Arturo Vega - Entrevista - Part 3

Caer Bien: To like it
Lesson 135. Expressions
Going to the private party where The Ramones were performing for the first time ever ended up changing the life of painter/ artist Arturo Vega. Our featured video interview with Vega captures the story.
Entonces, yo fui porque, pues, era una fiesta, ¿verdad? Y Dee Dee me caía bien."So, I went because, well, it was a party, right?

caer: v.: fall; drop, tumble; plunge; decline; droop; sink; demise; catch on
All these definitions are true, but what about "liking someone" -- as the verb is used here? Turns out that in Spanish, to say you like someone, you basically say that someone, well, falls well for (or, to) you. That is to say, Me cae bien means "I like him/ her" or "He/she made a good impression on me."
Conversely, Me cae mal means "I don't like him/her."
You may be wondering if he might have used the verb gustar, which also can be used to indicate liking something or someone. However, when using gustar to refer to people, there can be romantic/sexual connotations. Using caer bien eliminates any potential misunderstanding, as it refers to a purely platonic attraction.In your travels through the Spanish speaking world you will undoubtedly come across other interesting uses of caer.No puedes caer así sin avisar. (slang)"You can't drop by like that without calling."Siempre es igual, le cuentas un chiste y cae media hora más tarde."It's always the same, tell him a joke and he gets it a half hour later."

1.
De Los Ramones, a ver, vamos a hablar de Los Ramones.
About The Ramones, let's see, we're going to talk about The Ramones.
2.
¿Cómo los conocistes? ¿Cómo llegastes a... a pasar...?
How did you meet them? How did you come to... to spend...?
3.
Bueno, yo vivo aquí en este lugar desde el setenta y tres, desde mil novecientos setenta y tres.
Well, I've lived here in this place since seventy-three, since nineteen seventy-three.
4.
Y Dee Dee Ramone, el bajista de Los Ramones,
And Dee Dee Ramone, the Ramones bassist,
5.
el que le puso el nombre al grupo,
the one who named the group,
6.
venía a ver a una chava, a una novia que tenía aquí arriba.
used to come to see a girl, a girlfriend he had here, upstairs.
7.
Entonces, este... yo estaba pintando en esa época y la puerta siempre estaba abierta.
So, then... I was painting at that time and the door was always open.
8.
Y Dee Dee se metía y nos poníamos a platicar.
And Dee Dee would come in and we would start talking.
9.
Y poco a poco un día resultó que me empezó a contar de que
And little by little one day it turned out that he began to tell me that
10.
él y sus amigos estaban formando un conjunto.
he and his friends were starting a band.
11.
Y yo no le veía a Dee Dee facha de que pudiera hacer nada excitante en el mundo del rock and roll.
And I didn't see Dee Dee being able to do anything exciting in the world of rock and roll.
12.
Yo me consideraba un fanático del rock n' roll
I considered myself a rock and roll fan
13.
desde muy chico,
since I was very young,
14.
Desde cuando yo vi a Elvis Presley cuando tenía ocho años en Chihuahua.
Since I saw Elvis Presley when I was eight years old in Chihuahua.
15.
Jugando con el radio de onda corta de mi papá,
Playing with an AM radio of my father's,
16.
agarré una estación, me imagino de Texas, o yo no sé de donde,
I picked up a station, I guess from Texas, or I don't know where from,
17.
y de repente me di cuenta que la música, pues no era Jesusita en Chihuahua, ¿verdad?
and suddenly I realized that the music, well it wasn't "Jesusita in Chihuahua," right?
18.
Era algo totalmente diferente.
It was something totally different.
19.
Y todos los días buscaba yo a la misma hora,
And everyday I searched at the same time,
20.
trataba de agarrar la estación, porque por alguna razón no la podía agarrar siempre.
I would try to catch the station, because for some reason I couldn't always get it.
21.
Entonces, agarré el gusanito del rock and roll desde los ocho años, te digo.
So, I ´ve got the rock and roll bug since I was eight, I tell you.
22.
Y siempre me gustó, de ahí en adelante.
And I´ve always liked it, from then on.
23.
Me acuerdo que cuando mi hermana me trajo,
I remember when my sister brought me,
24.
cuando vivíamos ya en México, en la Ciudad de México, y mi hermana fue a Los Ángeles,
when we were already living in Mexico, in Mexico City, and my sister went to Los Angeles,
25.
me trajo el primer disco de los Beatles, por ejemplo.
she brought me the first Beatles record, for example.
26.
O el disco de Elvis cuando Elvis estaba en el ejército, G.I. Blues, Café Europa.
Or Elvis' record when Elvis was in the military, G.I. Blues, Café Europa.
27.
Pues yo era un... y estuve en San Francisco en el sesenta y siete viendo a...
Well I was a... and I was in San Francisco in sixty-seven seeing...
28.
grupos como Hendrix, o Janis Joplin, por veinticinco centavos, ¿no?
groups like Hendrix, or Janis Joplin, for twenty-five cents, no?
29.
y... -Barato. -Y me fui al Festival de Monterrey,
and... -Cheap. -And I went to the Monterrey [Pop] Festival,
30.
con Mamas and the Papas, The Who, Ravi Shankar,
with the Mamas and the Papas, The Who, Ravi Shankar,
31.
todo el... Sonny and Cher... todo esto. Entonces yo tenía...
all the... Sonny and Cher... all this. So I had...
32.
estaba... me consideraba bastante educado, por decirlo así, verdad, en cuestiones de rock.
I was... I considered myself to be quite educated, to put it that way, right, in matters of rock.
33.
Y para el principio de los setentas, el rock n' roll estaba en muy mal estado,
And in the early seventies, rock n' roll was in very bad shape,
34.
en mucho, muy mal estado. No estaba sucediendo absolutamente nada
in much, in very bad shape. Absolutely nothing was happening
35.
que valiera la pena, que se comparara con lo que fue
that was worth it, that could compare with what was
36.
la primera generación, ¿no? O tal vez es la segunda generación de... de grupos.
the first generation, right? Or maybe it's the second generation of... of groups.
37.
Y... para entonces cuando Dee Dee me invita
And... by then when Dee Dee invites me
38.
a ver a Los Ramones, por primera vez van a tocar
to see The Ramones, for the first time they're going to play
39.
en una fiesta privada de amigos.
at a private party of friends.
40.
Entonces yo fui porque, pues, era una fiesta, ¿verdad? Y Dee Dee me caía bien.
So I went because, well, it was a party, right? And I liked Dee Dee.
41.
Pero yo no esperaba absolutamente nada.
But I didn't expect anything at all.
42.
Y la primera vez, cuando uno ve a Los Ramones...
And the first time, when you see The Ramones...
43.
pues realmente nu'... no sabes como tomarlo, ¿verdad?
well you really don't know how to take it, right?
44.
Definitivamente me impactaron, luego luego.
They definitely had an impact on me, right away.
45.
Y veía yo elementos de algo completamente original,
And I saw elements of something completely original,
46.
completamente nuevo, y... mucho, mucho, muy energético, cargado de energía,
completely new, and... much, much, very energetic, charged with energy,
47.
algo muy... muy potente, muy poderoso.
something very... very strong, very powerful.
48.
Me tardé yo creo que cinco o seis veces,
It took me, I believe, five or six times,
49.
después de verlos. Los vi, a Los Ramones los vi...
after seeing them. I saw them, I saw The Ramones...
50.
de los dos mil doscientos sesenta y tres shows que, que tuvieron, yo perdí nada más dos.
out of the two thousand and sixty-three shows that, that they had, I only missed two.
51.
Entonces los empecé a ver constantemente, consecutivamente.
So I started to see them constantly, consecutively.
52.
Pero como por el quinto o sexto show,
But by the fifth or sixth show,
53.
fue cuando me di cuenta que realmente había posibilidades reales de que fueran algo importante.
that was when I realized that there really were real possibilities for them to become something important.
54.
Y... y decidí involucrarme.
And... and I decided to get involved.
55.
Dije: "A lo mejor esto va a funcionar."
I said, "Maybe this will work."
56.
"A lo mejor esto..." "Si esto funciona..." Yo estaba muy consciente de...
"Maybe this..." "If this works..." I was very aware of...
57.
...de lo que puede lograr un conjunto, ¿verdad?
...of what a group can achieve, right?
58.
De las etapas por las que pasan los conjuntos en su desarrollo y a lo que pueden llegar.
Of the stages that groups go through in their development and what they can become.
59.
Yo dije: "No, pues, si esto prende, voy a tener una oportunidad ideal para viajar..." ¿Verdad?
I said, "No, well, if this catches on, I'm going to have an ideal opportunity to travel..." Right?
60.
"Si me clavo aquí con estos chavos de alguna manera u otra..."
"If I stay put here with these guys in one way or another..."
61.
Y pues así pasó realmente, dicho y hecho.
And well that's how it really happened, said and done.