The verb arreglar literally means "to fix," but its meaning in this song is much more nuanced. It's the key to the catchy hook, “Peleamos, nos arreglamos” (We fight, we make up).
Here, the reflexive form arreglarse means to resolve a conflict or to make amends. This single word perfectly captures the song's theme: a fiery relationship where conflict is always followed by resolution. It's a fantastic, colloquial use of a common verb that you'll hear in everyday conversation.
Colombian reggaeton star J Balvin zeroes in on the everyday chaos of being in a relationship where you fight, make up, and repeat the whole cycle by dinner time. The title phrase "Ay vamos" translates to "here we go" or "we're getting by," and that shrug sets the tone for the entire track. He lays out the daily friction right away: "Cuando no la llamo / Siempre me hace reclamos" ("When I don't call her, she always complains"). Yet, no matter how heated the arguments get during the day, he comes home, teases her, and fixes things because he cannot imagine his life without her ("Qué pena me daría / No tenerte en mi vida" ["What a shame it would be / Not having you in my life"]).
Balvin also spends plenty of time defending himself against her jealousy. He insists that when he is out on the street, he is working for their future or hanging out with his friends ("ando con mis panas" ["I'm hanging out with my buddies"]). The word "panas" is widely used across Colombia and parts of Latin America for close pals. His defense gets funny and blunt when he begs her to chill out: "Nena, nena, tranquilícese / Que en la calle a nadie besé" ("Baby, baby, calm down / I didn't kiss anyone on the street"). He admits they are complete opposites ("Somos polos opuestos"), but he accepts the drama as part of the package because the love is real.
J Balvin grew up in Medellín playing guitar in a teenage rock band with Nirvana and Metallica on repeat, and spent part of his teens in Oklahoma and New York picking up English. Born José Álvaro Osorio Balvín in 1985, he had been releasing music in Colombia for about a decade before anyone outside it paid attention.
"6 AM" with Farruko changed that in 2014, and "Ay Vamos" and "Ginza" followed: "Ginza" held number one on Billboard's Hot Latin Songs chart for 22 weeks, a record at the time. He kept singing in Spanish anyway, and "Mi Gente" reached number three on the Hot 100 once Beyoncé joined the remix, before "I Like It" with Cardi B and Bad Bunny went to number one in 2018. His albums run La Familia, Energía, Vibras, Colores (every track named after a color, and a Latin Grammy for best urban album), José and Rayo, plus Oasis, a joint record with Bad Bunny. In August 2019 he became the first Latino artist to headline Lollapalooza in Chicago.