Los Lobos – Evangeline

Damn this song swings, and it has a great guitar intro and feel. I heard this for the first time not long ago, and it stuck with me as well as some more of their songs. With a band like this, it’s hard to pin down one song to post. 

They’ve always had that rarest of abilities: to wrap roots, rock, and border ballads into something that feels less like a style and more like a lineage. The brilliance here is in the restraint. There’s no over-arrangement, no big production, and no studio trickery. Just a man sitting with his memory. 

The song was written by David Hidalgo and Louie Pérez on the album How Will The Wolf Survive? This is truly a great album. It’s easy to overlook this song when you’ve got so much groove and grit elsewhere on the record. But give it a quiet night and some headphones, and you’ll find it’s one of the songs that stays with you longest. I covered the title cut earlier this year. 

This song proves something else… they could write songs that cut deep with almost nothing at all. No drawn-out guitar solos. No choruses built for crowd sing-alongs. Just three minutes of pure delight. The album peaked at #47 on the Billboard 100, #13 in New Zealand, #31 in Canada, and #77 in the UK in 1984. 

I gave this link in the other post. There is a documentary about Los Lobos called Native Sons that is set to be released this year. As far as I know, it still hasn’t been released. If you have any more information, I would love to hear it. 

Evangeline

Evangeline is on the roamJust barely seventeenWhen she left homeDon’t know where she isOr where she’s goingShe is the queen of make believe, Evangeline

I can still remember this little girlBlack eyes just staringAt this big old worldRan off to find some American dreamTrain ticket in one handIn her new blue jeans

Evangeline is on the roamJust barely seventeenWhen she left homeDon’t know where she isOr where she’s goingShe is the queen of make believe, Evangeline

She went out dancin’ on a Saturday nightSilk stockings and high heelsBlue liner on her eyesBut on Sunday morning she’s all aloneHead lying on the nightstandBy the telephone

Evangeline is on the roamJust barely seventeenWhen she left homeDon’t know where she isOr where she’s goingShe is the queen of make believe, EvangelineShe is the queen of make believe, Evangeline

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

35 thoughts on “Los Lobos – Evangeline”

  3. Pingback: Los Lobos – Evangeline – MobsterTiger

  6. Good song, I remember the album cover catching my eye back then and hearing an occasional track on radio. Wasn’t until ‘La bamba’ they really got known in Canada though. Funny thing is to me they sound way more indicative of Texas than the guy on your other post…but they are from L.A.

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    1. Well that Texas songwriter thing like Joe Ely and others is what I was talking about on the other….but yea…I think of Texas as well with Los Lobos…this album has no down spots…really good.

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  7. Since you were talking Beatle references yesterday, I’ll stretch it a bit and call Hidalgo/Pérez the Lennon/McCartney of Los Lobos, with César Rosas the Harrison (in that he wrote solo).

    This song (and several on “By the Light of the Moon”) tell stories, packing more than you can imagine into 2-4 minutes.

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    1. I just looked it up…fantastic!
      While searching I also found another one I liked a lot…One Time One Night…great guitar opening.

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      1. Yes! One Time One Night is one of my absolute favorites! An unforgettable guitar intro and a great story about loss juxtaposed against a rhythm and melody that are anything but sad.

        Is This All There Is? spins a whole story of the immigrant experience in one verse -“Fifteen years on a sewing machine
        Where twisted hands don’t mean a thing
        Wondering to herself
        Is this all there is?”

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  8. Good words for a good band. Like your take on their style. No other band like them. Can u hear their L.A. buddies the Blasters? The two bands could have swapped songs and they would fit perfectly. What a feel good song with the music enhancing the lyrics.

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  9. I don’t think I’ve ever met someone called Evangeline but seemingly they have made quite the impression! I’m a big fan of Evangeline (1976) – The Band (ft. Emmylou Harris).
    The Lobos track here is just so vibrant and upbeat and what’s not to like about it? These Lobos have done some pretty good stuff indeed.

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    1. Yea I just liked it a lot from the album. I agree with you totally about La Bamba! It was played to death! As you probably have seen…I’ve stopped posting everyday…it got impossible between work and coming up with new stuff. So basically I do more pop hits on Friday and the Weekend…I tend to do album cuts more but I do vary. I miss commenting with people through the week but this is sure nice! I stopped enjoying posting as much….felt like a job…now it’s fun again. Well…I bored ya!

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      2. And that is what it was feeling like…like I had to do it. Now I can take my time and spruce up the post a little bit.

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  12. Great song by a fantastic band who are so much more than their biggest hit – their rendition of Richie Valens’ “La Bamba.” I finally started listening to Los Lobos 5 or 6 years ago and got to see them in February 2023 in New Jersey. They are top notch musicians, and it was a really great show.

    Unfortunately, I recently read David Hidalgo is dealing with some health issue and was told by his doctor not to travel. Apparently, Los Lobos are currently touring and have brought in somebody else to sub for Hidalgo. Hope he will be fine!

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    1. Yea Christian…I started to listen to this album and I kept on and on….they have quality songs all the way through…and one person mentioned another and again…it has quality songs.
      Oh I didn’t know that about him….I do hope he is alright

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  14. They’d been touring successfully around California smaller venues on our last road trip at reasonable prices. Sorry I missed them. I never realized they used a horn section.

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