Si Nos Dejan

"Si Nos Dejan" is José Alfredo Jiménez at his most openly romantic and least defensive — a song about what love could build if the world would simply step aside and permit it to flourish. The conditional construction of the title ("if they let us") acknowledges the social forces that complicate private happiness without capitulating to them; the song is ultimately optimistic, even insistent, in its belief that love is sufficient foundation for an entire life. The mariachi arrangement has particular sweetness here, the trumpet lines more lyrical than martial, the harmonic language warmer than the drinking songs that represent Jiménez's other great mode. His voice navigates the melody with evident pleasure, as though this particular story — one of hope rather than loss — comes from a different, more protected place in his emotional repertoire. The song has been covered by everyone from Vicente Fernández to international artists, each version a testament to a lyrical architecture solid enough to support unlimited inhabitation.