# La bamba lyrics **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [July 19, 2003, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-lyrics/189605 "2003-07-19T17:51:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Thoams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8797f3/32.png) [@Thoams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thoams)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-lyrics/189605/1 "2003-07-19T17:51:03Z")
this about the lyrics of la bamba Your translation is a bit off Gracia means grace, not funny. I have taken a high school spanish for 2 years and know this. How did u get funny anyways? funny makes no sense at all(at least to me). just figured you should know ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-lyrics/189605/2 "2003-07-19T18:20:27Z")
[What’s the classic song “La Bamba” all about?](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mlabamba.html) ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-lyrics/189605/3 "2003-07-19T19:02:32Z")
\*gracia[i/] is grace. _gracioso_ can mean funny. But, there may be some usages I’m not aware of. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-lyrics/189605/4 "2003-07-19T19:03:49Z")
What’s Spanish for _dyslexic coding?_ ---
**Author:** ![Thoams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8797f3/32.png) [@Thoams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thoams)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2003, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-lyrics/189605/5 "2003-07-20T00:02:29Z")
go to [www.freetranslation.com](http://www.freetranslation.com) and see(I’m to lazy to go myself and you know the saying: give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day, teach a man to fish and he’ll eat for a lifetime) ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2003, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-lyrics/189605/6 "2003-07-21T16:56:53Z")
I thought the saying was: “Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day, teach a man to fish and he’ll spend all day drinking beer in a boat.” ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2003, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-lyrics/189605/7 "2003-07-23T22:53:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Thoams \* > \*\*this about the lyrics of la bamba > > Your translation is a bit off > Gracia means grace, not funny. I have taken a high school spanish for 2 years and know this. How did u get funny anyways? > funny makes no sense at all(at least to me). > just figured you should know \*\* You’re right, it is a bit off. But not in the way that you think, gringo. It would be better to use “humor”, “sense of humor”, or “wit” instead of “funny”. But that IS roughly what the song is saying. It’s not supposed to mean “grace”, although if you rely on some translations that you can find on the net (probably from people who took 2 years of Spanish in High School and are pretty sure of themselves) you can certainly get that impression. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2003, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-lyrics/189605/8 "2003-07-23T23:02:05Z")
I knew this couldn’t be the first time this has come up… [http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mlabamb2.html](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mlabamb2.html) ---
**Author:** ![Thoams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8797f3/32.png) [@Thoams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thoams)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2003, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-lyrics/189605/9 "2003-07-23T23:24:32Z")
yeah… I read that a few days ago. I figured I’d just keep quiet. and hope it goes away