Lyrics:Qué Onda Guero [Version (a)]:
Que onda Jose?
Que onda Jose?
See the Vegetable Man
In the Vegetable Van
With a horn that's honking
Like a mariachi band
In the middle of the street
People gather around
Put the dollar-dollar-dollar in the can
Ay wey, que onda?
TJ cowboys hang around
Sleeping in the sidewalk
With a Burger King crown
Never wake 'em up
Mas cerveza
Til the rooster crows
Vatos vergallos
Que onda guero?
Que onda guero?
Que onda guero?
Que onda guero?
Mano blancos roll with crowbars
Sing rancheras on cheap guitars
Abuelitas with plastic bags
Walking to the church with the Spanish candles
Dirty borracho says 'que putas!'
Andaley, Joto, your popsicle is melting
Run better run, da doo run run
Mara Salvatrucha in the midnight sun
Guero, where are you going?
Que onda guero?
Guero, where are you going?
Que onda guero?
Rampart boys with loaded rifles
Guatemalan soccer ball instant replays
Mango ladies, vendedoras at a bus stop
Sing a banda macho chorus
Que onda guero?
A donde vayas
Que onda guero?
A donde vayas
Que ??? es ese?
Alla en la en Pico
La Pico y Vermont
Hey vamos a jugar futbol hay en el Griffith Park
Hey Lacoro
Yeah now I'm going to LACC, man
I'm taking a ceramics class
See the Vegetable Man in the Vegetable Van
James Joyce
Michael Bolton!!!
Que onda guero
Hey where are you going?
Que onda guero
Hey where are you going?
Hey what's up guero?
"You doing pushups?"
No te veo guero!
El guero!
Que Pasa
Otra vero guero
I dunno I saw a puppet at Tang's
with a mullet and a popsicle.
Hey Guero
Que locura!
Chico
Hey Guero
Yeah Bro?
Hehehe, footlong?
Let's go to Cap'n Cork.
They have the new Yanni cassette
Gameboy / Homeboy [Version (b)]:
Qué onda José?
??
See the Vegetable Man
See the Vegetable Man
In the Vegetable Van
With a horn that's honking
Like a mariachi band
In the middle of the street
People gather around
Put the dollar-dollar-dollar in the can
Ay wey, qué onda?
TJ cowboys hang around
Sleeping in the sidewalk
With a Burger King crown
Never wake 'em up
Mas cerveza
Til the rooster crows
Vatos vergallos
Qué onda guero?
Qué onda guero?
Qué onda guero?
Qué onda guero?
Qué onda guero?
Qué onda guero?
Qué onda guero?
Qué onda guero?
Mano blancos roll with crowbars
Sing rancheras on cheap guitars
Abuelitas with plastic bags
Walking to the church with the Spanish candles
Dirty borracho says 'que putas!'
Andaley, Joto, your popsicle is melting
Run better run, da doo run run
Mara Salvatrucha in the midnight sun
I saw a puppet at Tang's, a mullet and a popiscle
Qué onda guero?
Qué onda guero?
Qué onda guero?
Qué onda guero?
Qué onda guero?
Qué onda guero?
Qué onda guero?
Qué onda guero?
Rampart boys with loaded rifles
Yea, bro, hey guero, ???
Rampart boys with loaded rifles
Yea, bro, hey guero, let's go to Cap'n Cork's
They have the new Yanni cassette
Rampart boys with loaded rifles
Guatemalan soccer ball instant replays
Mango ladies, vendedoras at a bus stop
Sing a banda macho chorus
Guero, where you goin'?
Qué onda guero?
Guero, where you goin'?
Qué onda guero?
Guero, where you goin'?
Qué Onda Guero (Islands Remix) [Version (c)]:
See the vegetable man
In the vegetable van
With a horn that's honking
Like a mariachi band
In the middle of the street
People gather around
Put the dollar-dollar-dollar in the can
Que onda?
TJ cowboys hang around
Sleeping in the sidewalk
With a Burger King crown
Never wake 'em up
Mas cerveza
Til the rooster crows
Vatos vergallos
Qué onda guero?
Qué onda guero?
Qué onda guero?
Qué onda guero?
Mano blancos roll with crowbars
Sing rancheras on cheap guitars
Abuelitas with plastic bags
Walking to the church with the Spanish candles
Dirty borracho says 'que putas!'
Andaley, Joto, your popsicle is melting
Run better run, da doo run run
Mara Salvatrucha in the midnight sun
Guero, where are you going?
Qué onda guero?
Guero, where are you going?
Qué onda guero?
Rampart boys with loaded rifles
Guatemalan soccer ball instant replays
Mango ladies, vendedoras at a bus stop
Sing a banda macho chorus
Qué onda, Jose?
See the vegetable man
In the vegetable van
With a horn that's honking
Like a mariachi band
In the middle of the street
People gather around
Dollar-dollar-dollar in the can
Ay wey, qué onda?
Qué onda, Jose?
Qué onda guero?
The Song:"Guero" is a portrait of the colorful East Los Angeles neighborhood where Beck was born, and lived in as a teenager. A New York Times article about Beck began with this:
"As a teenager, Beck Hansen would board the bus in a Latin neighborhood just south of downtown Los Angeles, where he lived with his mother and brother. He was a pale, blond, slightly built kid, with narrow shoulders and no hips. Mostly, he was ignored, but occasionally, someone on the street would shout, ''Guero!'' (''White boy!'')."
The song contains very picturesque lyrics, painting a picture of the street scene with short strokes. Lots of color, people yelling things, bustling chaos everywhere.
The recording is made even more evokative with all the homemade samples. As Beck has explained, he felt the song was feeling a little hollow, so he went out with his friend Paolo and actually included some samples from the streets. "I went down to record street sounds from this neighborhood I grew up in, because the song felt kind of empty. In the song, I was talking about all these impressions from the neighborhood, just snapshots, so we went down there," Beck explained in Filter Magazine. Not only were the street sounds, but Beck got Paolo to shout things. Initially, he was shouting stuff that you might actually hear on the street, but soon it got more "fanciful and ridiculous," such as the shouts of "James Joyce!" and "Michael Bolton!" Beck recalled that often the residents of the neighborhood would call him "Axl Rose" because he was a white kid with a guitar, and this was along those lines. Beck did appreciate the surreal "Michael Bolton/James Joyce collision moment," as he called it.
The song itself feels fairly minimal to me, even considering all the samples. The groovy beat is nice and seems typical Dust Brothers fare. Beck has been putting Los Angeles into his songs for ages, all the way back to "MTV Makes Me Want To Smoke Crack" and "Modesto," and lyrically this might be the fullest realization of that inspiration. Even though it is personal to Beck, his "snapshot" of this area of Los Angeles is fun and detailed.