The songs of spite now have an indisputable sovereignty. The title belongs to the Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira, who has spent three decades counting her loves and heartbreaks in her music, although never with as much fury as since she separated from the businessman and former soccer player Gerard Piqué, who was her partner for 12 years and with whom she had her two sons Milan and Sasha.
Nevertheless, is not the only one. Our grandmothers, mothers, sisters and daughters also have emblematic songs in which the great women of music have sung to those who have left them with a broken heart and a cold bed.
To sing them at the top of your lungs you don’t need to be angry, in a guayabado… with lovesickness. It is enough to have ever been, or even to have experienced a great upset, even if it has nothing to do with romance. Obviously, there are many, but here is the list of the 10 that have left the most mark on Latin popular culture and a bonus with Shakira’s most vein-cutting.
‘Two-legged rat’ by Paquita la del Barrio
There is no heartbreak list that does not include this overwhelming song performed by the great Mexican artist. Even Becky G and Karol G mentioned it in ‘MAMII’, their 2022 hit.
The opening verses say it all:
how much damage have you done to me
Few know, however, that this song was written by a man. It is regarding the Mexican composer Manuel Eduardo Toscano, who composed it for Paquita, seeking to express the disgust she had with her ex-husband and was inspired by her opinion of Former Mexican President Carlos Salinas de GortarYo. According to himself, the artist initially rejected her because she considered her “very strong”. Luckily she changed her mind.
‘Fuck him on fire’ by Celia Cruz
The guarachera from America sang to all states of life, including heartbreak, of course. But the heartbreak song that identifies her the most is ‘Que le den candela’, in which she sings to a friend who suffers from the mistreatment of a man, to whom with her prodigious voice Celia de ella wishes:.
And let it cook in your wine
Get hung from a kite
And then cut the thread
‘That man’ from India
“He is a great fool,
a cocky jerk,
selfish and capricious
a vain clown,
unconscious and presumptuous,
false, dwarf, spiteful,
who has no heart
full of jealousy
without reasons or motives
like the rushing wind,
rarely affectionate,
unsure of himself
bearable as a friend
insufferable as love”
That is the chorus of the song written in 1979 by the Spanish composers Manuel Alejandro and Ana Magdalena for the Spanish singer Rocío Jurado. Since then there have been several versions, but few as powerful as the one made by Puerto Rican salsa singer La India, who included “Ese hombre” on her first studio album, which was released in 1994.
‘I’m sorry my love’ by Rocío Jurado
The same duo from ‘Ese hombre’ wrote the classic ‘Lo siento mi amor’, also for Jurado, with devastating lyrics whose chorus says:
It’s been a while since I felt anything doing it with you
That my body does not tremble with the desire to see you lit
And your face and your chest and your hands look like frost
And your kisses, which excited me yesterday, don’t tell me anything
And there is another love that I keep quiet, quiet
Hidden and vibrating in my soul, wanting to scream it
I can’t hide it anymore, I can’t shut it up, I can’t
And I’d rather say it and shout it than keep pretending.
The song is so powerful that for many it is a hymn to passive aggression.
‘What did you do?’ by Jennifer Lopez
The Bronx Diva has made it clear in her autobiography ‘True Love’ that her relationship with her third husband Marc Anthony was in shambles long before they decided to divorce in 2011. This painful song was released in 2007 and was a kind of warning what was coming.
What did you do?
Today you destroyed hope with your pride
Today you tarnished my gaze with your fury
You erased all our history with your rage
And you confused so much love that I gave you
With a permit to break my soul
What did you do?
You forced us to destroy the dawns
And our nights were erased by your words
My illusions put an end to your farces
You forgot that it was love that mattered
And with your hands you demolished our house
‘Forget me and turn around’ by Pimpinela
Karaoke lovers often succumb to the temptation of singing this hit by the Argentine duet of the Galán brothers, with all the rage in the world and no wonder. What’s more, JLo and Marc Anthony also played it in their last performance together. This is the most brutal part of the lyrics:
So go away, forget my name, my face, my house
I might never understand you
Go away, forget my eyes, my hands, my lips
you are lying i know
Go away, forget that I exist, that you knew me,
And do not be surprised, forget everything that you for that
‘Despecha’ by Rosalía
This song is so special that the Spanish artist had not released it and was already dominating social networks. Some of it is merengue ripiao, a rhythm that few can resist, but the lyrics of spite are not far behind, despite the fact that the music is for dancing.
And I’m spiteful, oah, crazy
I came down with a new box flow, baby, hack
I move it from la’o to la’o and to another la’o
Today I go out with my baby from the coroná disco’
And I’m spiteful, oah, crazy
May God free me from returning to your la’o
I move it from la’o to la’o and to another la’o
Today I go out with my baby from the disco coroná’, coroná’, yeah
‘DPM’ by Kany Garcia
The Puerto Rican singer-songwriter confessed to Yahoo Life and Style that the virality that this song took on TikTok took her by surprise, although later it seemed obvious to her that many women identified with the message, since ‘DPM’, which means “fucking shit”, is a celebration of the end of a relationship toxic. Being strict, it’s not a song regarding heartbreak, but regarding self-love, but as a farewell letter it’s precisely DPM.
They increased my salary
I sing when I bathe
there is no autumn or winter
Spring all year
hello to the neighbors
there are no more barking dogs
since you’ve been gone
I’ve gone crazy
How well I’m doing, I’m doing, I’m doing
since you’ve been gone
How well I’m doing, I’m doing, I’m doing
since you’ve been gone
‘The Last Goodbye’ by Paulina Rubio
Even if you come on your knees and beg me, and ask me
Even if you come and cry for me, that I absolve you and forgive you
Although you cause me pain, I have thrown your chains
And I dedicate this ranchera to you for being the last goodbye
Even if you come to implore me, to ask and beg me
Even if you come and cry for me, that I absolve you and forgive you
Even if you make me sad, today I throw off your chains
And I dedicate this ranchera to you for being the last goodbye
For the good I am good, for the bad I doubt it
I can lose my soul for your lack of love, but not the reason
I am all legal, and I loved you, I swear
But worth telling you that my words are the last goodbye
The last good-bye
This is how The Golden Girl sings her spite from the past. Nothing like a ranchera to distill the heartache, because as Shakira well said, quoting the psychologist and Holocaust survivor Edith Eger, “the opposite of depression is expression.”
Las Shaki rolas rompevenas
As we promised at the beginning, here are some of the Colombian songs that express the different emotional stages of a separation, especially when they are the product of disloyalty.
