Underneath Your Clothes

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“Underneath Your Clothes”
“Underneath Your Clothes” cover
Single by Shakira
from the album Laundry Service
Released June 18, 2002
Format CD maxi single
12" single
Recorded 2001
Genre Pop
Length 3:44
Label Sony International
Writer(s) Shakira, Lester Mendez
Producer Shakira, Lester Mendez
Shakira singles chronology
"Te Dejo Madrid"
(2002)
"Underneath Your Clothes"
(2002)
"Objection (Tango)" / "Te Aviso, Te Anuncio (Tango)"
(2002)
Audio sample
Info (help·info)

"Underneath Your Clothes" was the second English language single released from Laundry Service (2001), the first English album by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira. To date, "Underneath Your Clothes" is Shakira's 3rd most famous solo single worldwide, behind only "Whenever, Wherever" (2001) and "Hips Don't Lie" (2006).

Contents

[edit] Song information

"Underneath Your Clothes" is a love song with lyrics by Shakira and music by her and Lester Mendez. It tells the story of an unconditional love that a woman has over her boyfriend, which is referenced in the lyrics.

"Underneath Your Clothes" is listed on #391 on Blender's "The 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born" list.[1]

Some portions of the melody of this song has an uncanny similarity to the song Eternal Flame by The Bangles, which was released in the 1980s.

[edit] Music video

Shakira in the music video.
Shakira in the music video.

The music video for "Underneath Your Clothes" was directed by American photographer Herb Ritts and it was the second to last he directed before his death. It starts with a black-and-white scene of a reporter asking Shakira how she feels about crossing over into the English-speaking music market, and the singer, ironically, answers him in Spanish. Shakira claimed in her "MTV Making the Video" of the song that the "Crossover" claims had been her daily bread, and that she heavily wished for this to be included into the video. The video illustrates her loneliness as a music artist when she goes on tour. Then, scenes of the singer performing the song live with her band and passionately hugging her boyfriend (played by her real-life fiancé Antonio de la Rúa) are shown.

A similar music video by P!nk, "Nobody Knows" was made in 2006.

"Underneath Your Clothes" was the second video by Shakira to retire on MTV's TRL on May 14, 2002, when it was at #3 on the countdown.

[edit] Other versions and live performances

  • Shakira presented a piano mix of the song at the "Ein Fur Kinder" and "Clinton Global Initiative", with only vocals and piano, and excluded the complete second half to the song.

[edit] Official remixes

  1. Underneath Your Clothes (Acoustic Live Vox Version)
  2. Underneath Your Clothes (Bastone & Burnz Mix)
  3. Underneath Your Clothes (Fairlite Remix)
  4. Underneath Your Clothes (Lester Mendez Club Mix)
  5. Underneath Your Clothes (Lester Mendez Club Mix Radio Edit)
  6. Underneath Your Clothes (Lester Mendez Dub Mix)
  7. Underneath Your Clothes (The Xquizit Dj X D&D Dub Mix)
  8. Underneath Your Clothes (The Xquizit Dj X D&D Vocal Remixes)
  9. Underneath Your Clothes (Thunderpuss Club Mix)
  10. Underneath Your Clothes (Thunderpuss Club Radio Edit)
  11. Underneath Your Clothes (Thunderpuss Club Video Edit Mix)
  12. Underneath Your Clothes (Thunderpuss Radio Edit)
  13. Underneath Your Clothes (Thunderpuss Thunder Dub)
  14. Underneath Your Clothes (Thunderpuss Tribe-A-Pella)
  15. Underneath Your Clothes (Video Edit Version)

[edit] Chart success

At the time of its release, "Underneath Your Clothes" became an instant hit for Shakira, reaching the Top 10 in the majority of charts that it entered, and continued her success on the International scale, after "Whenever, Wherever". In the U.S., "Underneath your clothes" reached #9 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Shakira's second Top Ten single. In addition to this, a remix of the song reached #5 on the Hot Dance Club Play chart.

"Underneath Your Clothes" continued Shakira's success in the UK where it peaked at #3 on the Singles Chart, becoming her second consecutive Top 3 hit and spent three weeks in the Top Ten and 15 weeks within the Top 75.

In Australia, "Underneath Your Clothes" debuted at #1, becoming Shakira's second consecutive #1 debut (her next #1 single "Hips Don't Lie" will be a #1 debut too) but was less successful than "Whenever, Wherever" which kept the top position for 6 consecutive weeks.

The song peaked at #1 in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Ireland, Latvia, Mexico, Netherlands, Peru, Portugal and Slovenia, it peaked at #2 Worldwide as well as in Argentina, France, Germany, New Zealand, Norway and Switzerland. "Underneath Your Clothes" reached the Top Ten in some countries like Italy, Sweden, Denmark, Brazil, Greece, UK and U.S..

[edit] Chart performance

Chart (2002)[2] Peak
position
Argentina Top 40 1
Australia ARIA Singles Chart 1
Austrian Singles Chart 1
Belgian Flemish Ultratop 50 Singles Chart 1
Belgian Wallon Ultratop 40 Singles Chart 7
Canadian Singles Chart 2
Canada BDS Airplay Chart 8
Danish Singles Chart 4
Dutch Top 40 1
Finnish Singles Chart 8
France Singles Chart 2
German Singles Chart 2
Greece IFPI Singles Chart 6
Hong Kong Foreign Singles Chart 2
Irish Singles Chart 1
Mexican Top 100 1
MuchMusic Canada 1
Chart (2002) Peak
position
New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart 2
Norwegian Singles Chart 2
Peru Airplay Chart 1
Portugal Airplay Chart 1
Swedish Singles Chart 3
Swiss Singles Chart 2
UK Singles Chart 3
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 9
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Airplay 3
U.S. Billboard Adult Top 40 15
U.S. Billboard Rhythmic Top 40 29
U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream 4
U.S. Billboard Top 40 Tracks 7
U.S. Billboard Latin Pop Airplay 20
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play 51
U.S. ARC Weekly Top 40 2
United World Chart 2
  • (1 Remixes)
Preceded by
"I'm Moving On" by Scott Cain
Australian ARIA Singles Chart number-one single
May 26, 2002
Succeeded by
"Without Me" by Eminem
Preceded by
"Love at First Sight" by Kylie Minogue
Latvian Top Airplay number-one single
June 24, 2002 - July 7, 2002
Succeeded by
"A Little Less Conversation" by Elvis Presley vs. JXL
Preceded by
"Without Me" by Eminem
Dutch Top 40 number-one single
June 29, 2002 - July 20, 2002
Succeeded by
"Perdono" by Tiziano Ferro
Preceded by
"Dance With Me" by 112
Belgian Singles Chart number-one single
June 29, 2002 - August 3, 2002
Succeeded by
"De Pizza Dans" by Dynamite and Robsnob
Preceded by
"Without Me" by Eminem
Austrian Singles Chart number-one single
July 13, 2002
Succeeded by
Was Is' Mit Du? by Professor Kaiser
Preceded by
"The Logical Song" by Scooter
Irish Singles Chart number-one single
July 27, 2002 - August 17, 2002
Succeeded by
"Like a Prayer" by Mad'house

[edit] Personnel

  • Producer by Shakira
  • Co-produced by Lester Mendez for Living Stereo
  • Arranged by Shakira and Lester Mendez
  • Keyboards: Lester Mendez
  • Guitars: Tim Pierce and Brian Ray
  • Bass: Paul Bushnell
  • Percussion: Richard Bravo
  • Drums: Abraham Laboriel, Jr.
  • Horn arrangements: Lester Mendez
  • Horn charts and direction: Camilo Valencia
  • Trumpet: Tony Concepción
  • Trumpet and piccolo trumpet: Jim Hacker
  • Baritone and tenor sax: Ed Calle
  • Bass trombone and tuba: Joe Barati
  • Trombone and bass trombone: Dane Teboe
  • Background vocals: Shakira and Rita Quintero
  • Recording engineers: Terry Manning, Javier Garza and Gustavo Celis
  • Mixing engineer: Eric Schilling
  • Additional engineers: Carlos Paucar, Mike Couzzi, Jorge González and Alfred Figueroa
  • Assistant engineers: Jorge González, Tony Mardini, Ken Theis, Ed Williams, Chris Carroll, Christine Tramontano, Nicholas Marshall, Oswald Bowe and Alex Dixon

[edit] Cover versions

[edit] References