La Tortura

Background and composition

The single is a duet between Shakira and Spanish balladeer Alejandro Sanz, both of whom also composed it alongside Luis Fernando Ochoa. It was mixed by Gustavo Celis.

It tells the story of a woman who has been emotionally "tortured" because her boyfriend cheated and eventually left her for another, and has now returned begging forgiveness. He apologises extravagantly, but is ultimately of the thinking that infidelity is natural for men and for the woman not to forgive him would be tiresome and unreasonable. However, at the end of the song, Shakira's character humiliates him and says that she is not going to shed a single tear over him.

The single is Shakira's sixth in the United States, following the commercial success of her 2001 English language album Laundry Service.

Critical reception

The song received positive reviews from most music critics. Matt Cibula from PopMatters wrote an extense review, saying that "The big single isn’t quite reggaetón, although it makes full use of the reggaetón beat. What really matters are these two overheated voices working with and against each other, and the way that undeniable beat really comes alive when there is actually a beautiful melody underneath it." Spencer D. from IGN wrote that "the more 'ethnic' musical implements on "La Tortura" (accordion, Spanish guitar flutters, jostling rhythms, and the complimentary male vocals of Alejandro Sanz) make for one of the more enjoyable and distinct inclusions on the album; a slice of Shakira being Shakira and eschewing the affectation of anybody else's vocal stylings."

Commercial performance

Since its release as a single, the song has become one of the most important Latin songs to move into the mainstream English-speaking culture in the US and Canada. "La Tortura" reached a position of number 23 on the Billboard Hot 100 in less than twenty weeks after its release and was ranked number 60 in the Year-End Chart. The song was certified Gold by Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for over 500,000 digital sales. The song also held the record for the longest-run on the Billboard's Hot Latin Tracks chart a total of 25 non-consecutive weeks until it was broken by Enrique Iglesias's song "Bailando" in 2014. At Billboard magazine's year-end chart (that shows the hottest songs of the year); "La Tortura" was the number-one song on the Hot Latin Tracks chart and ranked third at the Hot Latin Songs 25th Anniversary chart.

The track was also successful in Europe, reaching the top ten in almost all countries it charted. It debuted at number one on the Spanish Singles Chart, while in Switzerland, the song was in the top five for fifteen consecutive weeks, although it never reached the top position. In Hungary, the song spent eight consecutive weeks at number-one position. "La Tortura" was not released as an official single in the United Kingdom until December 2006, bundled with the release of "Illegal" and charted at 34 on the UK Singles Chart. As a result, it was featured in the 2007 edition of Guinness World Records. "La Tortura" was chosen as the fifth favorite song of the world in a global survey made by Sony Ericsson, in which 700,000 music fans of 66 countries contributed.

Music video

The music video for "La Tortura", directed by Michael Haussman, has a simple plot: from his new girlfriend's apartment, Sanz spies on Shakira as she is walking down the street holding a bag of onions on her way to her own apartment, which is on the other side of the street from Sanz' girlfriend's apartment. When Shakira enters her apartment, she changes clothes. From that moment on, Sanz remembers things the two had done in the past as a couple, while Shakira reveals her alter-ego dancing erotically on the building's roof, covered with black paint. The choreography of the music video was made by Jamie King and Shakira herself.

The music video is in itself somewhat notable, as it was the first time MTV showed a whole episode of their Making the Video series in another language (with English subtitles). It was also the second Spanish-language video ever to enter in Total Request Live's countdown, and peaked at number four on the countdown. It can also be noted that the video for "La Tortura" was one of the first in the Spanish language to get heavy rotation on mainstream American and Canadian music channels such as MTV, VH1 and MuchMusic, as well as almost all the international Yahoo! sites. The remix version of the song, known as "La Tortura (Shaketon Remix)", has its own video (also directed by Haussman) featuring some previously unseen scenes. This video can be seen on Oral Fixation Volumes 1 & 2 Bonus DVD. The video was marked "Vevo Certified" by joint venture music video website Vevo for reaching more than 100 million views on YouTube.

The music video of the song was nominated for Best Female Video, Best Dance Video and Viewer's Choice Award on the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards.

Track listing

1. "La Tortura" [Album version] - 3:36
2. "La Tortura" [Shaketon Reggaeton Remix] - 3:12
3. "La Pared" [Acoustic Version] - 2:39

Remixes

The single and the album also included a remix of the song by Gustavo Celis entitled "The Shaketon Mix", merging a reggaeton rhythm with the original rhythm of the song. A separate music video (also directed by Michael Haussman) was also made for this remix. This video also entered on TRL's countdown.

There is another official reggaeton remix called "Eddie Arroyo Reggaeton Remix". Another official mix has surfaced, the "Tracy Young Special According Mix" and other remixes have also been made by independent DJs. An alternative version of this song, which had been previously leaked on the internet, is featured as a bonus track in the re-release of Oral Fixation Vol. 2, with the chorus sung partially in the English-language.

Accolades

2005 NRJ Awards

2005 Billboard Music Awards

Credits and personnel

Production

Engineering

Musicians