La Flaca Lyrics in English by Jarabe de Palo
Mulata is a term used in Spanish to describe a woman of mixed European and African ancestry. While the word's origins are complex, in the context of this song and Caribbean culture, it's used to describe a beautiful and captivating woman.
Jarabe de Palo sings, "Coral negro de La Habana, tremendísima mulata" (Black coral of Havana, a most tremendous 'mulata'). The word paints a vivid picture of the song's mysterious subject, 'La Flaca', celebrating her unique beauty and heritage.
Spanish rock group Jarabe de Palo delivers pure, obsessive infatuation here. The singer is totally spellbound by a woman in Havana, Cuba, nicknamed La Flaca (The Skinny Girl). He describes her with wild, vivid details: "cien libras de piel y hueso" (a hundred pounds of skin and bone) and "cuarenta kilos de salsa" (forty kilos of salsa rhythm). She has eyes like two blazing suns that speak without words ("en la cara dos soles / que sin palabras hablan"). Her daily routine is just as striking: she sleeps away the daytime to trick her appetite ("dice que así el hambre engaña") and spends every night drinking beer and dancing endlessly down at the tasca (a traditional local tavern or dive bar).
The whole track builds around an intense, desperate craving for intimacy. He confesses that he is going crazy wanting to sleep beside her ("enloquezco de ganas de dormir a su ladito"), tossing and turning in bed while remembering the touch she shared on their very first day together. Everything boils down to one simple, repeating chorus that drives home his madness: "Por un beso de La Flaca / daría lo que fuera" (For a kiss from La Flaca, I would give anything)—even if he only gets a single one.
