Aserejé
Las Ketchup
Three verbs here carry the same small word in front of them: la baila, la canta, lo conoce. That is the Spanish object pronoun, and its position — before the conjugated verb rather than after it — is one of the first structural differences an English speaker has to absorb. Seeing one pronoun attached to three different verbs in quick succession makes the pattern obvious in a way a table does not. The vocabulary is a street scene containing an invented word: afrogitano welds two identities into one, and Spanish coins compounds like that more readily than English. brujería and chulería share the -ería ending, which turns a noun into a quality. A2- is fair.
How to study this song
The card for “Aserejé” is built from 42 study entries at A2-: 24 Spanish words, 4 adjectives and 14 verb forms. Start with the glossary: alegría, alma and brujería come up again and again, so they are the ones to know first. This one leans on its verbs: 14 distinct forms against 4 adjectives, so conjugation is where the effort goes. At this level the goal is recognition: hear a word, place it, keep going.
The words of this song, in several languages
Every word below is taken from this song and translated by us. Nothing here is the lyric itself — these are the individual words you need in order to follow it.
Vocabulary
| ES | EN | IT | FR | PT | NL | DE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| alegría | joy | gioia | joie | alegria | vreugde | Freude |
| alma | soul | anima | âme | alma | ziel | Seele |
| brujería | witchcraft | stregoneria | sorcellerie | bruxaria | hekserij | Hexerei |
| canción | song | canzone | chanson | canção |
What this song teaches you
Level · A2-
- Vocabulary words
- 24
- Adjectives
- 4
- Word combos
- 11
- Expressions
- 10
- Verb forms
- 14
- Quiz questions
- 35
More Spanish songs at this level
Background
About the song
“Aserejé”, known in English as “The Ketchup Song”, is the exuberant novelty hit by the Spanish group Las Ketchup, released in 2002.
Set to a sunny flamenco-pop groove, its famous nonsense chorus is a playfully garbled, phonetic Spanish take on the opening lines of the old-school hip-hop classic “Rapper’s Delight”, and it came complete with its own simple, copyable dance that swept beaches and clubs that summer.
It was written and produced by Manuel Ruiz, and the group was formed by daughters of the flamenco guitarist Juan Muñoz, known as “El Tomate” — the source of the name Las Ketchup.
Did you know?
The song became a colossal global smash, reaching number one in at least twenty countries and ranking as the biggest hit of the year in several of them. Over time it sold more than twelve million copies worldwide, making it one of the most successful novelty pop singles ever released.
Charts & streaming
“Aserejé” was one of the best-selling singles of the early 2000s, a multi-million-selling phenomenon that turned Las Ketchup into an international one-song sensation. Its dance and catchphrase chorus keep it a nostalgic party favourite around the world.
In France it was the best-selling single of 2002 with 1.31 million copies and a diamond award, it also reached number one in Australia, Canada and New Zealand, and in the United States it peaked at 54 on the Hot 100.