri
I also suffered for you
Haste que me eh muerto
Until I died
Y no te aucerdes de mi
And you don't remember me
No te puedo querer,
I can't love you
Porque no sientes lo que yo siento
Because you don't feel what I feel
No te puedo querer,
I can't love you
Apartame de tu pensamiento
Keep me away from your thoughts
Un día te quise
One day I loved you
Y al verme llorando
And when you saw me crying
Tu te reias de mi padecer
You laughed at my suffering
Ahora es tarde no hay remedio
Now it's too late, there's no cure
Ya no te puedo querer.
I can't love you anymore
Yo bien quisiera quererte
I really wanted to love you
Pero no puedo
But I can't
La culpa la tengo yo
I am the one to blame
Que mando en mi sentimiento
Because I control my feelings
Tu jamas podras negarlo que te quise ciegamente
You can never deny that I loved you blindly
Y esclavo estuve siempre de tu gusto y voluntad
And I was always a slave to your desires and will
Si ahora ya no te quiero no te debes de quejar
If I don't love you now, you shouldn't complain
Si te pago con monedas
If I pay you with coins
Que tu me enseñaste a usar
That you taught me to use
Ya no te puedo querer,
I can't love you
Porque no sientes lo que yo siento
Because you don't feel what I feel
No, no, no te puedo querer,
No, I can't love you
Apartame de tu pensamiento
Keep me away from your thoughts
Ya no te puedo querer
I can't love you anymore
Aunque me duela
Even though it hurts me
Que desengaño
What a disappointment
Aunque te extraño
Even though I miss you
Oye me ahora
Hear me now
Aunque quisieras
Even if you wanted to
Es simplicidad
It's simplicity
De esa manera
In that way
Misericordia
Mercy
Buenos aires
Buenos Aires
Oyeme mama
Listen to me mama
Ayy bien por ahi seis del solar
There you are from the neighborhood
Oyeme mama
Listen to me mama
Arrollando pa mi cantar
Rolling towards my song
Oyeme mama
Listen to me mama
Oye lo que digo
Hear what I'm saying
Oyeme mama
Listen to me mama
Que sin ti yo sigo
Because I continue without you
Oyeme mama
Listen to me mama
Pero no me olvido
But I don't forget
Oyeme mama
Listen to me mama
Ya no te puedo querer
I can't love you anymore
Ya no te puedo querer
I can't love you anymore
Ya no te puedo querer
I can't love you anymore
Writer(s): LARREA CARRICARTE CARMELO
Contributed by Logan V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Henry Caramantín
Espectacular..... Gracias Señor Rubén Blades, conocido en el mundo musical como: El Doctor Salsa.....!!!
jose luna
aunque te separaste de venezuela ruben,los salseros que gustan tu musica todavia te amamos
Barbie 06
Mi salsa favorita ❤
Alex Centeno
Para mi, y vengo de La Isla del Encanto, no hay uno mejor en el Genre de la salsa como Ruben Blades y todos sus logros.
Jorge Alens Conte
@Jaime Distance y Pablo Polanco, Alex se refiere al conjunto de la obra de Rubén...no hay duda que los boricuas tienen grandes exponentes del género, pero Rubén ha hecho un aporte a la salsa porque le dió otro matiz, un giro en su estructura, sin dejar de ser salsa. Hizo de este género poesía, le dió contenido político, le subió el nivel y ha demostrado ser un excelente pregonero y sonero. También hizo salsa más pura y es buenísima. También le compuso canciones que han sido éxitos en la voz de Héctor y muchos otros. Más recientemente, ha fusionado ritmos, sonidos e instrumentos musicales para hacer "salsa" como lo fue el CD Tiempos y Mundo. En fin, él ha demostrado ser más completo. No sean provincianos en sus comentarios...
Jaime Distance
soy panameño ruben es mu paisano fue un bravo en ese genero en conjunto con los boricuas como hector cheo pet conde los tres ismael rivera miranda quintana.se supo defender muy bien pero estos boricias para mi son fueras de serie
Pablo Polanco
No hable asi teniendo un cheo feliciano nativo de puertorico
Que pidía subir y bajar la vos
Roberto Franco Saco Pereda
Ruben el poeta de la salsa ....grande muy grande
espinosa Junior
Chuleria de salsa ,ya note puedo querer 🖖
Haqq santiago
Me encanta esta salsa