oye como va
what does this really mean?
2 Answers
a todos:
Taken out of the context of Santana's song, "¡Oye! ¿Cómo va?" might be interpreted to mean "Hey! How's it going?" But, taken in the context of the surrounding words, it means "Listen how the beat (or rythm) goes."
Here are the first two lines of the song:
"Oye como va mi ritmo
Bueno pa' gozar, mulata"
In the context of the song, "Hey! How's it going." doesn't work. Notice also that in the written lyrics, there is no tilde in "como" suggesting it is not used in the interrogative sense. If it were a question, it would be written "cómo." "Listen how the beat (or rythm) goes." works with the song.
Interestingly, see this performance by Celia Cruz ----> Celia Cruz - Oye como va
Some may say "Listen how the beat goes" is not good grammar. Erleichda (erleichda means 'lighten up' in an unknown tongue) , it's a song, poetry if you want, it transmits or transfers an emotion, not necessarily good grammar.
Muchos saludos/Best regards,
Moe
So, Moe gives a great answer, and I'm almost positive you're asking because you heard the song. 
However, if you just wanted a direct translation of that phrase it would be, "Hey, how's it going?" I think the more properly written form would be, "Oye, ¿Cómo te va?" Seriously though, if you haven't heard Santana's version of the famous song, you have to take a moment to enjoy it. If you're not dancing, or atleast moving to some extent, by the end of the song... well, there's something wrong with you. 
