Following the worldwide success of her first two albums, it certainly wasn’t necessary for Shakira to break into the English-speaking marketplace. But Laundry Service, released at the end of 2001, was designed to do just that.
Nine of its 13 songs were in English, a language still not entirely familiar to Shakira, and lyrically that made for some awkward moments.
The album contains Spanish versions of three singles and each is demonstrably better than its English counterpart. Today’s track is one example, the translated version of ‘Objection (Tango),’ the first song Shakira ever wrote in English.
Despite her struggles with a new tongue, Laundry Service went on to be her biggest hit by far. Worldwide the record sold more than 20 million copies, making it the best-selling album of 2002, and in the U.S. it went triple-platinum.
Surprisingly, though Shakira was by this point one of the biggest stars in the world, she had yet to reach my radar. It was her ambitious following project that finally captured my attention.
Cuando se entierra en el medio de un no y un sí
Es un día ella y otro día yo
Me estás dejando sin corazón,
y cero de razón
Ay te aviso y te anuncio que hoy renuncio
A tus negocios sucios
Ya sabes que estoy de ti vacunada
A prueba de patadas
Por ti me quedé como Monalisa
Sin llanto y sin sonrisa
Que el cielo y tu madre cuiden de ti
Me voy, será mejor así
Sé que olvidarte no es asunto sencillo
Te me clavaste en el cuerpo como un cuchillo
Pero todo lo que entra ha de salir
Y los que están tendrán que partir
Empezando por mí
Ay te aviso y te anuncio que hoy renuncio
A tus negocios sucios
Ya sabes que estoy de ti vacunada
A prueba de patadas
Por ti me quedé como Monalisa
Sin llanto y sin sonrisa
Que el cielo y tu madre cuiden de ti
Me voy, no no no no…
Tal vez tú no eres ese para mí
No sé como se puede ya vivir
Queriendo así
Es tan patético,
neurótico,
satírico,
psicótico,
¿Que no lo ves?
El tango no es de a tres
Llevo planeando escapar y me sale al revés
Pero voy a intentarlo una y otra vez
Voy…
Ay te aviso y te anuncio que hoy renuncio
A tus negocios sucios
Por ti me quedé como Monalisa
Sin llanto y sin sonrisa
Te aviso que estoy de ti vacunada
Y no me importa nada
Que el cielo y tu madre cuiden de ti
Me voy, será mejor así
Ya me voy
Ya me fui
Eh, eh, eh…
Es mejor así
Ay que el cielo y tu madre cuiden de ti
Me voy, oh oh oh…
Ay que el cielo y tu madre cuiden de ti
Me voy,
será mejor así
Meet Me In Montauk 
The Spanish version of this song is “demonstrably better than its English counterpart?” And you wonder why I accuse you favoring foreign language songs (and movies) simply because of their foreign element? What makes the Spanish version “demonstrably better?'”
Oh, and by the way, lest this conversation progress as it usually does, and take the pattern I mentioned yesterday, using a term like “demonstrably better” is EXACTLY why you should not later be able to fall back on, “hey, I just like what I like, okay?”
Here is the English version for comparison:
The music is literally identical, so that can’t be it. She seems to be singing the same notes. So could it be that you don’t really like the meaning of the lyrics, so, when you actually can understand them, you like the song less? Could it be, as I suggested with regard to your heightened appreciation for foreign films that, when you strip away the very “foreignness” element of the song, which may be unique and mysterious to you, the content is just not quite as special?
Shakira is a much better singer in her native tongue than in English (particularly on her earlier albums when the language was new to her). I find some of the phrasing and lyrics awkward, which detracts from the songs (thereby making the Spanish versions demonstrably better). As she’s become more comfortable writing and singing in English, Shakira’s English-language songs have closed that gap.
Don’t you just love the tango?
But, see, Clay, you are proving my point. You KNOW (or believe) that Shakira’s English here is awkward because you speak English. You have no idea if her Spanish is really less awkward because you don’;t speak Spanish. You, of course, also ASSUME her Spanish is better because you know Spanish is her native tongue. You also, probably based upon whatever knowledge you had of Shakira going into hearing this song, including that her English wasn’t very good, were listening for the issues she may have had with the English version of the song, while you pay no such mind (and could not) to the Spanish version. Incidentally, I don’t find her English here that bad–maybe a bit forced syllabic emphasis on the word “triangle,” but otherwise I think she does fine.
But what if you didn’t know Shakira’s native tongue was Spanish? What if it were French, Italian or German, and she recorded both a Spanish and English version of this song (as artists often do). Would you then still like the Spanish version better because you would be obkivious to the pronunciation flaws in the the Spanish version? Would the Spanish version still be “demonstrably better” to you? The fact is you have no idea whether the Spanish version is “demonstrably better” because you don’t speak Spanish.
This is EXACTLY like what we were talking about with Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, where those in China were so bothered by the “wrong” accents or dialects that it lessened the experience of the movie, while those like you (and the vast majority of American critics) who had no idea the accents were wrong, were wholly not bothered by this, and elevated the movie to a lofty perch.
I am curious if Alex finds the Spanish version of this song “demonstrably better” as at least she can understand what is being sung in the Spanish version and whether it is being sung well (from a language, not tonal, standpoint)
Oh, and Peg, I do LOVE the tango–one of the best forms of music or dance out there!
I’ve read your long comment twice now and I’m still not sure I understand your point (even though I apparently proved it). 🙂
I don’t speak Spanish well at all but I understand it better than any other foreign language, and I like the way Shakira sings in Spanish. She has a fluidity and a rhythm in Spanish that I find lacking in (most of) her English songs.
I don’t know what good or bad Chinese sounds like, so you’re right, the faulty accents in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon made absolutely no impression on me. But that fact alone doesn’t elevate the movie to a lofty perch. Half the accents in The Departed were bad but it was still a terrific movie for a hundred other reasons.
And I hate to fulfill your prediction of how our conversations go, but if I find the Spanish-language versions of her songs better (demonstrably or otherwise), it doesn’t really matter whether that’s based on an incomplete knowledge of the language or a preference for things that are different or exotic or anything else… the “why” doesn’t make the statement any less true.
That said, “demonstrably” was probably a poor word choice, because it suggests that there is a factual basis by which I can prove that the song is better. A more appropriate phrase would have been “much better” … you caught me trying to get fancy.
You keep proving my point the more you debate:)
First, let me, AGAIN, explain my point and correct your continued misunderstanding as to what I am saying. I am NOT saying that you like a “bad” movie (or one that perhaps I didn’t like) because it is in a foreign language. I AM saying that you elevate the foreign language films in your ranking because, IN ADDITION TO being good films, they have the mystique of the foreign language (and yes, they may also have the freshness of a foreign culture, but, as you have pointed out in the past, a western or gangster movie would be equally fresh to you because it is foreign to your world)
Indeed, your reference to The Departed is a perfect example that, again, proves my point :)–it sits number FOUR on your list for that year, BELOW two foreign language films (Volver and Pan’s Labyrinth) My argument is simple (as I am a simple man) –I maintain that The Departed would be HIGHER on your list, but you elevate the foreign language films over them. (And who knows, maybe Departed gets knocked to number 4 BECAUSE of the bad accents–perhaps Departed done in Spanish would be number one that year, even if the accents were still all wrong, but you would be oblivious to the problem? “Think about it, H.I.!”)
Oh, and, by the way, Spanish is, by definition, a more fluid language (as is Italian and French or any romance language). In fact, next to German and perhaps Asian languages, English may be one of the harshest, least fluid languages out there. So, in every case, not just with Shakira, a song sung in Spanish is going to be more fluid than the English version (assuming that the English singer doesn’t COMPLETELY butcher the Spanish translation). I find nothing really bad about how Shakira sings this song in English–but, because it is in English, it will always be less fluid.
And, finally, I don’t think you were trying to be “fancy” by saying “demonstrable.” I think that, in your commentary, you try to explain the reason why you like a song. album or artist. That explanatory process necessarily sets up certain “objective” criteria. In attempting to explain your fondness for something, however, rather than just saying “here’s another song I dig,” you sucker me in time and time again to take issue with your explanation. Then, as I suggested yesterday, when I poke enough holes in your explanations, you drop back to “Hey, I just like it.”
Of course it is fine if you “just like” Shakira’s Spanish songs more than the English ones, and it is equally fine if you “just like” Pan’s Labyrinth or Volver more than The Departed.
But, really, what is the fun (for either of us) at leaving the analysis at that?
You have fallen for my trap! 🙂 The Departed was based on a Chinese film called Infernal Affairs, which placed 20th on my list the year it was released. So your hypothetical “Departed in Spanish” need not be hypothetical at all. And the English-language version (by a world-class filmmaker with a stellar cast and a crackerjack script) bested its foreign counterpart, even with the uneven accents. I said good day, sir!
Pan’s Labyrinth is a freaking masterpiece, in any language (though I seriously doubt it would have been greenlit or made by a Hollywood studio, which is another argument for why compelling foreign films often shine through). And Volver is a touching, funny movie by one of my very favorite filmmakers in any language. Is it a surprise that those movies would rank so highly on my list? It’s not as if the Swahili version of Marley and Me is sitting above The Departed.
My #1 that year was Children of Men, by another of my favorite directors. He happens to be Mexican, but this film was in English. You’ve argued that I elevate Y Tu Mama Tambien because it’s in Spanish, but could it be that I elevate it because of Alfonso Cuaron?
Now you’re just being silly and overly simplistic.
Obviously, The Departed and Infernal Affairs are two different films, regardless of the fact the former is based on the latter. And obviously there can be and likely were myriad reasons why Departed may have been a better film than Infernal Affairs. The only way YOUR analogy works is if both films were done shot for shot with the same actors, one time with them speaking English, one time with them speaking Spanish AND they came out in the same year–if you then liked Departed better, you would have trapped me. Otherwise, no trap for you!
And, ONCE AGAIN, I am ONLY talking about favoring (or elevating) certain films (or songs) over others–so the fact that Children of Men is number 1 is irrelevant. The relevant inquiry is why you elevated 2 other foreign (and foreign language) films over the Departed.
So does Y Tu Mama get a bump because you really like the director? Sure. But I maintain that it gets a further bump because it is foreign.
Why does the relative position of The Departed matter but not the relevant position of Children of Men?
I think I get it. Unless every foreign film I see is ranked beneath every English-language film I see, you’ll argue that it is higher because of the language.
You have Volver ahead of The Devil Wears Prada and Inside Man. Does that mean it would be below them if it weren’t in Spanish? Or are you biased in the other direction, and it would be 5 spots higher if it were in English?
No, you still don’t get it. But really, the reason you don’t get it is because, when push comes to shove, you will throw all analysis out the window, and just say, “Hey, I just liked Volver more than The Departed.”
Somehow, if I were to say that you like it better because (a) you thought the diretion was better or (b) you thought the acting was better or (c) you thought the editing was better, etc…. it doesn’t throw you into a defensive rave—-yet, heaven forbid you should consider, much less admit, that the foreign element of the film is something that makes you like it better? Oh, no! ThAT’s crazy talk!
Good song! I haven’t heard the Spanish version yet, but I really dig the English one.
Oh, and I beg to differ. You (Dana) have often “accused” Clay of favoring a film because he is a huge fan of its director, and that accusation has absolutely thrown Clay into a “defensive rage.”
No, sir, you don’t get it. The “foreign element” almost certainly plays a part in why I enjoy the film. But the actual foreign language, which is what you’re talking about, does not. That’s the argument.
But you didn’t answer my question… why does the relative position vs. The Departed matter but not the relative position vs. Children of Men?
Actually, Amy, you may well be right on that one.
It is absurd to separate the LANGUAGE in which the entire film is spoken from the foreign element of a foreign language film.
And I did answer your question—-Children of Men was a better film than Departed based on a number of reasons, most importantly plot and better ending for me. And, of course, for you, it’s elevated because of your obsession with the director as Amy points out:)
Does the English language play such a pivotal role in Dinner For Schmucks? Would Crouching Tiger have been a different movie in Mandarin vs. Cantonese? I don’t think the language matters at all. All it means is you have to read the movie vs. understand it intuitively, which I see as a negative.
And you have hit the nail EXACTLY on the head with your Children of Men answer. YOU believe it is the better film, so you have no problem with me ranking it ahead of The Departed. But you consider Volver a lesser film than The Departed, so you must find a reason why I would (wrongly) consider it better.
Damn that Shakira can dance! Does it occur to either of you that Clay likes this particular song better in Spanish because it’s about the TANGO?!
I have to admit I do. I liked the song a lot when I heard it for the first time – in English -20 minutes ago, but I definitely like it better in Spanish. Not because Shakira mispronounced any word in the English version; she sang it a hell of a lot better than I could. But because it works better with the mood and theme of the song. It was INTENDED to be a Spanish song, then translated into an English one. If you can only listen to the English song, it’s still great. But the Spanish one is better.
It’s probably like any other film or piece of literature. I adore Gabriel Garcia Marquez despite the fact that I valiantly struggled and ultimately failed to read just a short story of his in his native language. I love the English translation of his books and can only assume that his translator does them justice. Same for Pablo Neruda’s poetry. Still, for someone who reads Spanish fluently, I’m sure it’s an even more enriching experience to read those novels and poems in Spanish.
Luckily, with music, it’s much easier to listen to a song and just enjoy it, even if you don’t understand the language. It’s the easiest medium to experience in its original form without sacrificing the affect it is intended to have on you. In other words, if you can’t read the words in a novel, you can’t begin to appreciate its meaning. But you can tango the hell out of this song even if you don’t understand a word of spanish.
Your argument in the first paragraph is incomprehensible to me.
As for the second paragraph, I wasn’t placing MY opinion of the movies at issue. I was simply attempting to answer your question as to why YOU may have found it better. If you have other reasons why you liked it better, than answer your own damn question!
Actually, Amy, that thought did occur to me, but why would I give my opposition ammunition in our debate:)
And I agree that the Spanish language arguably works better because of the Latin style of the music, but I also like being able to understand the lyrics and I don’t think that the English is so incongruous with the music as to really detract that much. Then again, perhaps I am just used to artists like Paul Simon, Peter Gabriel and David Byrne laying English lyrics over Latin music, that the disconnect doesn’t bother me.
I know why I like it better… I’m just responding to your suggestion that you know why I like it better, and that the reason has nothing to do with the film itself but everything to do with what language they’re speaking. I find that silly.
Re: my incomprehensible paragraph (and it is that, I admit), I’m just asking if the English language is a pivotal part of the enjoyment or experience of Dinner for Schmucks or The Other Guys or any other American film you’ve seen this year?
Hey, we did not see Dinner for Schmucks (which clearly must be Yiddish, no?), but yes, I’d argue that the language – upper class British in A Room with a View or cockney accents in My Beautiful Laundrette (just to name two Daniel Day Lewis) films is an integral part of the experience. When someone loves – or hates – a David Mamet film or an Aaron Sorkin film – that has a whole lot to do with the language, no?
There you go again (to quote Reagan). You keep trying to make this about absolutes, black and white…”nothing” vs. “everything.” Of course, that is silly, but that’s NOT my point.
My point is that of the myriad factors that make up why you may like or dislike a film, ONE of them is, in the case of a foreign film, its foreignness, which does include the language. And, in my opinion, you value that foreignness, albeit apparently subconsciously and now through deep denial and protestation, in elevating those films over other “cream of the crop” non foreign films.
And to answer your less incomprehensible, but still silly question, no, the fact that English was spoken in Other Guys was not a pivotal part in my enjoying that film (I didn’t see Schmucks).Why would it be for me or you as there is nothing “foreign” about it, therefore no mystique, etc…?
Which brings me to another question that has come up before… do you consider films set in other countries where they speak English to be “foreign” films? Whale Rider, for example?
I have said repeatedly that I do value the “foreignness” of movies, quite a bit. That includes the foreignness of an English-language film like Whale Rider (or Trainspotting) as well as films that are in foreign tongues.
To answer your question, certainly a film like Whale Rider is foreign, and I can see why you might value it more because of its foreignness, just as you did with Monsoon Wedding (which I think was in English, though I couldn’t understand half of it:)) And as Amy said, often with films from Britain, Australia etc, as with even certain American films like those of Mamet, the dialect, the accent or the manner in which the words are spoken does add to its foreignness, or uniqueness, even though the characters are speaking your mother tongue.
I think somewhere along this great debate, however, I may have strayed from one of my broader and more central theories about you. That is that, being the “renaissance man” you are, you tend to elevate the new over the old, the trendy over the non-trendy and, in the context of film, you elevate the art film, the independent film or the foreign film over the non-foreign film. This is why, I believe, you generally elevate the work of the new hot director (Cuaron) over the less trendy film maker (Scorsese).
So, no, you do not more highly rank a film like Y Tu Mama because it is Spanish language. You do so because it is foreign (which includes but is not limited to its language) and it is done by a hot new director and because a renaissance man appreciates foreign films and, apparently, listens to Puccini, probably after watching Mad Men:).
And yet you give me shit for loving Rihanna. I can’t win. 🙂
Ah, but listening to Rihanna makes perfect sense — she’s fresh, new, not, critically well received. The man who effortlessly floats between playing Rihanna and Bob Dylan, while watching Star Trek and Volver is a renaissance man indeed:)
Oh, by the way, which version did Alex like better?
I didn’t play them for her but I’m fairly certain she’d say she hates them both. She actively dislikes Shakira’s voice.
I was wondering if I can get this dialog on my kindle 🙂
well, it really doesn’t matter if she hates Shakira–she could still tell you which version sounds better (or less heinous) to her. Or, better yet, find yourself another Spanish speaker who likes Shakira and ask them. Go ahead, I double dare ya!:)
Oh, and please work on the software to allow your mom to subscribe to this blog on her kindle:)
I did a little informal research via Google and the sentiment is pretty much unanimous that she’s better in Spanish. I’ll try to tackle a Spanish speaker and do a direct experiment when I get a chance. 🙂
well you can find opinions to support anything out there–who knows if those people speak Spanish or are just fellow renaissance people like yourself:)
OK, then go find a bunch of people who prefer her songs in English. Bet you have a much harder time.
Read the comments on this clip… almost every one (from Spanish speakers and non-Spanish speakers) says they prefer the Spanish version.
First of all, I can’t believe all the trouble you went to by creating dozens of different youtube user names just to make your point on that clip. 🙂
But seriously, I do understand why many would prefer her singing in Spanish over English for the reasons pointed out by Amy (and actually mentioned by one of your pseudonym on the youtube clip), that being that the Spanish language fits better with the Latin sound. I think it has far more to do with that than because of her lack of comfort with the English language.