I have three impressions of singer that I do. One is Barry Gibb the lead singer of the Bee Gees, one is of Kermit the Frog and my favorite one is of Shakira. My wife is convinced that all three of these impressions sounds exactly the same. I disagree. The Barry Gibb one is slightly more nasal, while my Shakira one is a little bit more swallowed.
I love Shakira. Was her dancing the only reason I initially paid attention to her? Yes. Did I watch her music videos regardless of whether or not I like the song that I was hearing? Yeah. Did I buy that first American album, Laundry Service because of the great reviews? Not really, but did I eventually grow to respect her as an artist and have a legitimate interest in her as a musician? Yes.
Shakira’s voice is all of the map. She goes from doing the nasal pop singer thing, to singing from the back of the her throat (which sounds like someone singing when they are yawning) and throws in some adolescent girly tone. Similar to Michael Jackson, Shakira is able to do things with her voice that nobody else is able to get away with and makes it work. Also, similar to Michael, sometimes her lyrics are incomprehensible.
One of my favorite Shakira songs is “Your Embrace.” Listen through the chorus and you’ll clearly hear “Hope it isn’t too late to say, ‘I love you.’” It's a really cute line, and she repeats “hope it isn’t too late to say” setting you us up for a deeper description of her love however what comes next is indecipherable. Try to figured it out, my best guess for a while was “That without you this place looks clouds, and it rains every day.” This was what my wife and I figured out after listening to this line repeatedly for about 20 minutes one time in the car.
Now usually when I don’t understand the lyrics to a song, and I look them up, the phrase makes more sense, but that wasn't the case with Shakira. The line is: “That without you this place looks like London, it rains every day.” First off, I know that Shakira has a heavy accent but how did she manage a “c” sound in front of the word “London” and seriously, could you come up with a more awkward way to describe love?
As much fun as it is to make fun of Shakira and do my impression, my wife pointed what really works with Shakira, her voice matches her songs perfectly. In “Underneath Your Clothes” the melodies give her time to sail through the different colors in her voice. The nasal sounds come across as strength, her swallowed sounds are joyous, and her girlish voice, sounds intimate and personal.
When someone expresses emotion with their voice in a deep and personal way, people don’t really care about the technique of the singer or the quality of their voice. While singing technique helps singers breaking down the barriers between the heart and the voice, some singers like Janis Joplin and Shakira manage to do this in a pure and unconventional way.
I love Shakira. Was her dancing the only reason I initially paid attention to her? Yes. Did I watch her music videos regardless of whether or not I like the song that I was hearing? Yeah. Did I buy that first American album, Laundry Service because of the great reviews? Not really, but did I eventually grow to respect her as an artist and have a legitimate interest in her as a musician? Yes.
Shakira’s voice is all of the map. She goes from doing the nasal pop singer thing, to singing from the back of the her throat (which sounds like someone singing when they are yawning) and throws in some adolescent girly tone. Similar to Michael Jackson, Shakira is able to do things with her voice that nobody else is able to get away with and makes it work. Also, similar to Michael, sometimes her lyrics are incomprehensible.
One of my favorite Shakira songs is “Your Embrace.” Listen through the chorus and you’ll clearly hear “Hope it isn’t too late to say, ‘I love you.’” It's a really cute line, and she repeats “hope it isn’t too late to say” setting you us up for a deeper description of her love however what comes next is indecipherable. Try to figured it out, my best guess for a while was “That without you this place looks clouds, and it rains every day.” This was what my wife and I figured out after listening to this line repeatedly for about 20 minutes one time in the car.
Now usually when I don’t understand the lyrics to a song, and I look them up, the phrase makes more sense, but that wasn't the case with Shakira. The line is: “That without you this place looks like London, it rains every day.” First off, I know that Shakira has a heavy accent but how did she manage a “c” sound in front of the word “London” and seriously, could you come up with a more awkward way to describe love?
As much fun as it is to make fun of Shakira and do my impression, my wife pointed what really works with Shakira, her voice matches her songs perfectly. In “Underneath Your Clothes” the melodies give her time to sail through the different colors in her voice. The nasal sounds come across as strength, her swallowed sounds are joyous, and her girlish voice, sounds intimate and personal.
When someone expresses emotion with their voice in a deep and personal way, people don’t really care about the technique of the singer or the quality of their voice. While singing technique helps singers breaking down the barriers between the heart and the voice, some singers like Janis Joplin and Shakira manage to do this in a pure and unconventional way.
Listen to her sing "Underneath Your Clothes" in this live performance and you'll know what I mean.
Even if I sometimes have no idea what she’s saying or can't make sense of the way she sings, there is something undeniably powerful, personal and beautiful in her voice.
Even if I sometimes have no idea what she’s saying or can't make sense of the way she sings, there is something undeniably powerful, personal and beautiful in her voice.
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