If you’ve seen Part 2 of Selena: The Series, Netflix’s biographical TV show about the late Tejano music star Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, you may be wondering — did she really write one of her most famous songs, “Bidi Bidi Bom Bom,” at soundcheck?
The short answer is yes.
The fourth track on her 1994 album Amor Prohibido, “Bidi Bidi Bom Bom” is ranked No. 38 on Texas Monthly‘s list of the 100 Best Texas Songs of all time. It’s among Selena’s greatest hits alongside “Como La Flor” and “Baila Esta Cumbia.”
According to Texas Monthly, Selena: The Series was pretty accurate about the origin of the song, noting that she first began singing it in 1992 at soundcheck while she and the band were on tour supporting her breakout album, Entre a Mi Mundo.
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“One afternoon during a soundcheck, while bassist A. B. Quintanilla (Selena’s older brother and bandleader) jammed with guitarist Chris Perez (Selena’s husband), Selena joined in, singing made-up phrases like “itty bitty bubbles.” Over the next few sound checks, she and the band returned to the nascent tune,” writes Texas Monthly.
Jesse Posey as Chris Perez, Christian Serratos as Selena Quintanilla, and Noemi Gonzalez as Suzette Quintanilla in Selena: The Series, courtesy of Netflix.
Her backup singer, Pete Astudillo, told the outlet that he remembers Selena singing, “If I was a fish, under the sea, I would swim, swim, swim to you.”
However, while the Selena: The Series shows Selena herself penning the lyrics to the song, Astudillo says her brother, A.B., asked him to help her write them. (Selena and Astudillo are listed as co-writers on the song).
“Itty bitty bubbles” turned into “bidi bidi bom bom.” Selena explained what the phrase meant to her in an interview just one year before she tragically died in 1995.
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“It’s the sound the heart makes when you see a man pass by. It sounds like, ‘bidi bidi bom bom,'” Selena told Don Francisco in an interview on Sábado Gigante in 1994, which you can watch here.
“Bidi Bidi Bom Bom” peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart in the U.S. in October of 1994.
Astudillo also told Texas Monthly it was the only song he ever wrote with Selena.
“If we had actually sat down and tried to write a song together,” he said, “I don’t think it would have happened.”
Part 2 of Selena: The Series is now streaming on Netflix. This story was originally published on May 6, 2021, and has been updated.
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