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El Rey is a very popular mariachi song that almost every Mexican knows from memory, just like the Himno Nacional, Las Mañanitas, Las Golondrinas, or Cielito Lindo.
This is Plácido Domingo’s version in Washigton, D.C.
Yo sé bien que estoy afuera
Pero el día en que yo me muera
Sé que tendrás que llorar
Llorar y llorar, llorar y llorar
Dirás que no me quisiste
Pero vas a estar muy triste
Y así te vas a quedar
Con dinero y sin dinero
Hago siempre lo que quiero
Y mi palabra es la ley
No tengo trono ni reina
Ni nadie que me comprenda
Pero sigo siendo el rey
Una piedra en el camino (una piedra del camino, sings the songwriter)
Me enseñó que mi destino
Era rodar y rodar
Rodar y rodar, rodar y rodar
También me dijo un arriero
Que no hay que llegar primero
Pero hay que saber llegar
Con dinero y sin dinero
Hago siempre lo que quiero
Y mi palabra es la ley
No tengo trono ni reina
Ni nadie que me comprenda
Pero sigo siendo el rey
This is Vicente Fernández version
What are the lyrics saying?
I know well that I’m out (outside, probably homeless? kicked out? rejected?)
but the day I die. (The subjunctive is used here.)
I know that you’ll have to cry
to cry and cry, to cry and cry. (to cry over and over)
you’ll say that you never loved me (the use of querer in the preterite tense requires never)
but you’re going to be very sad
and you are going to remain like that (she’s going to stay sad)
with money and without money
I always do what I want
and my word Is the law
I don’t have a throne or a queen
or anyone who understands me
but I am still the king
a stone in my way (a rock)
showed me that my fate (my destiny)
was to roll and roll (to keep rolling)
to roll and roll, to roll and roll (like a rolling stone!)
Also, an arriero told me. (Arriero is a person who carries products using beasts of burden)
that it’s not necessary to arrive first (arrive in the first place)
but it’s necessary to know how to arrive (how to get there)
Credit. I used this website for the translation, but I had to make some adjustments.
Vicente Fernández and Celia Cruz
Massiel and Vicente Fernández on Televisión Española
Raffaella Carrà sings El Rey (at 1:45)
Raffaella Carrà died on July 5, 2021. Visit my post about her.
Originally published on 20210703 (spanishNY.com) Latest update 20240617 top
