"Al otro lado del río" () is a song by Uruguayan singer

Jorge Drexler Jorge Abner Drexler Prada (born September 21, 1964) is a Uruguayan musician and actor. In 2004, Drexler won wide acclaim after becoming the first Uruguayan to win an Academy Award, which he won for composing the song " Al Otro Lado del Río" f ...

from the

soundtrack album A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ( ...

for the film '' The Motorcycle Diaries'' (2004). It was released as a single on 15 March 2005, by Dro East West. Besides the film's soundtrack, the song was included in reissue editions of Drexler's seventh studio album ''Eco'' (2004) as a bonus track. In June 2020, he performed the song at the launch show of the app 342 Amazônia at

Circo Voador Circo Voador (Portuguese language, Portuguese for Flying Circus) is a concert venue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Located adjacent to the Carioca Aqueduct in the Lapa, Rio de Janeiro, Lapa neighborhood, it is a large tent-like structure covering the ...

Academy Award

"Al otro lado del río" received the

Academy Award for Best Original Song The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the Film industry, motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is presented to the ''songwriters'' who h ...

at the

77th Academy Awards The 77th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), took place on February 27, 2005, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST / 8:30 p.m. EST. Durin ...

, becoming the first

Spanish language Spanish () or Castilian () is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin spoken on the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. Today, it is a world language, gl ...

song, the second in a foreign language, to receive such an honor, and the first by a

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

an artist. The Oscars ceremony caused controversy because Drexler was not allowed to perform the song since "he was not popular enough," according to the Spanish newspaper ''

El País (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA. It is the second-most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . is the most read newspaper in ...

''. Instead, Spanish actor

Antonio Banderas José Antonio Domínguez Bandera (born 10 August 1960), known professionally as Antonio Banderas, is a Spanish actor. Known for his work in films of several genres, he has received numerous accolades, including a Cannes Film Festival Award ...

and Mexican-American musician

Carlos Santana Carlos Humberto Santana Barragán (; born July 20, 1947) is an American guitarist, best known as a founding member of the Rock music, rock band Santana (band), Santana. Born and raised in Mexico where he developed his musical background, he r ...

sang the track, who were both introduced by actress

Salma Hayek Salma Valgarma Hayek Pinault ( , ; ; born September 2, 1966) is a Mexican and American actress and film producer. She began her career in Mexico with starring roles in the telenovela ''Teresa (1989 TV series), Teresa'' (1989–1991) as well a ...

. Upon winning, Drexler recited two verses of the song ''

a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

'' at the podium. Despite the incident, Drexler said that he became friends with Banderas and wrote the poem "3 décimas para Antonio Banderas" for him in 2019.

Awards and nominations

*Won: Academy Award for Best Original Song *Nominated:

Latin Grammy Award for Song of the Year The Latin Grammy Award for Song of the Year is an honor presented annually at the Latin Grammy Awards, a ceremony that recognizes excellence, creates a wider awareness of cultural diversity and contributions of Latin recording artists in the Uni ...

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''The Motorcycle Diaries (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)''. *

vocals, songwriting, performance, guitar, programming, production *

Leo Sidran Leo Sidran is an American Latin Grammy-winning musician, music composer, composer, performer, and producer whose Credit (creative arts), credits include co-producing the Academy Award, Oscar-winning song "Al Otro Lado Del Rio" for the soundtra ...

piano, percussion, programming, production *

Ana Laan Ana Serrano van der Laan (born 10 February 1967), known professionally as Ana Laan, is a singer-songwriter born in Madrid, Spain. She composes in English, Spanish and Swedish, with a smattering of French. Biography Born in Madrid, Spain, ...

background vocals * Jeff Eckelsbass * Carina Volycello *

Ben Sidran Ben Hirsh Sidran (born August 14, 1943) is an American jazz and rock keyboardist, producer, label owner, and music writer. Early in his career he was a member of the Steve Miller Band and is the father of Grammy-nominated musician, composer and ...

piano * Jon Vriesackerviolin *

Mark Haines Mark Haines (April 19, 1946 – May 24, 2011) was a host on the CNBC television network. Early life and education Haines grew up in Oyster Bay, New York, and resided in Monmouth County, New Jersey. His ''alma mater'' was Denison Universi ...

recording, mixing at

Smart Studios Smart Studios was a recording studio located in Madison, Wisconsin. It was set up in 1983 by Butch Vig and Steve Marker to produce local bands. The studio produced bands such as Killdozer, The Smashing Pumpkins, L7, Tad, Nirvana, Hawthorne H ...

Madison, WI Madison is the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the second-most populous city in the state, with a population of 269,840 at the 2020 census. The Madison metropolitan area had 680,796 residents. Centrally located on an isthm ...

* Hector Coulonadditional recording at UML Studios

References

External links

*
Lyrics (in original Spanish) and English translation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Al Otro Lado Del Rio 2004 songs Jorge Drexler songs Best Original Song Academy Award–winning songs Songs in Spanish Songs written by Jorge Drexler Latin pop songs