Arrimado describes someone who stays in another person’s home or relies on them for shelter, often because they do not have a place of their own. In the song, "cuando no tuve y cuando de arrimado anduve" reflects a difficult period when Jesús Virlán had very little and depended on others, making this uncommon word especially meaningful.
“Jesús Virlán” is Virlan Garcia telling his life story without pretending it was easy. He remembers growing up without his father, moving with his mother to the border, enjoying small Christmases at his grandmother’s house, and losing his grandfather when he was seven. Later, his parents separated, his mother worked day and night, and his older sister helped care for the children. The line “La vida fue muy dura” [“Life was very hard”] is wonderfully direct. “El billete” means money, so when he sings “Después, cayó el billete” [“Then the money came in”], he contrasts his success with the years when his family had very little.
The song also shows how music pulled him away from a dangerous path. As a teenager, he left football behind, tried marijuana, got bored at school, and wrote poetry even when teachers kicked him out of class. After his mother became ill and their house was taken away, the family moved to Sonora to look for better luck. He remembers being helped by others and living “de arrimado” [“staying in someone else’s home because he had nowhere of his own”], which explains why he refuses to boast about what he has now. Near the end, he mentions people from his hometown who died or disappeared after choosing another path. His name becomes the final piece of the story: his mother had wished for him, believed he was born by a miracle, and named him Jesús Virlán. The song feels like a thank-you, a confession, and a reminder that fame and money came after a childhood shaped by absence, work, illness, and survival.