"El Rey" by José Alfredo Jiménez, English translation of lyrics

[cairaguas]

"The King"
Composer: José Alfredo Jiménez
Style: Ranchera
Country: Mexico

Watch and Listen:

Renditions: José Alfredo Jiménez (original), Vicente Fernandez, Alejandro Fernandez, and now George Strait (possibly because of my translation? I don't know, but if so, I am very honored!)

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[Full translation moved to songlations.com]

Translation:

Yo sé

Comments

[cairaguas]

Yeah, I searched for "Songlations" on Google a few months ago and I found a lot of country music blogs saying that Strait had decided to do the song after reading a translation. The blogs were all linking to me and I couldn't find any other translations online, so I am very curious to know if Strait read my translation. I expect that he had heard the song itself before, but just had not read a translation. Who knows! Maybe he didn't look for a translation online; maybe a friend translated it for him. Either way, it's great. I love it when English-speaking singers with a big Spanish-speaking fanbase cross the language barrier for their fans. It shows a lot of love for the fans. It's wonderful.

I'm glad that you're a Fernandez fan now. My favorite is the José Alfredo Jiménez version because it's the version that my dad played when I was a kid, so I associated it with my childhood. Don't let your friend knock the Strait version, though. Who cares if he has an accent? He pronounces everything correctly and he sings with enthusiasm; he's good. You can tell that he studied the Spanish versions.

Bon Jovi also had a big Spanish-speaking fanbase and they sung a few Spanish songs for them, including "Como Yo Nadie Te Ha Amado" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nD5eh22JYcA
...They also have an accent when they sing, but I still love the song.