For now, Juanes recording just one original English song
Colombian rock star realizes his goal with upcoming release of visual album
NEW YORK With the help of PooBear, Colombian rock star Juanes wrote Goodbye For Now, his first song in English.
The song is part of his anticipated visual album, Mis planes son amarte, to be released in the next few months.
“Four or five years ago I started recording in English, but honestly I find it very difficult,” Juanes said in a recent presentation of his new production in New York. “I did a few experiments and they didn’t come out very well, until finally this time, after several years living here in this country and knowing the language better, I felt more comfortable doing it,” he said.
Last May, Juanes posted on Instagram a black-and-white photo of him with PooBear seemingly working in Los Angeles. “Making magic,” he wrote.
PooBear, the writer behind R&B hits like Usher’s Caught Up and Chris Brown’s She Ain’t You, “is an incredible songwriter,” Juanes said. “We sat there and talked about feelings and things and he would choose the right words.
“To me this is something very hard to do in English,” he said, “but I really had the desire to try.”
The result is Goodbye For Now, a piece that fits in the album’s storyline about a time-traveller astronaut who lands in present time in search of an indigenous goddess who is the love of his life.
“Let’s say goodbye for now/And go our separate ways/It hurts down to my soul watching us go/ It will hurt more if we stay,” Juanes sings in his distinctive mix of Colombian rhythms. “Doesn’t mean I don’t love you/Doesn’t mean you lose my security/Doesn’t mean you can’t love me/Doesn’t mean we will never speak.”
Juanes has sung in English in concert — often something by Bob Marley — and at special events like the Eagles tribute (Hotel California) and John Lennon’s 75th Birthday Concert (Woman). He also sang in English with Tony Bennett in a duet of The Shadow Of Your Smile and included the words It’s Time to Change in his hit’s Odio por amor title and refrain.
But Goodbye For Now is his first original song recorded entirely in English.
It’s the only English song in Mis planes son amarte, which also features his singles Fuego and Hermosa ingrata.
Four or five years ago I started recording in English, but honestly I find it very difficult.