Aguardiente is a fantastic compound word, combining agua (water) and ardiente (burning). It literally translates to "burning water" or "firewater" and refers to a strong alcoholic spirit popular in many Spanish-speaking countries.
In the song, the singer proudly declares that aguardiente is the best drink, helping to paint a vivid picture of the traditional mariachi lifestyle. It's a culturally rich word that's sure to make your Spanish vocabulary more flavorful!
This song introduces us to a character who is living his best life, and he wants everyone to know it. The singer describes himself as an honorable man who enjoys the finer things, and he's not shy about his success. He claims, "Las mujeres no me faltan / Ni el dinero ni el amor" [I don't lack women / Nor money nor love]. He paints a romantic picture of himself as a free spirit, riding his horse through the mountains at night, with only the sky to guide him: "Las estrellas y la luna / Ellas me dicen donde voy" [The stars and the moon / They tell me where I'm going].
Beyond his adventurous lifestyle, his passions are simple and clear. He loves to make music, specifically to play guitar and sing son—a traditional style of Mexican music—with his mariachi band. He also enjoys a good drink, preferring aguardiente or white tequila with salt. But amidst all this boasting about his great life, the chorus is a pure and simple cry from the heart to his beloved, calling her "mi morena / De mi corazón" [my dark-skinned woman / Of my heart].
Los Lobos formed in East Los Angeles in 1973, when guitarist David Hidalgo and drummer Louie Pérez, both students at Garfield High School, started playing together. They brought in Cesar Rosas and Conrado Lozano and spent years working weddings and quinceañeras around East LA before saxophonist Steve Berlin joined the lineup, rounding out the band that still tours today.
Their sound mixes rock and roll with cumbia, norteño, and traditional Mexican son, and it earned them a Grammy for the EP …And a Time to Dance. Their cover of Ritchie Valens' "La Bamba" went to number one worldwide in 1987, and the following year they won a second Grammy for La Pistola y El Corazón, a record built entirely around mariachi and Tejano instrumentation. By 1992 they released Kiko, the album critics still point to as their high-water mark.