Tú Con Él
Frankie Ruiz · 1985 · written by Eduardo Franco, from the album Solista... Pero No Solo
She's happy now, with him. And he finally understands: he was only her excuse, the proof to the other man that she could live without him.
The story
1.She's happy now
He's sure she's happy: nothing from before makes her cry. Time goes by, he's still waiting, and she's with him, the other man. She doesn't remember their crazy times or their love.
2.The game
It doesn't surprise him; he always suspected it would end this way. He was only the excuse, the way to show the other man she could live without him. He didn't see the game and fell in love, and by then it was too late to turn back.
3.What people tell him
People tell him she looks beautiful, more than ever. She doesn't hate him, and she always asks about him. So, he thinks, he got her to love him a little after all.
4.I'm sorry
He apologizes for his jealousy. He was almost crazy with that love, and soon after, he lost it for good.
Key phrases
- “Tú con él”You with himThe whole song in three words: what he can't stop picturing.
- “Seguro, mujer, que hoy eres feliz”Surely, woman, you're happy todayIt sounds kind, and it's full of hurt.
- “Yo solamente fui la excusa”I was only the excuseThe twist: he was the proof, to the other man, that she could live without him.
- “No me di cuenta de ese juego”I didn't realize it was a gameAnd by the time he did, he was already in love.
- “Aquellos celos tan intensos”Those jealousies, so intenseHis own share of the blame: the jealousy that drove her back.
Context
It began as a ballad of the same name by the Uruguayan band Los Iracundos (1984), written by their singer, Eduardo Franco.
Frankie Ruiz, born in New Jersey to Puerto Rican parents, had sung with Orquesta La Solución and with Tommy Olivencia's band. He turned the ballad into salsa for his first solo album, Solista... Pero No Solo (1985), “soloist, but not alone”, with an arrangement by Carlos “Cuto” Soto. The album went to number one on Billboard's tropical chart.
It made him one of the stars of salsa romántica, the smooth, love-song salsa of the late 1980s, and fans still call him el Papá de la Salsa. He died in 1998, at 40.
On the dance floor
Smooth, romantic and steady: a classic of the style, and easy to dance.
The verses tell the story; the chorus hits “tú con él” like a sigh. At the end the coro keeps repeating it and Frankie answers each time, and the song swings harder.
This is our own retelling of the song, not its lyrics or a translation of them: the few short phrases quoted are there to explain what they mean. The song belongs to its writer, Eduardo Franco.