"¡Que Vida!" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() US issue | ||||
Single by Love | ||||
from the album Da Capo | ||||
B-side | " Hey Joe" | |||
Released | March 1967 | |||
Recorded | September 29, 1966 [1] | |||
Studio | RCA Studios, Hollywood, Los Angeles | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 3:37 | |||
Label | Elektra | |||
Songwriter(s) | Arthur Lee | |||
Producer(s) | Paul A. Rothchild | |||
Love singles chronology | ||||
|
"¡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". [2] The lyrics, involving topics such as death and reincarnation, suggest to Hoskyns "bad- trip paranoia" and to Greenwald "a psychedelic state of mind". [3] [4] 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." [5] The melody is based on the 1965 song " Lifetime of Loneliness" by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. [2] [6] [7] It employs a rhythm, described by author Bob Cianci as a "lilting Latin rhythm." [3] [8] It also incorporates sound effects such as sleigh bells, merry-go-round music and a popping champagne cork. [2] [9] Arthur Lee biographer John Einerson describes Lee's vocal tone on the song as "mellow". [2] As described by author Barney Hoskyns, the song uses "Latin rhythms and cool jazz shadings to fashion a kind of spaced-out MOR." [4] Music critic Fredrik Eriksen feels the song sounds like a mixture of The Rolling Stones and Jefferson Airplane. [10]
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. [3] Greenwald also notes that although the chords always resolve, they go in surprising directions. [3] Edna Gundersen and Ken Burns of USA Today described the song as "summery jazz-pop". [11] 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." [12]
"¡Que Vida!" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() US issue | ||||
Single by Love | ||||
from the album Da Capo | ||||
B-side | " Hey Joe" | |||
Released | March 1967 | |||
Recorded | September 29, 1966 [1] | |||
Studio | RCA Studios, Hollywood, Los Angeles | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 3:37 | |||
Label | Elektra | |||
Songwriter(s) | Arthur Lee | |||
Producer(s) | Paul A. Rothchild | |||
Love singles chronology | ||||
|
"¡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". [2] The lyrics, involving topics such as death and reincarnation, suggest to Hoskyns "bad- trip paranoia" and to Greenwald "a psychedelic state of mind". [3] [4] 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." [5] The melody is based on the 1965 song " Lifetime of Loneliness" by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. [2] [6] [7] It employs a rhythm, described by author Bob Cianci as a "lilting Latin rhythm." [3] [8] It also incorporates sound effects such as sleigh bells, merry-go-round music and a popping champagne cork. [2] [9] Arthur Lee biographer John Einerson describes Lee's vocal tone on the song as "mellow". [2] As described by author Barney Hoskyns, the song uses "Latin rhythms and cool jazz shadings to fashion a kind of spaced-out MOR." [4] Music critic Fredrik Eriksen feels the song sounds like a mixture of The Rolling Stones and Jefferson Airplane. [10]
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. [3] Greenwald also notes that although the chords always resolve, they go in surprising directions. [3] Edna Gundersen and Ken Burns of USA Today described the song as "summery jazz-pop". [11] 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." [12]