"Si Tú Supieras" (''"If You Knew"'') is a song written by

Kike Santander Flavio Enrique "Kike" Santander Lora is a Colombian-American composer, record producer, arranger and entrepreneur. He is considered to be one of the principal Latino composers of the day, having worked with artists such as David Bisbal, Cristi ...

and performed by Mexican recording artist

Alejandro Fernández Alejandro Fernández Abarca (; born 24 April 1971) is a Mexican singer. Born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, he is the son of the Mexican singer Vicente Fernández. Nicknamed as " El Potrillo" by the media and his fans, he has sold over 20 million rec ...

. It was co-produced by Santander and

Emilio Estefan Emilio Estefan Gómez (born March 4, 1953) is a Cuban-American musician and producer. Estefan has won 19 Grammy Awards. He first came to prominence as a member of the Miami Sound Machine. He is the husband of singer Gloria Estefan, father of s ...

and was released as the first single from '' Me Estoy Enamorando'' by

Sony Music Mexico Sony Music Entertainment México is a Mexican subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment (SME). It was founded in 1947 as Discos Columbia de México as a subsidiary of Columbia Records. History Sony Music Entertainment Mexico and its recording stud ...

on 18 August 1997. The song is a

bolero Bolero is a genre of song which originated in eastern Cuba in the late 19th century as part of the trova tradition. Unrelated to the older Spanish dance of the same name, bolero is characterized by sophisticated lyrics dealing with love. It h ...

pop ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner. Ballads ...

with

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 ...

influences and portrays the singer yearning for his lover to know how much she means to him. A music video was made for the track and was used as the main theme for the Mexican telenovela ''

María Isabel María Isabel López Rodríguez (born 4 January 1995), known professionally as María Isabel, is a Spanish singer. She rose to prominence after she won the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2004 for with the song " Antes muerta que sencilla". ...

''. It reached the top of the ''Billboard'' Hot Latin Songs chart in the United States and spent a total of six weeks at this position. The recording led to Fernández winning the

Lo Nuestro Award for Pop Song of the Year The Lo Nuestro Award for Pop Song of the Year is an honor presented annually by American television network Univision at the Lo Nuestro Awards. The accolade was established to recognize the most talented performers of Latin music (genre), Latin mu ...

and the ''Eres'' awards for Best Song and Best Musical Theme in 1998 while Santander received the BMI Latin Award for Song of the Year in 1999. "Si Tú Supieras" has been covered by other artists including

Tony Vega Tony Vega Cesar (born July 13, 1957) is a Puerto Rican salsa music, salsa singer. Early years Vega was born in the town of Salinas, California. His family moved to Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania when he was three months old, and rem ...

Manuel Mijares José Manuel Mijares Morán (born 7 February 1958 in Mexico City) is an adult-contemporary pop singer who is billed as Manuel Mijares () or simply as Mijares. He began his career at age 23 and achieved high popularity from the mid-80s to mid 90s ...

Noel Schajris Nahuel Schajris Rodríguez (born July 19, 1974 in Buenos Aires, Argentina) is an Argentine singer, songwriter and pianist based in Mexico who experienced chart-topping success as part of the duo Sin Bandera until he and fellow singer and songwri ...

, and Chamin Correa. Vega's version peaked at number five on the Hot Latin Songs chart in the US.

Background and composition

Since 1992 Alejandro Fernández established his music career as a

singer like his father, iconic ranchera singer,

Vicente Fernández Vicente Fernández Gómez (17 February 1940 – 12 December 2021) was a Mexican mariachi singer, actor and film producer. Nicknamed "Chente" (short for Vicente), "El Charro de Huentitán" (The Charro from Huentitán), "El Ídolo de México" (Th ...

. His previous albums, ''

'' (1992), '' Piel De Niña'' (1993), '' Grandes Éxitos a la Manera de Alejandro Fernández'' (1994), ''

Que Seas Muy Feliz ''Que Seas Muy Feliz'' ("May you be very happy") is the fourth album recorded by the Mexican singer Alejandro Fernández Alejandro Fernández Abarca (; born 24 April 1971) is a Mexican singer. Born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, he is the son of ...

'' (1995), and ''

Muy Dentro de Mi Corazón ''Muy Dentro de Mi Corazón'' ("Very deep in my heart") is the fifth album recorded by Mexican singer Alejandro Fernández. Produced by Pedro Ramírez. He shoot videos for the songs "Nube Viajera" and "Abrazame". Other songs known from this albu ...

'' (1996), helped solidify Fernández as a ranchera singer. Although his last album, ''Muy Dentro de Mi Corazón'', was a success, Fernández did not want to simply record another ranchera album. "If I had released another album of just rancheras, people would have just expected the same thing, and then they would have begun to judge me by that one usicaltheme", Fernández explained. He also noted bolero's popularity on radio stations and cited his waning radio airplay. After listening to ''

Mi Tierra ''Mi Tierra'' (''My Homeland'') is the third studio album by Cuban-American recording artist Gloria Estefan, released on June 22, 1993, by Epic Records. Produced by husband Emilio Estefan, it is a Spanish-language album and pays homage to her Cu ...

'' by

Gloria Estefan Gloria María Milagrosa Estefan (; ; born September 1, 1957) is an American singer, actress, and businesswoman. Estefan is an eight-time Grammy Awards, Grammy Award winner, a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, and has been named one of t ...

, Fernández sought Estefan's husband

to have him produced Fernández's next album. After hearing Fernández's proposal, Emilio Estefan agreed on the idea to produce the album. Recording took place at Estefan's Crescent Moon Studios in Miami, Florida. "Si Tú Supieras", along with the other tracks in the album, is a

song with

influences. It was written by Colombian songwriter

and co-produced by Santander and Estefan. In the lyrics, the protagonist yearns for his love interest to understand how much he loves her. The song was featured as the opening theme for the Mexican telenovela ''

''. Fernández performed the song live during his promotional tour for ''Me Estoy Enamorando''. A live version of "Si Tú Supieras" was included on the album ''Confidencias Reales: En Vivo Desde el Teatro Real'' (2014). The track was also added to the compilation albums '' 15 Años de Éxitos'' (2007) and ''Más Romantico Que Nunca: Sus Grandes Éxitos Romanticos'' (2010).

Reception

"Si Tú Supieras" was released on 18 August 1997. In the United States, it debuted at number five on the ''Billboard'' Hot Latin Songs chart on the week of 20 September 1997. It reached number one on the chart, replacing "La Venia Bendita" by

Marco Antonio Solís Marco Antonio Solís Sosa (born 29 December 1959) is a Mexican musician, singer-songwriter, and record producer. Born and raised in Ario de Rosales, Michoacán, Solís began his musical career at the age of six, performing with his cousin Joel ...

, and spent five weeks on top of this chart until it was succeeded by

Cristian Castro Cristian Sáinz Castro (born 8 December 1974) is a Mexican pop singer. He is the son of actors Verónica Castro and Manuel "El Loco" Valdés, and nephew of actors Ramón Valdés (known for playing Don Ramón in '' El Chavo del Ocho'') and ...

's song " Lo Mejor de Mí. It later reached number one again on the week of 3 January 1998 and was succeeded by Fernández and

's song " En El Jardín". The track also reached on top of the

Latin Pop Songs The '' Billboard'' Latin pop charts began in 1985 when an album chart were introduced as Latin Pop Albums in the June 29 issue of the magazine. In October 1994, ''Billboard'' then established Latin Pop Airplay, which initially rank the most-played ...

chart where it spent two weeks in this position. "Si Tú Supieras" ended 1998 as the second best-performing Latin song of the year in the US. In November 1999, "Si Tú Supieras" was labeled as one of the "hottest tracks" for Sony Discos in a list including the most successful songs released by the label since the launching of the ''Billboard'' Hot Latin Tracks chart in 1986. In 2016, "Si Tú Supieras" ranked number three on ''Billboards Greatest of All Time Hot Latin Songs chart.

Knight Ridder Knight Ridder was an American media company, specializing in newspaper and Internet publishing. It was bought by McClatchy on June 27, 2006, allowing the latter to become the second largest newspaper publisher in the United States at the time ...

music critic Howard Cohen called it a "mellow" song. Eliseo Cardona of ''

El Nuevo Herald ''El Nuevo Herald'' is a newspaper published daily in Spanish in Southeast Florida, United States. Its headquarters is in Doral. ''El Nuevo Heralds sister paper is the ''Miami Herald'', also produced by the McClatchy Company. About ''el Nuevo ...

'' highlighted "Si Tú Supieras" as one of the boleros where Fernández performs with "intensity and passion". At the 10th Annual Lo Nuestro Awards in 1998, it won the award Pop Song of the Year. At the 1998 Premios ''Eres'', it won the awards for Best Song and Best Musical Theme (for its usage on ''María Isabel''). "Si Tú Supieras" also led to Santander receiving the BMI Latin Award for Song of the Year in 1999.

Music video

The music video begins with Fernández watching a video in his house which shows him, and his childhood friend on a

movie projector A movie projector (or film projector) is an optics, opto-mechanics, mechanical device for displaying Film, motion picture film by projecting it onto a movie screen, screen. Most of the optical and mechanical elements, except for the illuminat ...

screen when they were younger. He then proceeds to go on a double date with his friend in a café and meet each other's lover. His friend's lover becomes infatuated with Fernández and the two become enamored with each other. Although the relationship between the two grows, Fernández realizes that it would only hurt his childhood friend and decides to break away from her.

Cover versions

In 1998, Puerto Rican

salsa Salsa most often refers to: * Salsa (food), a variety of sauces used as condiments * Salsa music, a popular style of Latin American music * Salsa (dance), a Latin dance associated with Salsa music Salsa or SALSA may also refer to: Arts and ent ...

singer

covered "Si Tú Supieras" on his album ''Hoy Quiero Cantarte''. It was released as a single for the album and peaked at number five on the Hot Latin Songs chart. Mexican recording artist

recorded his version of the song on his album '' Vivir Así'' (2009). Argentine-Mexican singer

covered the track on his album '' Grandes Canciones'' (2011).

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

editor Jon O'Brien criticized Schajris for choosing to "play it safe with perfunctory covers of drippy romantic ballads" with "Si Tú Supieras" being cited as one of the examples. Mexican guitarist Chamin Correa performed an instrumental version on his album ''Cuerdas Amor Y Guitarra, Vol. 2'' (1997).

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

All-time charts

Personnel

Credits adapted from the ''Me Estoy Enamorando'' liner notes. * Alejandro Fernández – vocals * Kike Santander – songwriting and arranger * René Toledo –

twelve-string guitar A twelve-string guitar (or 12-string guitar) is a steel-string guitar with 12 string (music), strings in six Course (music), courses, which produces a thicker, more ringing tone than a standard six-string guitar. Typically, the strings of the lo ...

Luis Enrique Luis Enrique Martínez García (; born 8 May 1970), known as Luis Enrique, is a Spanish football manager and former player. He is the manager of Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain. A versatile player with good technique, he was capable of playin ...

– percussion * Archie Peña –

maracas A maraca ( , , ), sometimes called shaker or chac-chac, is a rattle which appears in many genres of Caribbean and Latin music. It is shaken by a handle and usually played as part of a pair. Maracas, also known as tamaracas, were rattles of d ...

and drums

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Si Tu Supeiras 1997 singles 1997 songs 1998 singles 1990s ballads Alejandro Fernández songs Boleros Pop ballads Songs written by Kike Santander Song recordings produced by Emilio Estefan Song recordings produced by Kike Santander Sony Music Mexico singles Songs in Spanish Tony Vega songs Telenovela theme songs