Smooth (song)

"Smooth"
Single by Santana featuring Rob Thomas
from the album Supernatural
Released	June 29, 1999 (1999-06-29)
Format	CD single
Recorded	1999
Genre	Latin rock pop rock
Length	4:56 (album version) 4:00 (radio edit)
Songwriter(s)	Itaal Shur Rob Thomas
Producer(s)	Matt Serletic
Santana singles chronology
"Say It Again" (1985) "Smooth" (1999) "Maria Maria" (1999)
"Say It Again" (1985) "Smooth" (1999) "Maria Maria" (1999)
Rob Thomas singles chronology
"Smooth" (1999) Smooth1999 "A New York Christmas" (2003) A New York Christmas2003

	"Smooth" Sample from "Smooth" by Santana featuring Rob Thomas
Problems playing this file? See media help.

"Smooth" is a collaboration between Latin rock band Santana and Matchbox Twenty vocalist Rob Thomas. The song was written by Thomas, DeGaetano, and Itaal Shur, produced by Matt Serletic and sung by Thomas. It won three Grammy Awards: Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals. Not only was it the final number-one Hot 100 hit of the 1990s, it was also the number-two Hot 100 hit of the 20th century. "Smooth" is the only song to appear on two decade-end Billboard charts. As of 2013, "Smooth" is ranked the second most successful song of all time by Billboard.

Concept and background

"Smooth" was originally conceived by Shur as a song called "Room 17". The lyrics were stripped off and the track was given to Thomas, who re-wrote the lyrics and melody and re-titled it "Smooth", then recorded the song as a demo to play for Santana. After hearing the song, Santana decided to have Thomas record the final version.^[1] Matt Serletic (who produced Matchbox Twenty's debut album Yourself or Someone Like You) produced the song and it was released from Santana's album Supernatural.

Thomas wrote "Smooth" for his wife, Marisol Maldonado. He stated in interviews that the lyric "My Spanish Harlem Mona Lisa" was inspired by the 1972 Elton John song "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters", which includes references to the 1961 Ben E. King song "Spanish Harlem".

Chart performance

"Smooth" became a massive hit in 1999, spending 12 consecutive weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 beginning with the October 23, 1999 issue. It was the first chart-topping song in Carlos Santana's long-running career (his previous biggest hit being "Black Magic Woman", which peaked at number four in 1971). The song stayed in the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 for 30 weeks, a record only bested by "How Do I Live" by LeAnn Rimes. The 2010-2019 decade has seen two more songs spend a longer time in the top ten than "Smooth" has: Mark Ronson's "Uptown Funk" also surpassed "Smooth" by spending 31 weeks in the top ten, as well as "Closer" by The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey which spent 32 weeks in the top ten in 2016-2017.

In the United Kingdom, "Smooth" first charted at number 75 in the UK Singles Chart in October 1999. On a full release in March 2000 it peaked at number 3, spending eight weeks in the top 40. The song also peaked at number 3 in Ireland in March 2000, spending ten weeks in the Irish Charts. It remains Santana's highest charting single in either Britain or Ireland.

"Smooth" also spent a record-breaking ten consecutive weeks at the top of the VSpot Top 20 Countdown, a record that held up until the Dixie Chicks broke it in 2006.

In popular culture

• The song is featured in a scene in the 2000 film Keeping the Faith.
• The song is featured in a scene in the 2003 film Love Actually.
• It is also featured in Episode 7 of the 2013 HBO series Hello Ladies.
• In January 2014, The Onion published a satirical article joking that "Smooth" had swept the Grammy Awards for 13 years in a row.^[2]
• Chris Richardson from American Idol Season 6 sang this song on "Latin" night.
• The song is also briefly featured in the 2015 animated film, Alpha and Omega: Family Vacation.
• Professional wrestler Eddie Guerrero used the song as his entrance music during his tenure in Ring of Honor.

Legacy

On Billboard magazine's rankings of the top songs of the first 50 years of the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, "Smooth" was ranked as the number-two song overall (behind only "The Twist" by Chubby Checker)^[3] and the number-one rock song in the history of the chart.^[4]

In the 21st century, particularly during the summer of 2016 the song became popular as an internet meme^[5] Writing for MTV.com, Sasha Geffen compared the situation to similar resurgences of All Star by Smash Mouth as well as One Week by the Bare Naked Ladies, going on to attribute the song's popularity to "the merits of its vocal absurdity" writing "There's something ridiculous about how eagerly Rob Thomas lays his earnest alt-rock croon over Santana's guitar, sweating out lines about how his 'Spanish Harlem Mona Lisa' is 'just like the ocean under the moon' without a hint of self-consciousness or irony'. The Washington Post has similarly opined that "The opening lyric 'Man, it's a hot one,'... is a punch line that requires no set-up. ^[6]

Cover versions

A cover version of the song is included in the Nintendo Wii version of Samba de Amigo. Post-hardcore group Escape the Fate also recorded a cover version of the song for the compilation album Punk Goes Pop 2, released on March 10, 2009. Neil Cicierega remixed "Smooth" for the tracks "Melt Everyone" and "Smooth Flow" on his album Mouth Sounds , as well as being remixed on the song "Smooth" on his album Mouth Moods. Junior Lima from Brazilian pop duo Sandy e Junior sung a cover version of the song for the duo's live album/DVD As Quatro Estações - O Show, released in 2000.

Track listing

1. "Smooth" (Edit) – 3:55
2. "El Farol" – 4:59

Remixes

1. Chris Staropoli Remix – 3:53
2. Club Mix – 7:29
3. Club Mix [instrumental] – 7:29

Credits and personnel

• Producer – Matt Serletic
• Engineer – Andy Grassi, Michael McCoy
• Recorded and mixed by – David Thoener
• Vocals and lyrics – Rob Thomas
• Music by – Itaal Shur, Rob Thomas
• Video director – Marcus Raboy
• Video editing – Bruce Ashley

Charts

Certifications

See also

• List of Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles of 1999
• List of RPM number-one singles of 1999
• List of RPM Rock/Alternative number-one singles (Canada)

References