El Chico Del Apartamento 512 Lyrics in English by Selena
Rabos verdes literally translates to "green tails", but it's a colorful Mexican idiom for lecherous or dirty old men. The phrase compares them to old parrots who can still talk but are no longer in their prime.
In the song, Selena comically brushes off unwanted attention, singing "le digo que no me caen los viejos rabos verdes" (I tell him I don't like dirty old men). Learning this playful slang is a fun way to understand the sassy personality in the lyrics and add some authentic flavor to your Spanish!
Selena turns apartment living into a hilarious, relatable romantic comedy in this bright Tejano track. Every trip down the hallway is an obstacle course of unwanted attention: an unwashed guy catcalling her, a boring neighbor holding her up, and an older creep she brushes off by calling him a rabo verde (an old lecher or dirty old man) with the blunt line "no me caen los viejos rabos verdes" ("I don't like dirty old men"). None of them matter, though, because she only has eyes for the dream guy stepping out of the elevator: "El chico del apartamento cinco doce" ("The guy from apartment 512"). He makes her tongue-tied, her heart jump, and leaves her secretly writing love letters that she never actually sends.
The real punchline arrives when she finally works up the nerve to knock on his door and confess her feelings. Her goosebumps instantly turn to heartbreak when a blonde woman (una güera) opens the door instead. Just as she thinks it is all over, the woman asks, "¿Buscabas a mi hermano?" ("Were you looking for my brother?"). It is a charming twist that wraps up one of Selena's funnest stories, full of neighborhood humor and everyday crush awkwardness.
