The Musical Talmud: Livin’ La Vida Loca (Ricky Martin Comes Out of the Closet Edition)

The clamor of it shattered the stained-glass windows in the High-Holy Cathedral of Pop Culture. The final, fatal truth devastated all who heard it, like learning in 2009 that WCW was fake, when it happened. It echoed from the fresh-faced, frosted rooftips…tops.

Ricky Martin is officially gay.  The man is writing his memoirs, and decided to unburden himself of his deepest, darkest, most nominal secret,  in English and Spanish, on Twitter.

In memory of this great step forward in the reconciliation of widely known fact and the historical record, The Musical Talmud takes on what was probably the last song you ever heard if you died somewhere between early 1999 and late 2001: “Livin La Vida Loca.”

Now, it would be pretty funny to go through the lyrics and point out how it secretly hints that Ricky Martin was gay the whole time. Kind of surprisingly, Ricky Martin wrote it, too (although he had some help). But, as snarky as I can be, I’m really not that much of a jerk. Besides, if you really wanted hints as to his hidden sexuality, you could, you know, look at the video for five seconds. So, instead, let’s take this one on its own terms.

Smear some lambs blood on the door and strap on your dancin’ shoes. Today on The Musical Talmud, if she had only made you take your clothes off and go dancing in the rain, dayenu…

Historical context

Before we go any farther, I’d just like to say that I consider “Livin’ La Vida Loca” a pop music masterpiece. The song, the video, all of it – there’s a reason it was one of the most overplayed songs of the last 20 years. I still remember the first time I heard it – I was driving my family’s blue 1985 Volvo 740 Turbo Diesel station wagon. It was 1999; I was in my late high school classic rock phase. The song seamlessly melded genres. It rocked. It had a cool base line. It had trumpets and trombones in it. All my favorite things. A year and half later I couldn’t stand it, but a year and a half is a long time to listen to the same thing on the radio every day.

Here in 2010, “Livin’ La Vida Loca” seems to have fallen out of favor that you can watch it and listen to it again with something resembling fresh eyes and ears, and I have to say, it’s just as redonculous as ever.

Oh, and if you are young enough to not really remember it, I’d love to hear your impressions upon encountering it for the first time. Sound off in the comments!

Cursory wiki-psuedo-research reveals that “Livin’ La Vida Loca” was the first number one hit single recorded on a digital audio workstation and is often seen as the end of analog beginning of the digital recording era. So, there, it accomplished something.

So, enough background. On to the lyrics.

At least as an English lyricist, Ricky Martin tends to make his words count – straightforward sentences with big symbols and easy apparent meanings, but a deeper complexity set up by formal prosodic relationships.

First verse

She’s in–

Ricky gets right to it by hammering these two syllables, setting up an interesting dichotomy: “She’s in” vs. “I feel.” Not to get too crude about it, but this is a gender role reversal. Usually men are the ones “in” things, and women are the ones who “feel” as a response.

“Livin’ La Vida Loca” is about the carnivalesque, reversed social roles and the excitement that comes from disoriented identity. In traditional carnival celebrations across cultures, there is often a theme of “the world turned upside down” – nobles and paupers switch places, fools are wise and the wise are fools, men dress as women and vice versa, you work when you would play and you gorge when you would fast. It’s not a strict sturctural mirroring – chaos replaces order, ideas are brought to parity. The term “carnivalesque” for this quality comes from Russian critic Mikhail Bakhtin. The carnivalesque is an important concept in social criticism, literary criticism and the performing arts. Bakhtin identifies it as one of the most important vehicles for social change – because it provides a special context for suppressed voices to stand on equal ground with those of authority.

The carnivalesque provides an especially valuable outlet to societies that are heavily structured around traditional behaviors and rituals for gender and social station, but it is not without danger. The carnivalesque does threaten the status quo, and the status quo is rarely entirely bad.

At any rate, we enter the song immediately finding a woman who is penetrating ideas actively, in the role of a traditional man, and a man who has become more in line with the traditional feminine principal, being penetrated and operating passively from his feelings rather than actively from his interests. We may want to eschew these gender roles, but they pre-exist the song, and hey, Ricky Martin is on our side. Certainly, this is a crazy life.

to superstition
black cats and voodoo dolls.

This couplet communicates four things:

1. It calls forward symbols of forbidden female sexuality.
2. It foreshadows that the woman is bad luck and the man will have bad things happen to him.
3. It identifies the woman once more as against conventional social order, in this case, the occult and exotic in opposition to either secular or Christian “normalcy.”
4. It introduces a subtext of racial exoticism that is part of how the song is being marketed and will come up a few more times in the lyrics.

I feel a premonition
that girl’s gonna make me fall.

And here Ricky Martin plays the prophet, recalling creation myths – particularly either Adam in the garden of Eden temped by Eve, or Eve in the garden of Eden, tempted by Satan. This couplet raises the stakes nicely. Within four lines, it’s clear this woman basically has the sexual Powers Cosmic.

How many pop songs have this much foreshadowing?

She’s into new sensations,
new kicks and candlelight.

This is an interesting anticlimax. “Kicks” in pop music is a term used to mean “sometimes drugs” by bands that don’t really support people doing drugs, like Paul Revere and the Raiders

or like Bobby Troup and the billion people who covered him, and I ain’t just talking karaoke.

“Sensation” is the most physical and hedonistic of the three words. “Kicks” can mean drugs, but it can also mean hobbies or interests, and refers to mental engagement and enjoyment, which operates on a higher level than “sensation.” And then “candlelight” is barely Dionysian at all – a symbol of high romance (I don’t think Ricky Martin is talking about Body of Evidence-style candles – oh and the link isn’t exactly NSFW, but it would be a bit awkward, you know, if you work somewhere other than a sexy candle factory or as a personal attache to Willem Dafoe).

she’s got a new addiction
for every day and night

And here we have a contradiction. Addictions by their nature endure. Nobody is an alcoholic for a day. It’s not strictly a paradox – the need for a “fix” of whatever her daily interest happens to be is certainly conceivable.

The interesting thing that is not said is that she is “committed to” or “loves” the things she’s “into.” There is not a dichotomy of casual flings versus serious relationships. There is intense interest coupled by a love of novelty.

This dichotomy is interesting — because desires like this are so often associated with distraction, to the point where intensely feeling them to this degree slips into “obsession,” a kind of terrible, tired, overused word that makes me think of languid, bored 80s New Wavers who use it ironically without their audience figuring it out. I love that the word “obsession” isn’t in this song.

But it is cool to see that “capable of holding attention in a nonprejudiced way” is not being strictly relegated to socially acceptable behaviors — the old “good things last, bad things fade away,” chestnut (when in fact the rate at which things last or fade away rarely has anything to do with their moral quality). It’s also cool to see endurant desire relegated to pathological behaviors — the old “if you want something that badly, it can’t be good” chestnut.

It is also interesting to look at those two contradicting dichotomies, which I think are both conjured by this passage, which says that being fickle and being addicted are both things this woman does, and can be brought to a tense, contradictory equivalence in the carnivalesque.

Prechorus

She’ll make you take your clothes off
and go dancing in the rain.

The interesting reversal here is that Ricky Martin is the one taking his clothes off, not the girl. Which is telling, perhaps … but really, just further evidence that this woman is pulling a role reversal.

Of course, Ricky Martin isn’t the protagonist at this point, really. He’s talking to a “you,” and while we presume Ricky Martin has some personal experience with this girl, it’s not stated yet.

So, “you” are the one taking “your” clothes off. I’ve always assumed he’s been talking to a man, but it is possible he’s talking to a woman. But hey, this is “La Vida Loca,” it really doesn’t matter whom he’s talking to. The world is upside down; it could be anyone.

she’ll make you live the crazy life
or she’ll take away your pain
like a bullet to your brain!

This offers a wonderful “temporal reading” a la Stanley Fish (back when he was a Miltonist, before he was a newspaper busybody). We think of taking away of pain being good, but a little sinister, like it is in Star Trek V, which I cite in my articles way too often:

So, for a moment, as “take away your pain” finishes off what you’ve read so far, there a sense of “Well this isn’t all bad,” which, as you turn the poetical plow to the next furrow, becomes, “No, actually, it’s much worse!”

Ricky Martin raises the stakes again. The stakes have been risen three or four times, and we’re like a minute in, if that! Never has being shot in the head sounded so awesome.

By the way, thanks to Ricky Martin on behalf of straight guys for surrounding himself with so many beautiful women in his videos. This is a guy who shares the wealth.

Chorus

Upside inside out;
she’s living la Vida loca.

Clearly identifying the carnivalesque, although there’s an extra element of danger here – people can’t turn inside out, or they die (or are at least horribly and embarrassingly injured).

She’ll push and pull you down.
She’s living la Vida loca.

This line is really cool. If she’s pushing you down, she’s above you. If she’s pulling you down, she’s below you. Howc an she do both at once, is she tumbling? Where is she, and where are you? Ricky Martin gives the relative position of the woman in this descent into fervent chaos from an instrumental standpoint – you infer where she is from where you are, and it still doesn’t quite make sense. Wonderfully tangled

Her lips are devil red,
and her skin’s the color of mocha.

“She’s Hispanic!”

This song was part of the “Latin Pop Explosion.” Although I believe Horatio Sanz once said, “The ‘Latin Pop Explosion’ is like four people. When Smash Mouth became popular, nobody called it a ‘Jackass Explosion.'” Or something like that.

The main takeaway was that, at this point in music history, the wall between Spanish-language pop and English-language pop had gotten pretty high, so the openly Hispanic vibe of the song was kind of new and provocative. Festishization of the exotic and all that. There weren’t even really Spanish-speaking rappers back then. It’s daunting to think back on how much has really changed.

Also, there’s also a “Chocolate is evil!” connection here, which I guess is the case for a fellow who keeps himself as slim and well-groomed as Mr. Martin.

She will wear you out.
She’s living la Vida loca.
Living la vida loca.

I want to think that “wear you out” has two meanings here – as in, she’s taking you as an accessory out on the town, or she’s tiring you, but that’s probably a bridge too far.

Mostly, this is where the chorus ends, and the “wear you out” line signifies that the assault of stakes-raising and social reversals is letting up for a second out of exhaustion and becoming comfortable again. This is a place in the song to recharge. It’s a very nice touch, because the song is pretty busy.

Third verse

Woke up in New York City
in a funky cheap motel.
She took my heart and she took my money.
She must have slipped me a sleeping pill.

Here we switch from the admonitions of past experience to the first person, although without an “I,” which is interesting.

It can be very tempting to use “I” a lot when you’re writing, especially when you’re writing about yourself. Doing this can be off-putting. Even if you have to go to pains or tread into awkwardness to do it, forcing yourself to get rid of an “I” can be a great way to make your writing more efficient, or to try to tell a story in a new way or change the way people perceive you. Keep it in mind.

I’m not a huge fan of this verse lyrics-wise. The density lets up a bit. “New York City” is set against a “cheap motel,” I guess because hotels in New York tend to be expensive, but it could just as easily be name-dropping the city and setting the scene for the sake of name-dropping and setting the scene.

I do like how she took his heart and his money – how he realizes he is in love and robbed at the same time. Another cool double meaning and reversal of the way things normally work – usually, when somebody steals something nonmetaphorical from you, you’re upset. Vida loca, etc.

What I do love is this moment in the video. The shot where he gets up from the bed is great. The movement of the camera, the changing colors, the changing position of Ricky Martin and his changed mood, this is a fresh beginning, a great way to kick off a second verse.

Second prechorus

She never drinks the water,
makes you order French Champagne,
and once you had a taste of her
you’ll never be the same.
And she’ll make you go insane.

French Champagne is redundant, but I guess Ricky Martin’s character in this song doesn’t know that all Champagne is French.

More likely, this is a line that never quite worked any better, so they kept it as-is (“makes you order the champagne,” no, “always orders the champagne,” no). It is cool how “French” is set against “the.” “Water” gets an article, “Champagne” gets an adjective – a proper one, no less.

I tend to be persnickety about lines like these, but I’m frequently told and should I guess accept that songs are not necessarily better when you cut out all the lines that don’t quite work. The one I mentioned most recently is the “point is prob’ly moot” line from “Jessie’s Girl” in my “Tik Tok” piece. I’d remove the line, but I’d probably be a fool to do so.

And the final new social reversal in the song is that you order Champagne, but you taste her. This woman has an interesting and difficult relationship with classiness. She’s not portrayed in the song as sloppy or undesirable, or even a net negative, despite slipping Ricky Martin a roofie, robbing him blind, and leaving him in another city broke and without  a way home. Certainly in the juxtaposition with Champagne, there’s a bit of class.

But at the same time, “you” order the Champagne, but “she” drinks it. Or does she?

This is a great example of what Dinosaur Comics so wonderfully outlines here, the “cooperative principle.” (Not the “cooperative principal,” despite my urge to type it) We assume the information being offered is helpful — that the reason Ricky Martin is telling us that she never drinks the water and makes you order French Champagne is because she’s drinking the Champagne instead of water, but he never says she drinks the Champagne. You’re the one doing the tasting in the next line. It’s not clear whether any part of this is a non-sequitur.

This last entanglement is really cool because this is a sexy song about sexytime, and, of course, in kissing and related activities, tasting is often mutual and entangled. So, there’s a raciness in the specific phrasing.

Second chorus

Upside inside out
she’s living la Vida loca.

“I’ve prolapsed!”

She’ll push and pull you down.
She’s living la Vida loca.

“I’m all disoriented!”

Her lips are devil red
and her skin’s the color of mocha.

“She’s still Hispanic!”

She will wear you out.
she’s living la Vida loca,
living la vida loca,

“Yeah, now she’s wearing me out!”

Oh, but you can’t fault Ricky Martin for stamina. It keeps going.

Rest of the song

She’ll make you take your clothes off
and go dancing in the rain.
She’ll make you live the crazy life
and she’ll take away your pain,
like a bullet to your brain.

Upside inside out,
she’s living la Vida loca.
She’ll push and pull you down,
she’s living la Vida loca.
Her lips are devil red,
and her skin’s the color of mocha.
She will wear you out.
She’s living la Vida loca.
Living la Vida loca,
living la vida loca.

I haven’t included the “Come on!”s in the lyrics, because they seem a bit like throwaways. It’s always hard to gauge whether the words of a hype man or a similarly spoken encouragement serve a similar enough purpose to the other words in the song to be grouped with them, or whether it is almost a different instrument being played.

Although, for the record, “Come on!” is a pretty cool, ambiguous choice of hype quotes, because it means “Let’s go!” “Join me!” and “You are being ridiculous and need to stop!” all at the same time.

I mean, come on!

A final note

It wasn’t really a secret that Ricky Martin was gay – even past the point of it being obvious, while Ricky Martin never confirmed it, he didn’t deny it too forcefully, either. I remember him answering the question with ironically meaningless statements like “I love everybody!” So it’s not like he’s “caught” or anything, and too much snark is a little uncalled for.

Still, it is pretty amazing to look back and realize that the guy who made this was closeted for another 10 years afterward:

So, here’s to expressing who you are, even when you don’t come out and say it.