¡Que Vida!

"¡Que Vida!"
Single by Love
from the album Da Capo
B-side "Hey Joe"
Released March 1967
Format 7" 45 RPM
Recorded 1966
RCA Studios
Genre Psychedelic rock, baroque pop, Bossa Nova
Length 3:37
Label Elektra
Writer(s) Arthur Lee
Producer(s) Paul A. Rothchild
Love singles chronology
"She Comes in Colors"
(1966)		 "¡Que Vida!"
(1967)		 "Alone Again Or"
(1967)

"¡Que Vida!" is a song written by Arthur Lee and first released in 1967 by the band Love. It was released both on Love's album Da Capo and as a single, backed with "Hey Joe". It has also been included on several Love compilation albums.

The song's title is Spanish for "What a Life", though the working title for the song was "With Pictures and Words".[1] The lyrics, involving topics such as death and reincarnation, suggest to Hoskyns "bad-trip paranoia" and to Greenwald "a psychedelic state of mind".[2][3] Music critic Richie Unterberger claims that in the song "Lee's Johnny Mathis inclinations start to flower in a series of question and answer lyrics."[4] The melody is based on the 1965 song "Lifetime of Loneliness" by Burt Bacharach and Hal David.[1][5][6] It employs a bossa nova rhythm, described by author Bob Cianci as a "lilting Latin rhythm."[2][7] It also incorporates sound effects such as sleigh bells, merry-go-round music and a popping champagne cork.[1][8] Arthur Lee biographer John Einerson describes Lee's vocal tone on the song as "mellow".[1] As described by author Barney Hoskyns, the song uses "Latin rhythms and cool jazz shadings to fashion a kind of spaced-out MOR."[3] Music critic Fredrik Eriksen feels the song sounds like a mixture of The Rolling Stones and Jefferson Airplane.[9]

Allmusic critic Matthew Greenwald regard "¡Que Vida!" as a "true groundbreaking composition for Arthur Lee" in the way the allows the song to flow freely in the direction it wants to go.[2] Greenwald also notes that although the chords always resolve, they go in surprising directions.[2] Edna Gundersen and Ken Burns of USA Today described the song as "summery jazz-pop".[10] Sean Elder of Salon calls the song "whimsical" and notes that it "almost seems like a parody of a hippie song, punctuated with what sounds like a pop gun."[11]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Einarson, J. (2010). Forever Changes: Arthur Lee and the Book of Love. Jawbone Press. p. 142. ISBN 9781906002312.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Greenwald, M. "¡Que Vida!". Allmusic. Retrieved 2012-07-09.
  3. 1 2 Hoskyns, B. (2009). Waiting for the Sun: A Rock 'n' Roll History of Los Angeles. Hal Leonard. p. 123. ISBN 9780879309435.
  4. ↑ Unterberger, R. (1998). Unknown Legends of Rock 'n' Roll. Hal Leonard. p. 139. ISBN 9780879305345.
  5. ↑ Greenwald, M. "Lifetime of Loneliness". Allmusic. Retrieved 2012-07-09.
  6. ↑ Kent, N. (January 27, 1999). "Bryan McLean (Love) – Le malaimé". Les In Rocks. Retrieved 2012-07-09.
  7. ↑ Cianci, B. (2006). Great Rock Drummers of the Sixies. Hal Leonard. p. 135. ISBN 9780634099250.
  8. ↑ Crawdaddy. 10-23 (Crawdaddy Publishing Company). 1967. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  9. ↑ Eriksen, F. (April 14, 2003). "The Best of Love". groove.no. Retrieved July 9, 2012.
  10. ↑ Gundersen, E. & Barnes, K. (July 18, 2007). "20 albums that defined an era". USA Today. p. D5.
  11. ↑ Elder, S. (May 22, 1999). "Love's Labors Lost". Salon. Retrieved 2012-07-09.
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