Ryland "Ry" Peter Cooder (b. 1947) is a guitarist, singer and composer from… Read Full Bio ↴Ryland "Ry" Peter Cooder (b. 1947) is a guitarist, singer and composer from the United States. He is known mostly for his slide guitar work, his passion for American roots music, and for his collaborations with the Rolling Stones, the Buena Vista Social Club and many other musicians from countries all around the world.

Born in Los Angeles, California on 15th March 1947, Cooder first attracted attention in the 1960s, playing with Captain Beefheart & his Magic Band, after having worked with Taj Mahal in The Rising Sons.

He was a session guitarist on various recording sessions with the Rolling Stones in 1968 and 1969; Cooder's contributions most notably appear on the Stones' Beggars Banquet where he shares a prominent credit with pianist, Nicky Hopkins on the back cover. He continued to appear on the succeeding albums, Let It Bleed, and Sticky Fingers, on which he contributed the haunting slide guitar solo to "Sister Morphine". Cooder is reputed to have taught Keith Richards to play in open-G tuning, now a Richards hallmark, as well as to have written the open-G signature riff of "Honky Tonk Women". He was briefly considered to fill the departed Brian Jones' place in the Rolling Stones, but reportedly Cooder and Keith Richards did not get along very well. For some time after the sessions, Cooder accused Keith Richards of "ripping him off" musically, but now refuses to talk about his experiences with the Stones. Cooder played slide guitar for the 1970 film Performance, which contained Mick Jagger's first solo single, "Memo from Turner" on which Cooder played guitar.

Throughout the 1970s Cooder released a series of Warner Brothers albums that showcased his guitar work, to some degree. In this respect, Cooder's guitar work on these records is not unlike the guitar playing of Robbie Robertson on the Band's albums: Both virtuosos emphasized song over solo. Cooder's 1970s albums spotlight, more than anything, a wide-ranging taste in music. Cooder has been seen as almost a musicologist, exploring bygone musical genres with personalized and sensitive, updated reworkings of revered originals. Cooder's 1970s albums (with the exception of Jazz) cannot be neatly pigeonholed by genre, But - to generalise broadly - it might be fair to call Cooder's first album blues; Into the Purple Valley, Boomer's Story, and Paradise and Lunch, folk + blues; Chicken Skin Music and Showtime, a unique melange of Tex-Mex and Hawaiian; Jazz, 1920s jazz; Bop till You Drop 1950s R&B and blues; and Borderline an eclectic mix of Tex-Mex with blues, R&B, and country and Get Rhythm, with more rock-based excursions.

Cooder has worked as a studio musician and has also scored many film soundtracks, of which perhaps the best known is that for the 1984 Wim Wenders film Paris, Texas. Ry Cooder based this soundtrack, and the haunting title song "Paris, Texas" on Blind Willie Johnson's "Dark Was the Night (Cold Was the Ground)", which he described as "The most soulful, transcendent piece in all music from the US." His other film work includes Walter Hill's The Long Riders (1980) and Southern Comfort (1981).

In recent years, Cooder has played a role in the increased appreciation of traditional Cuban music, due to his collaboration as producer in the Buena Vista Social Club (1997) recording, which was a worldwide hit. Wim Wenders directed a documentary film of the musicians involved, Buena Vista Social Club (1999) which was nominated for an Academy Award in 2000. Cooder worked with Tuvan throat singers for the score to the 1993 film Geronimo: An American Legend.

Cooder's solo work has been an eclectic mix, taking in dust bowl folk, blues, Tex-Mex, soul, gospel, rock, and almost everything else. He has collaborated with many important musicians, including the Rolling Stones, Little Feat, the Chieftains, John Lee Hooker, Gabby Pahinui, and Ali Farka Toure. He formed the Little Village supergroup with Nick Lowe, John Hiatt, and Jim Keltner.

Cooder's 1979 album Bop till You Drop was the first popular music album to be recorded digitally. It yielded his biggest hit, a disco/R&B cover of Elvis Presley's 1960s recording "Little Sister".

Volver Volver
Ry Cooder Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Este amor apasionado
Anda todo alborotado por volver
Hoy camino a la locura
Y aunque todo me tortura, sé que reír

Nos dejamos hace tiempo
Pero llegó el momento de perder
Tú tenías mucha razón

Le hago caso al corazón
Y me muero por volver

Y volver, volver, volver
A tus brazos otra vez
Llegaré hasta donde estés
Yo sé perder, yo sé perder
Quiero volver, volver, volver

Muchas gracias, thank you!

This impassioned love
goes on, compelling me to return
I'm on the road to madness
and although everything tortures me
I know how to love

We parted ways some time ago
But the moment of loss arrived
You had every reason
I heed my heart
And I'm dying to return

And to return, to return, to return
To your arms again
I will arrive where you are

I know how to lose, I can take it
I want to return, return, return

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Ry Cooder's "Volver Volver" tells the story of a passionate love that has ended but still haunts the singer. The lyrics suggest that the singer has come to terms with the fact that the relationship may be over, but their feelings for the person they lost remain strong. The repeated desire to return to the arms of his lost love indicate how much the singer misses that person and the deep longing he feels to be with them again. The singer acknowledges that he has gone mad missing his love and that everything around him serves as a reminder of the love he once had. The lyrics are simple, yet deeply emotional and impactful, conveying the message that the singer wants nothing more than to be reunited with his lost love.

One of the interesting facts about the song is that it was originally written and recorded by Vicente Fernández in 1972, but Ry Cooder popularized the song when he performed it on the soundtrack for the movie "Paris, Texas" in 1984. The song is one of Vicente Fernández's most famous and beloved songs, and it remains a favorite among Spanish-speaking audiences today. Another interesting fact is that the song has been covered by many artists over the years, including Julio Iglesias, Ana Gabriel, Jenni Rivera, and Los Lobos.

The song's melody is based on a traditional Mexican folk song called "La Bamba," which is a style of music that originates from the state of Veracruz. The song features the use of many traditional Mexican instruments, such as the accordion, guitar, and trumpet. The lyrics of the song are written in a traditional verse-chorus-verse pattern, with a repeating chorus.

Some other interesting facts about the song include that it has been used in several movies over the years, including "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada" and "Y Tu Mamá También." The song has also been covered by many non-Spanish-speaking artists, including Dwight Yoakam, Mariah Carey, and Bruce Springsteen. Additionally, "Volver Volver" has been performed in many different musical styles, including rock, folk, and country.

Chords:
Here are the chords for the song, in the key of G:
Verse and Chorus: G, D, C, G
Bridge: Em, D, C, G

Line by Line Meaning

Este amor apasionado
This passionate love

Anda todo alborotado por volver
Compels me to return

Hoy camino a la locura
Today, I'm on the road to madness

Y aunque todo me tortura, sé que reír
And although everything tortures me, I still know how to love

Nos dejamos hace tiempo
We parted ways some time ago

Pero llegó el momento de perder
But the moment of loss arrived

Tú tenías mucha razón
You had every reason

Le hago caso al corazón
I heed my heart

Y me muero por volver
And I'm dying to return

Y volver, volver, volver
And to return, to return, to return