Che Che Cole Lyrics in English by Willie Colón
Bembé refers to an Afro-Cuban religious ceremony or celebration, often involving drumming, singing, and dancing, with roots in West African traditions.
In
"Ché Ché Colé" is an invitation to dance, and it is completely open about where the dance comes from.
The verses do the inviting. The singer calls everyone onto the floor to dance "al estilo Africano", and promises to teach anyone who does not know the steps. He lists the traditions the rhythm grew out of by name: the bomba, the baquiné, the bembé. Then he leans over to someone sitting it out, tells him he looks Venezuelan, and pulls him up anyway, because "todos somos hermanos".
Between the verses comes the part everyone sings back. "Che che colé, che che cofriza, coqui saranga" is a chant, not a sentence. It carries no dictionary meaning in Spanish, and it is not supposed to. The words travelled from a West African children's call-and-response song, and the whole point is that the room answers the singer line for line.
The second half turns the boast into a claim about reach. They dance it in Venezuela, they dance it in Panama, this rhythm is African, and it is going to end up everywhere. By the last verse the singer is teasing you: you liked it, you want to go again, so fix your shoes, because you have them on backwards.
Willie Colón recorded it in 1969 with Héctor Lavoe on vocals. It opened the album that made both of them famous, and more than fifty years later it is still one of the first songs a salsa room reaches for when it wants everybody singing at once.
