"Agua Dulce, Agua Salá" ("Sweet Water, Salt Water") is a song from Spanish singer

Julio Iglesias Julio José Iglesias de la Cueva (; born 23 September 1943) is a Spanish singer, songwriter and former professional footballer. Iglesias is recognized as the most commercially successful Spanish singer in the world and one of the top record ...

's studio album ''

La Carretera ''La Carretera (The Road)'' is a studio album by Julio Iglesias Julio José Iglesias de la Cueva (; born 23 September 1943) is a Spanish singer, songwriter and former professional footballer. Iglesias is recognized as the most commercially s ...

'' (1995). The song was written by

Estéfano Fabio Alonso Salgado, better known as Estéfano (born 19 August 1966 in Manizales, Colombia) is a Colombian musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. Along with Donato Poveda formed the duo Donato y Estefano, releasing three studio albums ...

, Donato Poveda, and Hal Batt and produced by Ramón Arcusa. It was released as the

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

from the album in 1995. A

rumba flamenca Rumba flamenca, also known as flamenco rumba or simply rumba (), is a '' palo'' (style) of flamenco music developed in Andalusia, Spain. It is known as one of the '' cantes de ida y vuelta'' (roundtrip songs), music which diverged in the new world ...

, the song deals with the theme of life. The song received positive reactions from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

, mostly being found catchy by them. It was a recipient of the

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

Latin Award in 1996. Commercially, the song peaked at number three on the

Hot Latin Songs The ''Billboard'' Hot Latin Songs (formerly Hot Latin Tracks and Hot Latin 50) is a record chart in the United States for Latin songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Since October 2012, chart rankings are based on digital sales, rad ...

chart and number one on the

Latin Pop Airplay Latin Pop Airplay (also referred to as Latin Pop Songs) is a record chart published on ''Billboard'' magazine and a subchart of the Latin Airplay chart. The chart focuses on Latin pop music, namely Spanish-language pop music. It was established b ...

chart in the United States. A

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for the song was filmed in Spain and features Fabiola Martinez. Iglesias also recorded it in Portuguese as "Água Doce, Água do Mar" for his studio album '' Ao Meu Brasil'' (2000).

Background and composition

In 1995, Iglesias released ''

'', his first Spanish-language album since '' Calor'' (1992). To promote the album, "Agua Dulce, Agua Salá" was released as its

in 1995. The song was later included on Iglesias' compilation album '' My Life: The Greatest Hits'' (1998). The song was written by

, Donato Poveda, and Hal Batt while produced by Ramón Arcusa. The track was recorded in Miami during April 1995. Musically, "Agua Dulce, Agua Salá" is a

and describes the theme of life, to accept its bitterness and pleasure and to keep on dancing. Colombian

vallenato Vallenato () or "Szlager" in Wayuu language (from the German "Schlager"), is a popular folk music genre from Colombia. It primarily comes from its Caribbean region. ''Vallenato'' literally means "born in the valley". The valley influencing t ...

musician Egidio Cuadrado, who is a member of

Carlos Vives Carlos Alberto Vives Restrepo (born 7 August 1961) is a Colombian singer, songwriter and actor. He is known for his interpretation of traditional music styles of Colombia such as vallenato, cumbia, champeta, bambuco and porro as well as genres ...

' band, plays the accordion for the song. The track is also accompanied by hand claps and "jubilant" background singers as well as

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

Promotion and reception

The

for "Agua Dulce, Agua Salá" was filmed at the

Hermitage of El Rocío The Hermitage of El Rocío ( es, Ermita del Rocío or ''Ermita de El Rocío'') is a hermitage at El Rocío in the countryside of Almonte, Province of Huelva, Andalusia, Spain. The hermitage is home to the Virgin of El Rocío ( es, Virgen del Ro ...

in Huelva, Spain and features Venezuelan model Fabiola Martinez. Iglesias performed the song live on the Mexican variety show ''

Siempre en Domingo ''Siempre en Domingo'' (translated ''Always on Sunday'') is a Mexican variety show created and hosted by Raúl Velasco. The show aired on Televisa from December 14, 1969 until April 19, 1998 when Velasco retired. ''Siempre en Domingo'' became one ...

'' in 1995. A Portuguese-language version of the song was recorded by Iglesias under the title of "Água Doce, Água do Mar", which was included on his studio album '' Ao Meu Brasil'' (2000). "Agua Dulce, Agua Salá" has been

covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

by Dominican Republic singer

Alex Bueno Alex Bueno (born 6 September 1963) is a singer and guitarist from the Dominican Republic, specializing in Merengue music, merengue and Bachata (music), bachata music. He joined Gerardo Vera’s All-Stars in 1979 and formed Orquesta Liberación i ...

on his studio album ''Me Equivoque'' (1996). The ''

Miami Herald The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and headquartered in Doral, Florida, a List of communities in Miami-Dade County, Florida, city in western Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County and the M ...

'' critic Howard Cohen called "Agua Dulce, Agua Salá" an "intoxicating

samba Samba (), also known as samba urbano carioca (''urban Carioca samba'') or simply samba carioca (''Carioca samba''), is a Brazilian music genre that originated in the Afro-Brazilian communities of Rio de Janeiro in the early 20th century. Havin ...

" and felt it has "an infectious

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

flavor". Charlotte Aiken of ''

The Oklahoman ''The Oklahoman'' is the largest daily newspaper in Oklahoma, United States, and is the only regional daily that covers the Greater Oklahoma City area. The Alliance for Audited Media (formerly Audit Bureau Circulation) lists it as the 59th larges ...

'' praised the song as "sassy", while the ''

El Paso Times The ''El Paso Times'' is the newspaper for the US city of El Paso, Texas. The newspaper has an approximate daily circulation of 65,000 and 125,000 on Sundays. The paper is the only English-language daily in El Paso (when the '' El Paso Herald-Po ...

'' editor Maria Cortés Gonazlez complimented the track as one of the album's "infectiously dance tunes". A writer for ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later ...

'' referred to it as a "percussive single". The track was recognized as one of the best-performing songs of the year at the 1996

Latin Awards. In the United States, "Agua Dulce, Agua Salá" peaked at number three on the ''Billboard'' Hot Latin Songs chart and reached the top of the

chart. It was also recognized at the 1997 BMI Latin Awards.It was recognized as on the best-performing songs of the year at the 1997

BMI Awards The BMI Film & TV Awards are accolades presented annually by Broadcast Music, Inc., honoring songwriters, composers, and music publishers in various genres. Based in the United States, the awards include the BMI Christian Awards, BMI Country Award ...

Formats and track listings

Promotional single # Agua Dulce, Agua Sala4:24 # Vuela Alto3:11 # Guajira/

Oye Como Va "Oye Cómo Va" is a 1962 cha-cha-chá by Tito Puente, originally released on ''El Rey Bravo'' (Tico Records). The song achieved worldwide popularity in 1970, when it was recorded by American rock group Santana for their album ''Abraxas''. This ...

3:54 Remixes by

Jellybean Jelly beans are small bean shaped sugar candies with soft candy shells and thick gel interiors (see gelatin and jelly). The confection is primarily made of sugar and sold in a wide variety of colors and flavors. History It has been cla ...

A1. Agua Dulce, Agua Salá (Ay, Ay, Ay,Ay) (Underground Version #1)5:45
A2. Agua Dulce, Agua Salá (Ay, Ay, Ay,Ay) (Underground Version #2)5:45
B1. Agua Dulce, Agua Salá (Ay, Ay, Ay,Ay) (Radio Edit 12 Extended Version)5:50
B2 Agua Dulce, Agua Salá (Ay, Ay, Ay,Ay) (Radio Edit 12 Main Version)4:40

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{authority control 1995 singles 1995 songs Julio Iglesias songs Songs in Spanish Sony Discos singles Songs written by Estéfano