"Dame Tu Amor" () is a song recorded by American recording artist

Selena Selena Quintanilla-Pérez (; April 16, 1971 – March 31, 1995) was an American singer-songwriter. Known as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Tejano Music", her contributions to music and fashion made her one of the most cel ...

for her second

LP record The LP (from long playing or long play) is an Analog recording, analog sound storage medium, specifically a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of revolutions per minute, rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use ...

, ''Alpha'' (1986). Lyrically, the narrator addresses her infatuation to give her his love as she is longing for him to do so with a kiss that ensures admiration for her. The themes explored in the song suggest solicit love. "Dame Tu Amor" is a

ranchera Ranchera () or canción ranchera is a genre of traditional music of Mexico. It dates to before the years of the Mexican Revolution. Rancheras today are played in the vast majority of regional Mexican music styles. Drawing on rural traditional fo ...

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

with

cumbia Cumbia refers to a number of musical rhythms and folk dance traditions of Latin America, generally involving musical and cultural elements from American Indigenous peoples, Europeans, and Africans during colonial times. Cumbia is said to have com ...

influences. It was composed by Richard Brooks,

Ricky Vela Ricardo Vela is an American musician and songwriter who was the keyboardist for the band Selena y Los Dinos from 1984 to 1995. Works Vela has either written or co-written the following songs that topped on ''Billboard'' 200, ''Billboard'' Latin ...

, and Selena's father and manager, Abraham Quintanilla, Jr. Critics praised the song for its instrumentation and lyrical content and has since been in several compilation albums following Selena's

death Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose sh ...

in 1995. "Dame Tu Amor" peaked at number 31 on the US ''

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Hot Ringtones The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, p ...

chart in 2006.

Background and composition

"Dame Tu Amor" was written in 1985 by Richard Brooks,

keyboardist A keyboardist or keyboard player is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instru ...

for

Selena y Los Dinos Selena y Los Dinos () was an American Tejano band formed in 1981 by Tejano singer Selena and her father Abraham Quintanilla. The band remained together until the murder of Selena in 1995, which caused the dissolution of the band in the same ye ...

—

—and Selena's father and manager, Abraham Quintanilla, Jr. Selena was 14 years old during recording sessions for the song, and it was later included on her second

, ''Alpha'', in 1986. The recording was

arranged In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestratio ...

by Brian "Red" Moore, a family friend, and Ray Paz. Rolando Hernandez performed the guitar parts, while Vela used his keyboards to record the piano parts of the song. While additional vocals were provided by former guitarist of the group, Roger Garcia.

Critical reception and release

"Dame Tu Amor" was well received by

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...

. Josh Kun of ''Salon'' noted that the remix version, found on the triple box-set ''Anthology'', has "enough brass and string to make it sound like a Bacharach-penned ranchero." Mario Tarradell of ''

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'' called the recording an "infectious

ong Ong or ONG may refer to: Arts and media * Ong's Hat, a collaborative work of fiction * “Ong Ong”, a song by Blur from the album The Magic Whip Places * Ong, Nebraska, US, city * Ong's Hat, New Jersey, US, ghost town * Ong River, Odisha, ...

" The recording has been released in several compilation albums including, ''

Anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

'' (1998), ''Y Sus Inicios, Vol. 1'' (2003), ''Y Sus Inicios, Vol. 2'' (2004) and ''Classic Series, Vol. 1'' (2006).

Chart performance

On the week ending September 23, 2006, "Dame Tu Amor" debuted and peaked at number 31 on the US ''

chart.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dame Tu Amor Selena y Los Dinos songs 1980s ballads 1986 songs Cumbia songs Ranchera songs Contemporary R&B ballads Songs written by Ricky Vela Songs written by A.B. Quintanilla Songs in Spanish