Shakira: Washington Post Interview

Shakira: Washington Post Interview

What were the difficulties making this album?

Shakira: When my record company asked, "Do you want to make an album in English?"; I said yeah, right then. But then I realized I was in trouble.

What trouble?

Shakira: I am a songwriter, exactly. To write my own songs for an English album, I had to learn English. I accepted the challenge, but I didn't know if I would be able to reach that goal.

Spanish is a romance language; it expresses love beautifully. What can you say about English?

Shakira: In Spanish you can go around the bushes, but English is a much more direct language. That's why it is the language of business. In English, with three words you can send a very powerful message; in Spanish, you need to use more words. But really, you can be romantic in both languages.

So English is for lovers?

Shakira: To me, writing, expressing my emotions in English was an adventure. I can think in English, true, but I feel in Spanish.

What do you mean?

Shakira: I can talk to my lawyer or my manager in English, but when I get mad, I get mad in Spanish, I cry in Spanish. That was the challenge, to translate my emotions into English.

You are one of the most famous singers in the world, but you are not very well-known in the United States. Do you feel you've already paid your dues?

Shakira: I have been singing since I was a child, but when I walked into Sony with this record, it was like I was 13 years old again. I had that feeling in my stomach.

Butterflies?

Shakira: Yes, butterflies.

You are just out of the studio and will start a world tour. Which do you prefer?

Shakira: It depends. At first I like what I'm starting, but after a while I want to do something else. After a few months in the studio, I want to go back to the stage where it's magical. After six months on the road, you are so tired you want to do anything else - you need a break.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez has written some very nice things about you. I know he's a an old man, but he sounds as if he's a little in love with you.

Shakira: Oh, don't say that.

Could you imagine yourself in one of his books?

Shakira: [Marquez] has the power to make the really simple things in life so special that they are magical, so, yes, I could be one of his characters - so could you or anyone. I really admire him.

Has his writing influenced you?

Shakira: Not in what I write about, but how he has had his writing translated into so many languages. Do you remember when President Clinton said Gabriel Garcia Marquez's "One Hundred Years of Solitude"; was his favorite novel? I thought if he didn't get his writing translated, Clinton would never had read that book. I said to myself, "Shakira, you've been making music for 14 years; it's time to share this with people who don't speak your language."

Was learning to speak English the hardest challenge you ever taken on?

Shakira: Yeah, for sure. But learning a new language enlarged my world. It made my field of action wider, and the process is still growing for me. There was some suffering but many rewards.