My Spanish knowledge is extremely limited, so I turn to the experts of the Dope:
For Shakira’s songs that are released in both languages (e.g., “Objection”) is the English version a translation of the Spanish version or is it essentially written separately in each language? What I can pick up from the Spanish version suggests that the lyrics are not strictly equivalent, but more or less roughly parallel instead. I would think that the difficulty of matching meter and timing with a translation would make a separately-written version easier, anyway.
Hoo boy. Yeah, she runs reasonably close overall, but the individual verses vary in how much they’re rewritten. Remember that English as spoken has really weird stress patterns compared to Spanish, more “thump thump waggle waggle thump thump” than “lada relada o lada relada.” So direct translation doesn’t fit meter, & sometimes you have to just make something up.
And the names are sometimes not translations. “Suerte” became not “Lucky,” but “Whenever, Wherever.”
As for “Objection,” it’s been a while since I heard the Spanish version, but I think it’s the same situation but a slightly different description. I’ll go have a listen.
Here’s an English translation of “Te aviso, te anuncio (Tango)” and yes, it’s very different from “Objection (Tango)” but the same basic theme. I think the English is a little more clearly about being two-timed, where the Spanish (& here my sense of Spanish idiom fails) may be slightly ambiguous as to what the lover is cheating on her with.
I saw a Shakira interview where they asked her this and she said that she doesn’t even always write first in one language; some songs are born in English and translated into Spanish. And of course, since she’s both the author and the translator, nobody can’t whine about the “rewrites” not being “faithful enough”.
I’ve written dual-language documents sometimes, although in my case it’s computer manuals and corporate documents. In those cases, I write the document first in the language in which I need it first or in the language which I’m using most lately. I assume something similar happens in her case, and a song which she’s writing knowing that she’ll be singing it with an Anglo singer or one written while she’s on tour in non-Hispanic countries will naturally be born in English. I also sometimes change the original because I see an ambiguity or a dissonant sentence which I had missed, having to translate the document highlights it: she may go through a similar process when both songs are going to be released simultaneously (that is, the original isn’t “fixed” yet, thus she can still tweak it).
Yea, the meaning is clear in that song (the cheating, that is), but there is less call out to the other woman and more “I’m dumping you, idiot”.
At least Shakira keeps the main themes of the songs the same. I know of another singer whose English version of some of his songs are not related, and the only thing they have in common is the music and rhythm.