La camisa negra
Encyclopedia
"La Camisa Negra" is a Spanish rock
song written by Colombia
n singer-songwriter
Octavio Mesa and recorded by Juanes
for his third studio album Mi Sangre
. In Latin America
, the track was released in 2005 as the third single
from Mi Sangre, and in Europe
, it was released in 2006 as the album's lead single
.
The song received mixed reviews from critics and generated controversy when it was used to support neo-fascism
in Italy
. The single was very successful in Latin America, topping most record chart
s.
in the key of F#minor. The song is carried by an acoustic guitar
strum
at a moderate 100 beats per minute, with an accompanying melody
on the electric guitar
. The lyrics are organized in the common verse-chorus form
, and Juanes' range spans around an octave
and a half, from C#4 to F#5.
Despite what the liner notes say, the beat is actually at 97 bpm.
stated that the track "is a good intro into the world of Juanes as it fully exhibits his guitar style and absorbing voice." MyVillage gave the song two out of five stars, commenting that it "has a certain charm about it, but I certainly won't mind missing the boat on this occasion." IndieLondon called the song "a supremely slick acoustic
ballad
", stating that "the rolling guitar licks…provide a wonderful accompaniment." OMH gave the song a mixed review, stating that "the powerful chorus
has a rather catchy vocal melody to it" but that "it's like being promised a culinary banquet
only to be served a few chicken nugget
s."
in support of neo-fascism
because of the association of "black shirt" with the Fascist
Blackshirts
of Benito Mussolini
, and many nightclub
attendees from the far right
raised an arm in the fascist salute when the song was played. In response, left-wing media network Indymedia called for a boycott of the song. Juanes later stated that "'La Camisa Negra' has got nothing to do with fascism or Mussolini...People can interpret music in all kinds of ways I guess." The song was also banned in the Dominican Republic
for its sexual undertones. It was also implicated in controversy at his August 2009 performance in Havana.
, the song did not perform well in mainstream music, only reaching number eighty-nine on the Billboard
Hot 100. It performed much better on the Latin charts, topping the Hot Latin Tracks for eight non-consecutive weeks, topping the Latin Pop Airplay, and reaching number two on the Latin Tropical Airplay. Billboard listed the song at number two on the 2005 year-end Hot Latin Songs chart, behind fellow Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira
's "La Tortura
". The song performed well in Europe
, topping the charts in Austria
, France
, Germany
, Italy, Spain
, and Switzerland
and reaching the top twenty in Belgium
, Finland
, Ireland
, the Netherlands
, and Norway
. The single was certified gold in Switzerland and it is one of the Top 10 singles in the country's history.
for the song was released in 2005. In the video, Juanes arrives in a town, accompanied by two women and an older man. The man and women exit the car, and the man begins playing a guitar while the two dance. Various people are shown in realist street scenes. A wave comes out of the guitar, and aside from Juanes, everyone through whom the wave passes is frozen in time, performing the same motion repeatedly in forward and reverse. During the last chorus, the wave reverses direction, and the people of the town disappear.
The song and video appear in the video game Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party 3
.
singer Lucero included a live version with mariachi
of this song on her album Lucero En Vivo Auditorio Nacional
.
Live cover version from Kylie Minogue
in Bogota 2008, KylieX2008.
In 2009, the University of Rochester Midnight Ramblers recorded a contemporary acappella
version of the song for their 8th studio album, "Ca C'est Bon".
Fox's 2009 TV Show Glee
in episode 3 "Acafellas," a cover version of this song was heard in background.
There is also an Iranian version of the song entitled "Beverley Hills" by group Barobax
Dutch band 3JS covered the song in 2011 as a b-side for their Toen Ik Jou Vergat single.
CD single #1
CD single #2
Maxi single (July 24, 2005)
Rock en Español
Rock en español is the Spanish-language rock music. While the term is used widely in English, it is used in Spanish mainly to distinguish such music from "Anglo rock." It is a style of rock music that developed in Latin American countries and Latino communities, along with other genres like...
song written by Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
n singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
Octavio Mesa and recorded by Juanes
Juanes
Juan Esteban Aristizábal Vásquez , better known as Juanes is a Colombian musician who was a member of heavy metal band Ekhymosis and is now a solo artist. In 2000, his solo debut album Fíjate Bien won three Latin Grammy Awards.Juanes has sold more than 13 million albums...
for his third studio album Mi Sangre
Mi Sangre
Mi Sangre is the third studio album by Colombian Latin singer-songwriter Juanes, released on September 28, 2004.- Re-releases :...
. In Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
, the track was released in 2005 as the third single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
from Mi Sangre, and in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, it was released in 2006 as the album's lead single
Lead single
A lead single is usually the first single released by a musician or a band before the release of its home album.During the era of the grammophone record, all music arrived in the marketplace as what is now termed a single, one potential hit song backed by an additional song of generally less...
.
The song received mixed reviews from critics and generated controversy when it was used to support neo-fascism
Neo-Fascism
Neo-fascism is a post–World War II ideology that includes significant elements of fascism. The term neo-fascist may apply to groups that express a specific admiration for Benito Mussolini and Italian Fascism or any other fascist leader/state...
in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. The single was very successful in Latin America, topping most record chart
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
s.
Music and structure
"La Camisa Negra" is written in common timeCommon Time
"Common Time" is a science fiction short story written by James Blish. It first appeared in the August 1953 issue of Science Fiction Quarterly and has been reprinted several times: in the 1959 short-story collection Galactic Cluster; in The Testament of Andros ; in The Penguin Science Fiction...
in the key of F#minor. The song is carried by an acoustic guitar
Acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
strum
Strum
In music, a strum or stroke is an action where a single surface touches several strings of a string instrument, such as a guitar, in order to set them all into motion and thereby play a chord...
at a moderate 100 beats per minute, with an accompanying melody
Melody
A melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...
on the electric guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
. The lyrics are organized in the common verse-chorus form
Verse-chorus form
Verse-chorus form is a musical form common in popular music and predominant in rock since the 1960s. In contrast to AABA form, which is focused on the verse , in verse-chorus form the chorus is highlighted...
, and Juanes' range spans around an octave
Octave
In music, an octave is the interval between one musical pitch and another with half or double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been referred to as the "basic miracle of music", the use of which is "common in most musical systems"...
and a half, from C#4 to F#5.
Despite what the liner notes say, the beat is actually at 97 bpm.
Critical reception
The song received mixed reviews from critics. Contactmusic.comContactmusic.com
Contactmusic.com is a Leeds UK based entertainment magazine/webzine. The site was launched in April 2000 by a small team and has now expanded to 12 fulltime staff and many freelance contributors from across the globe...
stated that the track "is a good intro into the world of Juanes as it fully exhibits his guitar style and absorbing voice." MyVillage gave the song two out of five stars, commenting that it "has a certain charm about it, but I certainly won't mind missing the boat on this occasion." IndieLondon called the song "a supremely slick acoustic
Acoustic music
Acoustic music comprises music that solely or primarily uses instruments which produce sound through entirely acoustic means, as opposed to electric or electronic means...
ballad
Ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...
", stating that "the rolling guitar licks…provide a wonderful accompaniment." OMH gave the song a mixed review, stating that "the powerful chorus
Refrain
A refrain is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse; the "chorus" of a song...
has a rather catchy vocal melody to it" but that "it's like being promised a culinary banquet
Banquet
A banquet is a large meal or feast, complete with main courses and desserts. It usually serves a purpose such as a charitable gathering, a ceremony, or a celebration, and is often preceded or followed by speeches in honour of someone....
only to be served a few chicken nugget
Chicken nugget
A chicken nugget is a molded piece of chicken product, breaded or battered, then fried or baked. Fast food restaurants typically deep fry their nuggets in vegetable oil, such as coconut oil....
s."
Controversy
The song was used in ItalyItaly
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
in support of neo-fascism
Neo-Fascism
Neo-fascism is a post–World War II ideology that includes significant elements of fascism. The term neo-fascist may apply to groups that express a specific admiration for Benito Mussolini and Italian Fascism or any other fascist leader/state...
because of the association of "black shirt" with the Fascist
Italian Fascism
Italian Fascism also known as Fascism with a capital "F" refers to the original fascist ideology in Italy. This ideology is associated with the National Fascist Party which under Benito Mussolini ruled the Kingdom of Italy from 1922 until 1943, the Republican Fascist Party which ruled the Italian...
Blackshirts
Blackshirts
The Blackshirts were Fascist paramilitary groups in Italy during the period immediately following World War I and until the end of World War II...
of Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
, and many nightclub
Nightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
attendees from the far right
Far right
Far-right, extreme right, hard right, radical right, and ultra-right are terms used to discuss the qualitative or quantitative position a group or person occupies within right-wing politics. Far-right politics may involve anti-immigration and anti-integration stances towards groups that are...
raised an arm in the fascist salute when the song was played. In response, left-wing media network Indymedia called for a boycott of the song. Juanes later stated that "'La Camisa Negra' has got nothing to do with fascism or Mussolini...People can interpret music in all kinds of ways I guess." The song was also banned in the Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
for its sexual undertones. It was also implicated in controversy at his August 2009 performance in Havana.
Chart performance
In the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, the song did not perform well in mainstream music, only reaching number eighty-nine on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Hot 100. It performed much better on the Latin charts, topping the Hot Latin Tracks for eight non-consecutive weeks, topping the Latin Pop Airplay, and reaching number two on the Latin Tropical Airplay. Billboard listed the song at number two on the 2005 year-end Hot Latin Songs chart, behind fellow Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira
Shakira
Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll , known professionally as Shakira , is a Colombian singer who emerged in the music scene of Colombia and Latin America in the early 1990s...
's "La Tortura
La Tortura
"" is a Latin pop-reggaeton song performed by singers Shakira and Alejandro Sanz. It was recorded for Shakira's sixth studio album , released on June 7, 2005...
". The song performed well in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, topping the charts in Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Italy, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, and Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
and reaching the top twenty in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, and Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. The single was certified gold in Switzerland and it is one of the Top 10 singles in the country's history.
Music video
A music videoMusic video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for the song was released in 2005. In the video, Juanes arrives in a town, accompanied by two women and an older man. The man and women exit the car, and the man begins playing a guitar while the two dance. Various people are shown in realist street scenes. A wave comes out of the guitar, and aside from Juanes, everyone through whom the wave passes is frozen in time, performing the same motion repeatedly in forward and reverse. During the last chorus, the wave reverses direction, and the people of the town disappear.
The song and video appear in the video game Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party 3
Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party 3
Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party 3 is a rhythm-based dancing game for the Nintendo Wii. It is a video game released by Konami in 2010. The game can be played using a dance pad, the classic controller, or the Wii Remote and Nunchuck combination...
.
Cover versions
In 2007, MexicanMexican people
Mexican people refers to all persons from Mexico, a multiethnic country in North America, and/or who identify with the Mexican cultural and/or national identity....
singer Lucero included a live version with mariachi
Mariachi
Mariachi is a genre of music that originated in the State of Jalisco, in Mexico. It is an integration of stringed instruments highly influenced by the cultural impacts of the historical development of Western Mexico. Throughout the history of mariachi, musicians have experimented with brass, wind,...
of this song on her album Lucero En Vivo Auditorio Nacional
Lucero En Vivo Auditorio Nacional
Lucero En Vivo Auditorio Nacional is the second live album by Mexican singer Lucero, released on 26 September 2007 by EMI. It was recorded in Mexico City in the Auditorio Nacional during the promotion of her album Quiéreme Tal Como Soy on March 25 of 2007. It was released in two different formats,...
.
Live cover version from Kylie Minogue
Kylie Minogue
Kylie Ann Minogue, OBE - often known simply as Kylie - is an Australian singer, recording artist, songwriter, and actress. After beginning her career as a child actress on Australian television, she achieved recognition through her role in the television soap opera Neighbours, before commencing...
in Bogota 2008, KylieX2008.
In 2009, the University of Rochester Midnight Ramblers recorded a contemporary acappella
Acappella
Acappella may refer to:* Acapella , by Johnny Maestro & The Brooklyn Bridge* Acappella...
version of the song for their 8th studio album, "Ca C'est Bon".
Fox's 2009 TV Show Glee
Glee (TV series)
Glee is an American musical comedy-drama television series that airs on Fox in the United States, and on GlobalTV in Canada. It focuses on the high school glee club New Directions competing on the show choir competition circuit, while its members deal with relationships, sexuality and social issues...
in episode 3 "Acafellas," a cover version of this song was heard in background.
There is also an Iranian version of the song entitled "Beverley Hills" by group Barobax
Dutch band 3JS covered the song in 2011 as a b-side for their Toen Ik Jou Vergat single.
Formats and track listings
12" maxi single (House Remixes)- "La Camisa Negra" [Main Mix]
- "La Camisa Negra" [Duro Mix]
- "La Camisa Negra" [T.U.&G! Remix]
CD single #1
- "La Camisa Negra" [Album Version] - 3:36
- "La Camisa Negra" [Remix por Toy Hernández] - 4:36
CD single #2
- "La Camisa Negra" [Album Version] - 3:36
- "La Camisa Negra" [Sonidero Nacional Remix] - 3:36
Maxi single (July 24, 2005)
- "La Camisa Negra" [Album Version] - 3:36
- "La Camisa Negra" [Sonidero Nacional Remix] - 3:36
- "FotografíaFotografía"Fotografía" is a song recorded by Juanes and Nelly Furtado for Juanes' second studio album, Un Día Normal .The duet, which was followed by another , was extremely commercially successful: it reached number one on the U.S...
" [feat. Nelly FurtadoNelly FurtadoNelly Kim Furtado is a Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. Furtado grew up in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.Furtado first gained fame with her debut album, Whoa, Nelly!, and its single "I'm Like a Bird", which won a 2001 Juno Award for Single of the Year and a 2002 Grammy...
] - 3:58 - "La Camisa Negra" [Video] [Bonus]
- An Introduction to Juanes [Bonus]
Charts
| Chart (2005–06) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Czech Republic (Rádio Top 100 Oficiální Rádio Top 100 Oficiální Rádio Top 100 Oficiální is the name of the Czech national airplay chart published by the IFPI Czech Republic on a weekly basis.Besides the main Top 100 record chart, also two component charts are effective. While the Rádio CZ 50 Oficiální features songs released exclusively by Czech and/or Slovak... ) |
2 |
| Slovakia (Rádio Top 100 Oficiálna Rádio Top 100 Oficiálna Rádio Top 100 Oficiálna is the name of the Slovakian national airplay chart published by the IFPI Czech Republic on a weekly basis since the cancellation of the Slovakian national section on December 31, 2009.... ) |
79 |
| Spain (PROMUSICAE) | 1 |
| US Tropical Songs Latin Tropical Airplay The Tropical Songs is a record chart published on Billboard magazine established in 1994 with the first number-one song to be published was "En Las Nubes" by Edgar Joel. It features Latin music information from tropical music such as salsa, merengue, bachata, cumbia, and vallenato... (Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... ) |
1 |
| US Regional Mexican Songs Latin Regional Mexican Airplay Regional Mexican Songs is a record chart published on Billboard magazine. It was established by the magazine on October 8, 1994 with La Niña Fresa by Banda Z being the first song to reach number-one. It features Latin music information from different genres like Mariachi, Norteño, Banda and... (Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... ) |
1 |
Certifications
| Country | Certifications (sales thresholds) |
|---|---|
| Belgium Ultratop Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium, and it is also the name of most of those charts... |
Gold |
| Germany | Gold |
| Switzerland Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
Gold |
Year-end
| End of year chart (2005) | Position |
|---|---|
| German Singles Chart | 6 |