"Gafas Oscuras" (English: Dark Glasses), or "Tus Gafas Oscuras", is the first song written by Colombian singer-songwriter

Shakira Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll ( , ; born 2 February 1977) is a Colombian singer-songwriter. Referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Latin Music", she has had a Cultural impact of Shakira, significant impact on the ...

. Written between 1985 and 1987, it was released as the seventh track on Shakira's debut album '' Magia'' in 1991. Lyrically, the song speaks about her father's grief after the death of her older brother in 1979.

Background and composition

Shakira started writing poems at the age of four, when she wrote her first one titled "La Rosa de Cristal". When she was seven years old, she received a typewriter for Christmas, and wrote poems with it, that would become song lyrics. When Shakira was two years old, her older brother William passed away at the age of 19 in a motorcycle accident. His death had their father William Mebarak in deep sorrow, a grief Shakira endured throughout several years of her childhood. This inspired her to write the song "Gafas Oscuras" which talks about how overwhelmed she feels about her father keeping his pain hidden: "Tus gafas oscuras intrigantes, misteriosas a cualquier uno impacta. Y cuando me miras, me quitas la vista y me robas el alma" (English: "Your dark glasses, intriguing, mysterious, shock everyone. And when you look at me, you take away my sight and steal my soul.") The song is the only one on the album that is not a love song. It was revealed by William in the documentary of Shakira's live album '' Live & off the Record'' that he would always wear dark sunglasses "to hide the pain behind a pair of glasses, and hakiramade a connection with that." The song was written by Shakira when she was eight or nine years old, and recorded and released in 1991 as the seventh track on Shakira's debut album '' Magia'' when she was 14. The song is not for sale or officially on streaming anywhere outside of old physical copies of the album due to Shakira blocking the re-release of her first two albums citing their "immaturity".

Reception

Noelia Bertol from ''

Cadena Dial Cadena Dial is a Spanish radio station. The station belongs to the Spanish media group PRISA. It was founded in 1990 and broadcasts exclusively pop music in Spanish (and Catalan, in the case of Catalonia). On 7 April 2017 Cadena Dial began broad ...

'' described how "Gafas Oscuras" is "a song in which we can appreciate the maturity with which the artist, even as a child, was able to compose about what love does to us. The editorial team of ''Vanguardia'' called the song "one of the most moving songs in her repertoire."

Live performances

Shakira performed "Gafas Oscuras" along with other original compositions at many events and singing contests. During one such occasion, she attracted the interest of theater producer Mónica Ariza, who then arranged for her to audition in front of executives from Sony Music Colombia. The audition was successful, leading to Shakira securing a recording contract to produce her first three albums.

References

{{Shakira songs Shakira songs Songs in Spanish Songs written by Shakira Latin pop songs 1991 songs