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Have You Heard? Lyrics
Have you heard, nació te amar?
Yeah yeah yeah
Well, then you could not be lost
Yeah yeah yeah
Which way are you comin' from?
Goin' up or gettin' down?
Well, have you thought about it some
Or have you put it down?
Have you heard about Heaven?
Yeah yeah yeah?
Seven come eleven
Yeah yeah yeah
Have you heard, dear brother?
Yeah yeah yeah
Well, let's help one another
Yeah yeah yeah
Have you heard? Oh yeah
Have you heard? Oh yeah
Have you heard? Oh yeah
...
Yeah yeah yeah
Well, then you could not be lost
Yeah yeah yeah
Goin' up or gettin' down?
Well, have you thought about it some
Or have you put it down?
Yeah yeah yeah?
Seven come eleven
Yeah yeah yeah
Yeah yeah yeah
Well, let's help one another
Yeah yeah yeah
Have you heard? Oh yeah
Have you heard? Oh yeah
...
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I think these lyrics are incorrect. I found another website which transcribed this as the first line of the song:
Have you heard? Nació te amar
Which is Spanish for "I was born to love you." Which makes sense.
💘💪🏼🤘🏼✌🏼
Somebody please tell me...what is Jo Ti Mahr???
I love this song, but that line is a mystery.
@dave688626 It's Spanish: "Nacio te amar" or "I was born to love you." ZZ Top occasionally falls into a Gospel-Blues style of their roots, which is what this song is, as are a couple of others on Tres Hombres, including "Jesus Just Left Chicago," "Hot, Blue, and Righteous," and even "Waitin' for a Bus." Additionally, ZZ Top is also strongly influenced by the Hispanic culture of Texas, as well. So all of this... the Gospel-Blues style, the Hispanic phrase, and the meaning of the phrase itself in relation to the style of music makes WAY more sense than any Eastern...
@dave688626 It's Spanish: "Nacio te amar" or "I was born to love you." ZZ Top occasionally falls into a Gospel-Blues style of their roots, which is what this song is, as are a couple of others on Tres Hombres, including "Jesus Just Left Chicago," "Hot, Blue, and Righteous," and even "Waitin' for a Bus." Additionally, ZZ Top is also strongly influenced by the Hispanic culture of Texas, as well. So all of this... the Gospel-Blues style, the Hispanic phrase, and the meaning of the phrase itself in relation to the style of music makes WAY more sense than any Eastern esoterica. (The simplest will almost always be the most likely.)
In other words, "If you've heard I was born to love you," says the Lord, "Then you could not be lost." This is the first stanza of the song.
This same Christian Gospel-Blues pattern follows through the whole song, including the third stanza, as well: "Have you heard about Heaven? ... Seven come eleven." "Seven come eleven" is a craps term, and is an automatic win. In other words, from Christian theology, "Have you heard about Heaven? It's an automatic win."
In order for this to be some Easter religion or philosophy, you have to (a) ignore ZZ Top's context and style; (b) mis-hear that first phrase; and (c) then figure out how that phrase connects to Eastern religion/philosophy. There are a lot of things that ZZ Top is; deep thinking lyricists is not one of them.
@ppan3, thanks for that. I never did buy the "Jo ti mahr" line, it's just that ALL the online lyric sites say that. Yours makes better sense in many ways, plus it actually sounds like what Billy Gibbons is saying!
@ppan3, thanks for that. I never did buy the "Jo ti mahr" line, it's just that ALL the online lyric sites say that. Yours makes better sense in many ways, plus it actually sounds like what Billy Gibbons is saying!
I'm going to edit the lyrics!
I'm going to edit the lyrics!
This song has puzzled me for years. Everywhere online has the same lyrics, but I'm not buying that "Jo Ti Mahr" business. Doesn't make sense.
Ok, after a little research, I find this stuff:
In the Sikh scripture, Joti (Light) is term used to describe the Godhead, God's creation or the state of highest spiritual experience.
In Islam, a mahr (in Arabic: مهر; Persian: مهريه) is a mandatory payment, in the form of money or possessions paid or promised to pay by the groom, or by groom's father, to the bride at the time of marriage, that legally becomes her property.
Not sure if any of that is connected, but it's the best I can do.
I have a likely theory. Remember ZZ Top often has a Mexican theme, so the answer is in Spanish. Most likely the song is a takeoff of a gospel song which would originally said something like “have you heard about Jesus” or “have you heard about my lord” or some such. I’m guessing they softened it and used a Spanish phrase. In Mexican accent, “yo” is often pronounced “cho” which someone thought was “jo”. My theory is that they’re saying “have you heard about yo te ama” which is a way of saying “I love you”. That seems to make the most sense.