Everything Shakira Says About Ex Gerard Piqué on Her New Album
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It’s been nearly a decade since we last were graced with an album from Shakira, but on Friday, with the debut of her 12th studio album, Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran, we finally got her back.
The 16-track album is a return to the Colombian singer’s roots—the lyrics are all in Spanish, and she has brought back the iconic guttural voice predominant in her early work. Most notably, Las Mujeres—whose title translates in English to Women No Longer Cry—details Shakira’s entire journey through grief after losing the man she thought was the love of her life, father of her children Gerard Piqué.
Eight of its songs were already out when the album dropped, but the other half are brand new and show different sides of Shakira’s experience leading up to where she is today: a world-famous artist still releasing hits 30 years into a phenomenal career, juggling her new life as a single mother.
Ahead, we break down everything Shakira says about her ex on her new album.
“La Fuerte” (“The Strong One”)
On the second track of the new album, Shakira admits to missing the person who broke her heart, saying that although she doesn’t reach out to him because of her pride, she still thinks of him, and his absence still hurts. Translated from Spanish, the first verse goes:
If I had known it would be the last time
I would have enjoyed you more
But I didn’t take advantage of you
And for believing that you had no expiration date
I saved kisses for later, I was left with the desire
I would be lying to you if I said that seeing my photos with you doesn't hurt me
Because they hurt
If I don't look for you it’s because I also have my pride
Don’t think that I don’t miss you
Then, the chorus: “Another night I spend without seeing you / Another night that I act strong / I deleted your number, and for what? Yes, I already know / I don’t forget you no matter how much I pretend.”
“Tiempo Sin Verte” (“Time Without Seeing You” or “Time Since I Last Saw You”)
On the next track, Shakira also sings about deeply missing someone who is no longer in her life. She sings in Spanish: “I haven’t seen you in a while and I’m still here / And not a day goes by that I don’t think of you / I haven’t seen you in a while and tell me yes / You still love me and remember me.”
She asks if this person recalls their times together, and admits: “I have always believed you my friend / Now I don’t know, I feel like you never werе / With your absence you have lеft a void in me.”
“(Entre Parentésis)” (“Inside Parentheses”)
This heart-wrenching song is about how it feels to your partner in a relationship fall out of love over time. Shakira sings:
Tell me what happened to you, why do I feel you cold?
Your kisses no longer taste like they used to
You still sleep in my bed, but it feels empty
Tell me what happened, you’re not the same as before
It seems this isn’t important to you anymore
There are things in life so obvious there’s no need to say them
“Última” (“Last One”)
In the heartbreaking final song of the first half of the album, Shakira sings about coming to terms with the end of a relationship that was meant to last. “I lost my love halfway / How come you got tired of something so genuine? / Don’t try to convince me, I ask you / It’s already decided, we have what we learned,” the lyrics read in Spanish.
She recalls the moments, toward the end of the relationship, when they no longer had anything in common: “You wanted to go out and I wanted to stay with you at home / You take on the world and I just wanted to have you / Not even your friends matched mine anymore / It was easier to mix the water and oil.”
In the chorus, Shakira sings that maybe one day both of them will come to regret not fighting for one another, but for now, she “must learn to be alone.”
“Te Felicito” (“I Congratulate You”)
In this angry (but very dancy) track from her early days of singlehood, following her very public breakup from Gerard, Shakira sings about all the sacrifices she made for the person who left her, and accuses him of being dishonest about his love for her.
“For completing you I broke myself into pieces / They warned me, but I didn’t pay attention / I realized that your love is false / It was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” she sings in Spanish.
While she doesn’t technically name any names in this song, Shakira has spoken openly about how she put her music career on hold for years to support Gerard in his soccer career. She has said she moved to Spain for him and dedicated herself to raising their two boys, despite knowing it would have been better for her to stay in the United States for her music. (She has since moved back to Miami with their sons, Milan, 11, and Sasha, 9.)
“Don't tell me you're sorry / Seems sincere, but I know you well and I know you lie,” she sings. “Congratulations, you act so well.”
The song is also Shakira’s first collaboration with the king of modern reggaeton, singer-songwriter Rauw Alejandro. The two later recorded “Cohéte” together as well.
“Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53”
In perhaps her most vicious track yet, Shakira sings about being betrayed by a partner, who left her for someone less intimidating.
“Sorry, baby, I should have thrown you out a while ago / A she-wolf like me is not for rookies / A she-wolf like me is not for guys like you / For guys like you / I’m too good for you and that’s why you're with someone just like you,” she sings in Spanish.
In the self-evidently autobiographical bop, Shakira sings about Gerard leaving her in a house next to her estranged in-laws and even addresses her tax evasion battle
with the Spanish government. She seems to suggest that the soccer star left her amid all these troubles, so now she’s making music about her heartbreak and getting her money’s worth:
I’m not getting back with you, don’t cry for me, nor beg me
I understood that it’s not my fault that they criticize you
I only make music, sorry that it bothers you
You left me the in-laws as my neighbors
Media outlets at my door and in debt with the government
You thought you hurt me, but you made me stronger
Women don’t cry anymore, they cash in
In the original Spanish, Shakira even subtly mentions her ex’s name: “Entendí que no es culpa mía que te critiquen / Yo solo hago música, perdón que te (sal)pique.” Then she not-so-subtly drops the name of his new girlfriend, Clara Chia Marti.
One verse in the original Spanish version goes: “Tiene nombre de persona buena / Claramente no es como suena / Tiene nombre de persona buena / Claramente es igualita que tú.” Claramente means clearly, but Clara is also the name of the soccer player’s new love.
“TGQ” (“It Was Big on You”)
The title of the track comes from the phrase Te quedó grande, or “It was big on you,” translated more accurately in this case: “I was out of your league.” Shakira—with Karol G—sings about a man who left her and immediately found a new girlfriend, only to come back looking for her soon after, while still with the other woman.
“Baby, what happened? / Thought you were very in love? / What are you doing looking for me, honey / If you know that I don’t repeat mistakes / Tell your new babe that I don’t compete for men,” she sings.
Shakira adds that now, she is the one that has moved on, as it’s clear he is with the person he deserves, and she was much too good for him.
The rest of the songs don’t seem to reference Gerard, but rather address other romantic and life experiences. In “Cohéte” (“Rocket”) and “Nassau,” Shakira sings about the thrill of a budding relationship; and in “Copa Vacía” (“Empty Glass”), she and Manuel Turizo sing about wanting someone who doesn’t always want them back. “Puntería” (“Aim”), featuring Cardi B, is about the fiery sexual tension in a relationship.
In “Cómo Dónde y Cúando” (“How Where and When”), Shakira sings about enjoying life with the people you love and seeing the light despite the bad. Similarly, “Acróstico” (“Acrostic”), which she sings with her two young sons, is about wanting to shield her boys from pain, finding joy in their smiles, and learning from them that true, unconditional love does exist.
In the kind of welcome change of genre that Shakira has learned to perfect, her ranchera track “El Jefe” (“The Boss”) with Mexican-American band Fuerza Regida talks about living a working-class life and wanting to be rich and free, only to be held down by a boss who doesn’t appreciate then.
See the full Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran track list below:
“Puntería”
“La Fuerte”
“Tiempo Sin Verte”
“Cohéte”
“(Entre Parentésis)”
“Cómo Dónde y Cúando”
“Nassau”
“Última”
“Te Felicito”
“Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53”
“TGQ”
“Acróstico”
“Copa Vacía”
“El Jefe”
“Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53 (Tiësto Remix)”
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