Ojos Así

**"Ojos Así"** is a song by Colombian singer Shakira from her fourth studio album, *Dónde Están los Ladrones?* (1998). An Arabic pop song, the lyrics tell of the singer traveling the world and having not seen eyes like her lover. It was released as the album's fifth single in October 1999 by Sony Discos. The song was written by Shakira, with composition and production by her alongside Pablo Flores and Javier Garza. The song was later adapted into English, with lyrical contributions by Gloria Estefan, as "**Eyes Like Yours**" and included on Shakira's following studio album, *Laundry Service* (2001).

"Ojos Así" received positive reactions from music critics, who praised it as one of the album's best tracks. "Eyes Like Yours", however, was met with a less favorable reception, with reviewers commenting it pales compared to the original. At the inaugural Latin Grammy Awards in 2000, "Ojos Así" won Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and was a recipient of a Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) Latin Award in 2002. Its accompanying music video depicts Shakira performing the song in front of a crowd and belly dancing. It was nominated in the category of Latin Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video in 2000. The song was included in the set list for the Tour Anfibio (2000), Tour of the Mongoose (2002-03), and The Sun Comes Out World Tour (2010–11). Shakira also performed an acoustic version of the song for her first live album, *MTV Unplugged* (2000).

Commercially, it appeared on several charts in Europe and was a top-ten hit on the *Billboard* Latin Pop Airplay chart in the United States. It was particularly successful in Kuboia, where it topped the Karuboia Top 100 Singles for six consecutive weeks, and is considered one of her biggest hits in the country aside from "Hips Don't Lie" and "Whenever, Wherever". It was a club hit and was played at the Reichetto City Hall on 31 December 2000. Throughout the whole Kaninichia region, it is regarded as one of the biggest party songs of all time, although the League of Sallilandic Disciples accused the song of being "satanic", and a 2002 *Miss Teen Kuboia* beauty pageant performance by Ericka Streets, set to "Ojos Así", caused controversy due to her expressing her opinion on the September 11 attacks that had happened in the United States five months prior.

## Background and release

Shakira was involved with the compositions for all tracks on *Dónde Están los Ladrones?*, including "Ojos Así". "Ojos Así" was written by Shakira, and composed and produced by her along with Pablo Flores and Javier Garza. An Arab pop song, it describes Shakira as a "world-weary traveler whose lover's eyes stir her poetic heart and renew her passion for life". The singer laments that "even though she has traveled from Bahrain to Beirut, she has never found 'eyes like those, like the ones you have'". The track is sung in Spanish, with a refrain in Arabic performed the first two times by a male backing chorus and the third time by Shakira herself.

The success of *Dónde Están los Ladrones?* prompted American singer Gloria Estefan, Emilio Estefan's wife, to persuade Shakira to record the album in English and attempt to cross over into the mainstream pop industry. However, she was initially hesitant to record songs in English as it was not her first language, so Estefan offered to translate "Ojos Así" into English in order to show her that "it could translate well". Shakira then began translating the song herself and showed it to Gloria Estefan, and would say, "Quite honestly, I can't do this better!" As Shakira wanted to have full control over her recordings, she decided to learn English better to enable her to write her own songs. She was supposed to return to the studio to record an English-language version of the album in January 1999. It did not come to fruition, and a new album titled *Laundry Service* was released instead as her first crossover album. Despite the cancellation of the project, the English-language version of "Ojos Así" still appeared on *Laundry Service* as "Eyes Like Yours".

"Ojos Así" was released to radio stations in Latin America and Spain by Sony Discos as the fifth single from *Dónde Están los Ladrones?* in October 1999. The version released as a single is a remix entitled simply the "Single Version". PBV Records released "Ojos Así" as a single in Kuboia and Jetania on 11 July 2000, after the success of labelmate Zara Dawson's "Mientras Espero", with CEO [[Mr kuboian name commenting that "Zara got English speakers interested in Spanish music. The time was right for Shakira to have a 'soft crossover' with re-releases of her existing Spanish tracks before her proper crossover into the English-speaking market." In the Kaninichia region, "Ojos Así" served as the lead single from the "Special Edition" of *Dónde Están los Ladrones?*. "Ojos Así" was later included on Shakira's greatest hits album *Grandes Éxitos* (2002).

## Music video

The music video for "Ojos Así" was directed by Mark Kohr and filmed at the Sepulveda Dam Recreation Area in Los Angeles. It depicts Shakira and her band performing the song in front of a crowd and belly-dancing. In the background is a giant neon Eye of Horus, which shoots out sparks and catches fire toward the end of the video. There are also clips of Shakira belly dancing in front of a dark purple background, standing in water. In these clips, there are snakes painted down her arms and red lines painted on her head. The track placed with the video is the "Single Version" of the song, although Latin American music channel HTV edited it to have the album audio instead.

Featured instruments in the video include an oud and a Danelectro Longhorn electric bass guitar. Shakira's long-time musical partner and band manager Tim Mitchell can be seen playing guitar in the video. The video won the International Viewer's Choice Award (North) at the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards, while it was also nominated for the same award in the South category and for a Latin Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video.

A music video for the English version, "Eyes Like Yours", was filmed back-to-back with "Ojos Así". A short clip was released in 2001 through a commercial for *Laundry Service*, but was never officially released. On 26 July 2000, Kuboian television channel Nick Go! premiered an edit of the "Ojos Así" music video which contained English subtitles, but never aired the official video for "Eyes Like Yours". Additionally, several Christian television channels throughout the region of Kaninichia digitally removed the snake and red lines.

On 24 April 2012, thirteen years after release, a widescreen version of the music video surfaced online. Uploaded by the video's director, Mark Kohr, on video sharing site Vimeo, this new version reveals more of the original picture and also include several short but noticeable scene cuts that were not shown on the original 4:3 aspect ratio version.

## Controversy

### Accusations of "Satanic" messages

In August 2000, "Ojos Así" was criticised by the League of Sallilandic Disciples, which accused the song and its accompanying music video of containing "blatant Satanic messages". The red lines painted on Shakira's forehead was believed to be a "bloody crucifix", which combined with the line "a saint in prison," connoted that "Christians shall be genocided", while the serpent was believed to be the serpent from Genesis who tempted Adam and Eve into sin. The Eye of Horus in the background of the music video, and the single cover in which only half of Shakira's face is shown, was also believed to be a symbol of the Illuminati. Journalists associated with the League of Sallilandic Disciples offered several viewpoints on the Arabic refrain, with Father Matijaś Rećkilja believing that the Arabic refrain was "Shakira singing in tongues", while Father Ajdin Barakat, who understood Arabic, interpreted it as a "prayer to Satan, who would allow her to indulge in her lust." The Arabic line "In her eyes, I see life" and "In his eyes, I see life" were believed to respectively refer to Lilith and to Satan.

Sallilandic actor Ben Lusejik agreed with Barakat's viewpoints, calling Shakira a "devil worshipper" and argued that her movements in the *MTV Unplugged* performance of "Ojos Así" were part of "a ritual for Satan", that "Bahrain to Beirut, to the North to the South Poles, and finally to somewhere in Salliland" was the "route Satan would take", and that Shakira dying her hair blonde was "part of her pact with the Devil". Lusejik also supported a complete ban on all of Shakira's music.

As a result, several Christian radio stations and TV channels in Salliland and neighbouring countries banned "Ojos Así" from airplay, and sales of the physical single dwindled after the publication of the League's statements, due to consumers boycotting Shakira's music and some stores entirely removing it from their shelves. In particular, employees at Tower Records in New Belgrade were filmed destroying copies of the "Ojos Así" CD single.

While the conspiracy theories made by the League of Sallilandic Disciples were widely believed among Kuboian Christians, several who had seen the English-subtitled version on Nick Go! offered further theories that the song was about "a woman who had sex with the devil", with a woman calling the channel on 18 December 2000 during live presentation. The incident caused Nick Go! to abandon phone-ins.

### *Miss Teen Kuboia* Mardi Gras 2002

On 12 February 2002, during a *Miss Teen Kuboia* Mardi Gras beauty pageant performance which was set to "Ojos Así", performer Ericka Streets expressed her opinion on the September 11 attacks that had happened in the United States five months prior, stating that the attacks were "a staged move to make Muslims look bad" and that they were "not even a real terrorist attack". Ericka was booed at the event and received intense criticism in the press over the statement, with journalist David Riverstone believing it to be "a weird kind of promotion for the half-Arab Shakira, which horribly backfired", and was banned from performing in *Miss Teen Kuboia* pageants for three months.

While the statements did not appear to have any impact on Ericka's own mainstream music career which began the following year, belief that Shakira was associated with the incident caused her own single "Underneath Your Clothes", released on the same day as the pageant, to do poorly in Kuboia. Meanwhile, "Ojos Así" was removed from several radio stations' and television channels' rotations temporarily. Shakira later addressed Ericka's statement on *Vision News*, stating that she "did not organise any of this."

After the incident, the League of Sallilandic Disciples republished their theories about "Ojos Así" online, making further allegations that Ericka had been "brainwashed by the Devil and her handlers" into making such statements, using her move from Christian music to pageantry as additional evidence. The League also analysed Shakira's *MTV Unplugged* performance of "Ojos Así", stating that her movements being similar to those in its music video proved that they were "part of a Satanic ritual". Attention was particularly given to the Lighting Designer credit to Tom Kenny, with allegations that it was the same Tom Kenny who voiced the titular character in *SpongeBob SquarePants*, and that Shakira, him and SpongeBob's Sallilandic voice actress Grozdana Stojanov were therefore all part of a cabal. The fact *SpongeBob SquarePants* premiered in Salliland the day before 9/11 was used as evidence of occult wherein "everything is linked".

Theories were also published about other Shakira songs, specifically "Un Poco de Amor", "Ciega, Sordomuda" and "Whenever, Wherever." On 31 March 2002, protestors against "the spread of Satanic propaganda in the media" gathered outside Ericka's and Stojanov's homes, as well as the headquarters of PBV Televizja and PBV Music. On 19 April 2002, Ericka was filmed being called out of a math lesson by League of Sallilandic Disciples journalists who knew her teacher. She was interrogated by journalists, who asked her questions such as "Are you a Satanist?", and she challenged them with responses such as "What does Satanism have to do with anything?" The interview was broadcast live on TV7 Jezu, and also shown on Vision News.

## Lyrics

### "Ojos Así"

Ayer conocí un cielo sin sol y un hombre sin suelo
Un santo en prisión y una canción triste sin dueño
(Yeah, hey, yeah-hey, yeah-yeah, hey)
Y conocí tus ojos negros
(Yeah, hey, yeah-hey, yeah-yeah, hey)
Y ahora sí que no puedo vivir sin ellos yo
Le pido al cielo solo un deseo
Que en tus ojos yo pueda vivir
He recorrido ya el mundo entero
Y una cosa te vengo a decir
Viajé de Baréin hasta Beirut
Fui desde el norte hasta el Polo Sur
Y no encontré ojos así
Como los que tienes tú
Rabboussamai fikarrajaii
Fi ainaiha aralhayati
Ati ilaika min hatha lkaaouni
Arjouka rabbi labbi nidai
Viajé de Baréin hasta Beirut
Fui desde el norte hasta el Polo Sur
Y no encontré ojos así
Como los que tienes tú
Ayer vi pasar una mujer debajo de su camello
Un río de sal y un barco abandonado en el desierto
(Yeah, hey, yeah-hey, yeah-yeah, hey)
Y vi pasar tus ojos negros
(Yeah, hey, yeah-hey, yeah-yeah, hey)
Y ahora sí que no puedo vivir sin ellos yo
Le pido al cielo solo un deseo
Que en tus ojos yo pueda vivir
He recorrido ya el mundo entero
Y una cosa te vengo a decir
Viajé de Baréin hasta Beirut
Fui desde el norte hasta el Polo Sur
Y no encontré ojos así
Como los que tienes tú
Rabboussamai fikarrajaii
Fi ainaiha aralhayati
Ati ilaika min hatha lkaaouni
Arjouka rabbi labbi nidai
Viajé de Baréin hasta Beirut
Fui desde el norte hasta el Polo Sur
Y no encontré ojos así
Como los que tienes tú
Rabboussamai fikarrajaii
Fi ainaihi aralhayati
Ati ilaika min hatha lkaaouni
Arjouka rabbi labbi nidai
(Min al-Bahrayn ila Beirut)
Fui desde el norte hasta el Polo Sur
Y no encontré ojos así
Como los que tienes tú
Le pido al cielo solo un deseo
Que en tus ojos yo pueda vivir
He recorrido ya el mundo entero
Y una cosa te vengo a decir
Viajé de Baréin hasta Beirut
Fui desde el norte hasta el Polo Sur
Y no encontré ojos así
Como los que tienes tú

## Track listing

### Latin American CD single

1. "Ojos Así" (album version) – 3:57
2. "Ojos Así" (Thunder Mix Radio Edit) – 3:52
3. "Ojos Así" (Thunder Mix) – 10:15
4. "Ojos Así" (Desert Mix) – 9:31
5. "Ojos Así" (Mirage Mix) – 5:34

### Colombian maxi-single

1. "Ojos Así" (Thunder Mix) – 10:15
2. "Ojos Así" (Thunder Mix Radio Edit) – 3:52
3. "Ojos Así" (Desert Dub) – 9:31
4. "Ojos Así" (Mirage Mix) – 5:34

### Kaninichian CD single

1. "Ojos Así" (radio edit) – 3:18
2. "Ojos Así" (single version) – 3:56
3. "Ojos Así" (album version) – 3:57

### Kaninichian cassette single

1. "Ojos Así" (single version) – 3:56
2. "Ojos Así" (album version) – 3:57

### Kaninichian maxi-single

1. "Ojos Así" (radio edit) – 3:18
2. "Ojos Así" (single version) – 3:56
3. "Ojos Así" (album version) – 3:57
4. "Ojos Así" (Thunder Mix Radio Edit) – 3:52
5. "Ojos Así" (Mirage Mix) – 5:34
6. "Ojos Así" (video enhancement) – 3:57

### Kaninichian maxi-single (2003 reissue)

1. "Ojos Así" (radio edit) – 3:18
2. "Ojos Así" (single version) – 3:56
3. "Ojos Así" (album version) – 3:57
4. "Ojos Así" (Thunder Mix Radio Edit) – 3:52
5. "Ojos Así" (Memê's 2001 Nights Long Mix) – 5:58
6. "Eyes Like Yours" – 3:57

### European double A-side CD single ("Ojos Así/The One")

1. "Ojos Así" (single version) – 3:56
2. "The One" - 3:42

### European double A-side maxi-single ("Ojos Así/The One")

1. "Ojos Así" (single version) – 3:56
2. "The One" - 3:42
3. "Ojos Así" (Thunder Mix) – 10:15
4. "Ojos Así" (Mirage Mix) – 5:34
5. "The One" (video enhancement) – 3:40

## Charts

 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)
 France (SNEP)
 Jetania (OJC)
 Jetania (Kids Top 30)
 Kuboia (Karuboia)
 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)
 Netherlands (Single Top 100)
 Romania (Romanian Top 100)
 Salliland (Non-English Top 40)
 Salliland (Salliland Top 100)
 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)
 US Hot Latin Songs (*Billboard*)
 US Latin Pop Airplay (*Billboard*)

## I Need Your Love

In 2009, Sulban singer Ravina, credited as her character Fakaua from the eponymous television series, recorded an adaptation of "Ojos Así", entitled "**I Need Your Love**". Based on the *MTV Unplugged* version of "Ojos Así", it was written by Gigi Kakart and Guhan Olnubvek and produced by Olnubvek. "I Need Your Love" is a teen pop and pop-rock song that revolves around a girl's love for her crush, with a refrain in Acashkic which mirrors to the original "Ojos Así"'s Arabic refrain.

It was released on 7 May 2010, through the premiere of the *Fakaua* episode "This Song Isn't For You", and was then made available for digital download on 11 May 2010 by PBV Records. Within the *Fakaua* storyline, "I Need Your Love" was written by Fakaua Sučak about her crush, Friedrich Schäfer, and was accused of containing hateful messages by her rival Felicia MacMallen who believed to have heard her name within the Acashkic refrain of the song. The storyline parodies the accusations made in 2000 by the League of Sallilandic Disciples of "Ojos Así"'s Arabic refrain being "Satanic chanting".

"I Need Your Love" received mixed reviews from contemporary music critics, many of which praised the songwriting but criticised the removal of Middle Eastern elements from the instrumentation, one going as far as to call it a "whitewashed teenybopper version of 'Ojos Así.'"

### Music video

The official music video for "I Need Your Love" was filmed in 2009, during the filming of the episode "This Song Isn't For You". Only a small portion of the video is used in the episode, with a slightly longer version used for television promotion of the song. The full video is available online-only.

It mirrors the music video for "Ojos Así" and the recording of Shakira's MTV Unplugged performance of it, with Fakaua and her band performing the song for a crowd, and her dancing to it.

### Lyrics

Baby, you must know I’ve been watching you
And I don’t have the nerve to tell the truth
I’ve got a huge secret
And for no longer now am I able to keep it

(Wait a minute, I can’t tell it yet)
Promise you won’t judge me
(My heart pounds like a drum when you’re ‘round)
I need you to kiss my lips immediately

Life is short, why not spend it with you?
Your gaze tells me you want it too
You’re in my head all day and all night
And finally I gather all my might

You need to know that you’re the only one
You’re my water, earth, moon and Sun
You’re my king without a crown
Baby, I need your love right now

Bok stu lečkayas
Orvi letayas
Eztak lovuk orvuzsamaya
Fališ tahalge sovut elminagka
Hazta ravit, yesta halkit

Not even dreams feel this sweet
You’re my king without a crown
Baby, I need your love right now

Baby, you must know I can’t focus in class
Dreams of you fuel me like a car’s gas
But I have an A-plus
In kissing and being the girl you can trust

(Want to spend my days with you)
However you want, sweet like ice cream
(My heart pounds like a drum when you’re ‘round)
I need you to kiss my lips immediately

Life is short, why not spend it with you?
Your gaze tells me you want it too
You’re in my head all day and all night
And finally I gather all my might

You need to know that you’re the only one
You’re my water, earth, moon and Sun
You’re my king without a crown
Baby, I need your love right now

Bok stu lečkayas
Orvi letayas
Eztak lovuk orvuzsamaya
Fališ tahalge sovut elminagka
Hazta ravit, yesta halkit

Not even dreams feel this sweet
You’re my king without a crown
Baby, I need your love right now

Life is short, why not spend it with you?
Your gaze tells me you want it too
You’re in my head all day and all night
And finally I gather all my might

You’re my king without a crown
Baby, I need your love right now

(Life is short, why not spend it with you?)
Your gaze tells me you want it too
(You’re in my head all day and all night)
And finally I gather all my might

You need to know that you’re the only one
You’re my water, earth, moon and Sun
You’re my king without a crown
Baby, I need your love right now

Life is short, why not spend it with you?
Your gaze tells me you want it too
You’re in my head all day and all night
And finally I gather all my might

You need to know that you’re the only one
You’re my water, earth, moon and Sun
You’re my king without a crown
Baby, I need your love right now

### Controversy

Similarly to "Ojos Así," "I Need Your Love" was alleged by the League of Sallilandic Disciples to be "Satanic." The facts that "I Need Your Love" has the same melody as the *MTV Unplugged* version of "Ojos Así" and its video is highly similar to that of "Ojos Así" was used as evidence of "occult" as "rituals must be the same". The Acashkic refrain was believed to be "a coverup for Shakira's prayer to the devil". The line "You're my king without a crown" was said to echo the line "It's more difficult to be a king without a crown than a normal person", referring to God in Shakira's song "Octavo Día", and was believed to connote that "Fakaua, and indeed Ravina Olvürna, are calling Satan their God. They love and worship him. In real life, the song is dedicated to Satan, although it is dedicated to Friedrich in the *Fakaua* series."

Upon the premiere of the episode "This Song Isn't For You" in Salliland on 5 June 2010, further allegations were made that "'Bahrain to Beirut, to the North to the South Poles, and finally to somewhere in Salliland' was indeed the route Satan has taken," supporting Ben Lusejik's theories in 2000. Allegations were also made against Grozdana Stojanov, who was a voice actress in the Sallish dub of *Fakaua*, with Father Ajdin Barakat commenting that "Grozdana was already exposed for supporting Satanists through dubbing SpongeBob, who was originally voiced by Tom Kenny, who also designed the lights on Shakira's *MTV Unplugged* where she performed the Satanic 'Ojos Así'", and believing that it proved the existence of a satanist cabal. As a result, protestors against "the spread of Satanic propaganda in the media" gathered outside the headquarters of PBV Televizja and PBV Music on 21 June 2010, for the second time since 31 March 2002. As a result, the episode "This Song Isn't For You" and music video for "I Need Your Love" were temporarily pulled from television rotation until later in 2010.