Shakira's Hot 100 hits

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHv3qO_Y8kk

pretty much solely between the first three for me - as on the other thread:

i think...i feel her voice just works better with more, uh, organic arrangements? like i buy her more as a kooky folkie rather than some sort of disco diva

as her patented crazy-english lyrics go, i way prefer "as every voice is hanging from the silence, lamps are hanging from the ceiling / like a lady tied to her manners, i'm tied up to this feeling" from "underneath your clothes" to any amount of wittering about coffee machines in "she wolf".

"objection (tango)" an honourable second best.

I like a whole lot of her songs but nothing really is ever going to top "lucky that my breasts are small and humble/so you don't confuse them with mountains".

heard "La Tortura" the other day and was reminded how much I love it. after that, I only particularly like "Don't Bother" and "Objection."

Hips Don't Lie is one of the greatest songs of this millennium. At first I used to love everything else in it except the Wyclef Jean bits, but after shaking my ass to it a zillion times at my favourite after-hours club (where the DJ used to play it regularly for something like 3 years), I grew to like his vocals too.

ppl kind of need to get over hating Wyclef, IMO

as her patented crazy-english lyrics go,

her spanish lyrics are crazy-spanish, too

yeah she's a genuine eccentric

hips don't lie ftw

"Hips Don't Lie" kinda bummed me out because I thought "La Tortura" was such a triumph of her releasing this insanely catchy Spanish language crossover hit, which was bigger than the English language follow up...then she pulls together a similar reggaeton-ish (but much blander imo) song w/ English lyrics and its success totally dwarfs "La Tortura."

should probably point out that i haven't heard or don't remember
"Objection (Tango)"
"La Tortura" (featuring Alejandro Sanz)

I don't hate Wyclef Jean is such, but I used to hate "Shakira! Shakira!" part in the song. Now I've grown to accept it as a part of the genius of Hips Don't Lie.

ah you gotta hear "objection"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noQEeDqjab0

awesome video too

oh wait that's the spanish version - this is the english one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8q1Tq4FJUs

"Objection (Tango)" is kind of incredible, yeah.

"Objection (Tango)" would be my choice I think.

"Underneath Your Clothes" I find completely devastating - I can literally spend days listening to how she wondrously mangles the line "being such a good girl" in half a dozen different but still savagely sexy ways.

"hips don't lie" altho i LOVE "whenever, wherever"

being such a good girl, HONEEEYYYYYYYGGGGHHHHH

xp

Also, "No" and "Las de la intuicion" are her best Spanish language singles. "Timor" though is astounding and should have been a single, even though it would have been a massive flop.

There was this great local news ad in El Paso "Hips Don't Lie" playing, so now that song just makes me think of the Best News Team in El Paso that Brings You the Weather First.

Man, these are all wonderful, but making it Top 100 US singles means that her note perfect run of pre-Laundry Service songs (all in Spanish, all which kickass INSANE music videos) and the almost-as-good run of singles off of "Fijacion Oral, Vol. 1" get totally ignored. :( As does Te Dejo Madrid wherein she is both a matador and a BULL and plays the harmonica.

as her patented crazy-english lyrics go, i way prefer "as every voice is hanging from the silence, lamps are hanging from the ceiling / like a lady tied to her manners, i'm tied up to this feeling" from "underneath your clothes" to any amount of wittering about coffee machines in "she wolf".

and again, her crazy-english lyrics don't got nothing on her crazy-spanish lyrics. what people peg as ESL-charming in english, is to my ears very deliberately chosen and strangely but purposely poetic - especially given that she fucks around with concepts and weird metaphors just as much in her mother tongue.

Man, these are all wonderful, but making it Top 100 US singles means that her note perfect run of pre-Laundry Service songs (all in Spanish, all which kickass INSANE music videos) and the almost-as-good run of singles off of "Fijacion Oral, Vol. 1" get totally ignored. :( As does Te Dejo Madrid wherein she is both a matador and a BULL and plays the harmonica.

^^^^^^

oh, i didn't mean to suggest that her english lyrics are crazy b/c she can't speak the language - i definitely agree that they're deliberate and mostly very well chosen - the line i quoted from "underneath your clothes" is total o_0 at first but actually really, yeah, poetic and effective.

I like a whole lot of her songs but nothing really is ever going to top "lucky that my breasts are small and humble/so you don't confuse them with mountains".

I don't know, for my money it's hard to beat:

For you, I'd give up all I own
And move to a communist country
If you came with me, of course
And I'd file my nails so they don't hurt you
And lose those pounds, and learn about football
If it made you stay, but you won't, but you won't

Passengers with destination to Hell
Please proceed to your gate, we are ready to board now.

or

Si no tiene mas que un par de dedos de frente
y descubres que no se lava bien los dientes

i mean...on the subject of the woman her boyfriend is leaving her for: "if she has but one pair of um...front toes? (idiomatically - she's dumb) and you discover that she doesn't brush her teeth well."

or well, all of "Inevitable" which is a love song wherein Shakira confesses that she doesn't know how to make coffee, doesn't listen to soccer, use a watch, doesn't bathe on sundays, cries about everything when it's cold outside and makes all of the above sound sort of charming.

pinnacle for me is probably ciego sordomuda for this beaut:

Por que este amor ya no entiende de consejos, ni razones
se alimenta de pretextos y le faltan pantalones
este amor no me permite estar en pie
porque ya hasta me ha quebrado los talones

"because this love doesn't listen to advice or reasons. it feeds on excuses and lacks pants. this love won't allow me to stand, because it has broken my ankles." more or less.

Feed your empty brain with your hydroponic pot
You start out playing with yourself
You get more fun within your shell
Nice to meet you but I gotta go my way

genius

I really stopped caring much after Laundry Service. Going with "Wherever, Whenever," but the other two from that album are close.

Does anyone actually like the Timbaland song? It seems like a cynical record company thing. Much rather they promote "Did It Again".

her videos are wild, e.g., the cartoon-interlude in objection (tango). her lyrics are somewhere between crazy, one-note (purring sexuality), and just dumb. but who cares, i guess?

I prefer "The One" to "Underneath Your Clothes", slightly.

xp Purring sexuality? I mean. It's pretty rare that that's (exclusively) her thing! (To be fair, the new album has a bit more purring sexuality than normal, but still...) She trots it out for lead singles and then sings about being a Gypsy or arguing with god or East Timor or how the world is filled with animals/cannibals, or dating a junkie. And that's just cherry-picking from English albums, so everyone can play along at home.

Uhhhhhh . . .

Oh boy, I can see your body moving
Half animal, half man
I don't, don't really know what I'm doing
But you seem to have a plan
My will and self restraint
Have come to fail now, fail now
See, I am doing what I can, but I can't so you know
That's a bit too hard to explain

I'd like to be
The kind of dream you'd never share
To be your boss and to be your maid
Your shaving cream, your razor blade
The buttons of your shirt
Your favourite underwear

I love the temperature and smell of your body
The shape of your lips and the size of your nose
I love that everything you say is so funny
Plus you're the best kisser that I've ever known

. . . and so on. no real problem with it, btw.

Man, these are all wonderful, but making it Top 100 US singles means that her note perfect run of pre-Laundry Service songs (all in Spanish, all which kickass INSANE music videos) and the almost-as-good run of singles off of "Fijacion Oral, Vol. 1" get totally ignored. :( As does Te Dejo Madrid wherein she is both a matador and a BULL and plays the harmonica.

― Alex in Montreal, Tuesday, February 2, 2010 6:59 PM (4 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

those songs wouldn't get a fair shake in a poll against "Hips Don't Lie" etc, which is why I suggested at the top of this thread that whoever feels like it should give those songs their own poll

"hips don't lie" but "objection (tango)" is pretty close.

also!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHv3qO_Y8kk

lol, just noticed that this was already posted. carry on.

Hips Don't Lie is probably my least favorite Shakira song.

La Tortura >>> Whenever, Wherever >> Objection (Tango) > Loba > Beautiful Liar (Freemasons Remix)

and I will go on record that I love each and every one of the above.

What's the name of the girl who first sang Hips Don't Lie? I think she was in City High...man she got hosed.

Does anyone actually like the Timbaland song?

HI DERE

glad musically is on the same page as me and i can count on at least one other vote for "La Tortura"

btw does anyone else give a crap about "Don't Bother"? i love it so much, the goofy spoken bridge, the "Just Like Heaven"-ish guitar tone, the "I'll be FOIN I'll be FOIN I'll be FOIN" vamping at the end.

^^^ this

have listened to "Objection (Tango)" and "La Tortura" (featuring Alejandro Sanz), and am comfortable with my original pick.

I think I've heard the chorus to Objection 100s of times but never registered the verses or the talky little new wave rap thing. I can def see the attraction. "La Tortura" suffers from that way of singing she has that doesn't bother me in "Hips Don't Lie" and only bothers me a bit in "Underneath Your Clothes" (though it is pronounced there too). I can't describe it though, but probably you get what I mean.

Watching these videos was like putting myself through something, because this girl is heart-twistingly gorgeous. I'm glad she goes out with guys that seem like douchebags to me, because it genuinely eases the pain.

i'd never heard OF "don't bother" before this poll - i'll be checking it out tho

yeah, just listened to "don't bother" for the first time in a long time. it's great! the spoken word part is awesome.

Wow, I need to seek out more of these songs. It would be a total disaster if I were to meet Shakira and tell her how much I love her music, only to then have to reveal that I have never actually heard "She Wolf".

I don't understand why people make a fuzz over the 'lucky that my breasts are small and humble..." line. Does it really sound that strange in english or is there something else that I'm missing?

It really does sound that strange in English.

But why? It has almost the exact same lyrics in Spanish and I've never heard any spanish-speaking person pointing out that particular line.

Maybe we're more used to hearing ridiculous metaphors or something.

The phrase "humble breasts" conjours mental images of mammaries that demurely deflect attention away from their prodigious achievements.

thank goodness they aren't loud and proud breasts! we'd never hear the end of it.

Is it the humble part then? I thought it was the mountain/breasts comparison. That part is actually missing from the Spanish lyrics:

Suerte que mis senos sean pequeños y no los confundas con montañas - Lucky that my breasts are small so you dont confuse them with mountains.

lots of these are good, though not feeling the lat single

still think the best is la tortura.. alejandro sanz adds a lot

I just think it's a strange sentiment moka. I can understand being happy to have small breasts, but would the man she's singing to turn her away if he got confused because they were as big as mountains? I'm confused about her conception of advantages/disadvantages as they relate to breast size, I guess.

Yeah, the entire mode of expression is just... weird. Like, how often are ppl like "WHERE ARE YOU? I CAN'T FIND YOU BEHIND THESE MOUNTAINS oh there you are" to large-breasted women?

lol... My take is that she's just being grateful for not being a shallow person and I suppose she relates big breasts to plastic surgery or something. I don't know why that particular line doesn't stand up for me... I guess I grew up with her music since I was like 10 and I got used to hearing her say the strangest things. Its part of the appeal.

I mean... I also think the line is really strange but in the context of the song and her whole career it doesn't seem as wacky.

I've always thought that line meant that's she's lucky her breasts are small and humble, so she knows her man likes her because of herself and not because of her tits. And the "mountains" is just a metaphor for those women whose boobs are so big the men always notice them first, so they'll never know if the men only care about their breasts. I've never found the lyric that confusing.

must be like Christmas morning when something fails to confuse you

I'm confused about real life, not about poetry.

"Hips Don't Lie" by miles, sucker for the trumpet break + chorus

talking of clef and that trumpet break btw...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JY_0QReTPkc&fmt=34

still chewing over this poll btw, but somedude super otm about 'la tortura' and 'don't bother', it's probably out of them two. pretty much love me all apart from the bey & weezy ones though obv.

love em, heh oops

I don't think anyone is confused about what Shakira is trying to say; I think people are entirely bemused by the images that come to mind because of the word choice.

No, I was actually confused, but that's normal.

"La Tortura" for me. Probably for the same reason zvookster rates it lower, if I'm reading him right about "that way of singing she has."

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Boo. Worst Shakira song won, but at least Underneath Your Clothes got 9 votes

not really into the top 3 at all but i'm still relieved to see all the people that overrated "She Wolf" on '09 year-end lists aren't doing so here too

she wolf is awesome eff u

how fucked up is it that the singer from THE BRAVERY co-wrote that song

the melody is about as wispy and barely there as anything by his band, why not.