"No Sé Tú" () is a song written and performed by Mexican singer-songwriter

Armando Manzanero Armando Manzanero Canché (7 December 1934 – 28 December 2020) was a Mexican musician, singer, composer, actor and music producer, widely considered the premier Mexican romantic composer of the postwar era and one of the most successful comp ...

, released from his studio album, ''Cariñosamente'' (1986). A popular

bolero Bolero is a genre of song which originated in eastern Cuba in the late 19th century as part of the trova tradition. Unrelated to the older Spanish dance of the same name, bolero is characterized by sophisticated lyrics dealing with love. It h ...

song, the lyrics describe the protagonist unable to stop thinking about his lover. Manzanero re-recorded "No Sé Tú" as a duet with

Francisco Céspedes Francisco Fabián Céspedes Rodríguez, also known as Pancho Céspedes (born 28 February 1957) is a Grammy-nominated Cuban musician, singer and songwriter. Born in Santa Clara, Cuba, Céspedes is a naturalized Mexican citizen. He is most known ...

on Manzanero's album '' Duetos'' (2000). It was listed among Manzanero's best songs by an editor for

BBC Mundo BBC Mundo (Spanish for ''BBC World''), previously known as the BBC Latin American Service, is part of the BBC World Service's foreign language output, one of 40 languages it provides. History The first BBC broadcast in Spanish took place o ...

. A cover of the song by Mexican singer

Luis Miguel Luis Miguel Gallego Basteri (; born 19 April 1970) is a Mexican singer and record producer. Born in Puerto Rico to an Italian mother and a Spanish father, he is often referred to as Honorific nicknames in popular music, ''El Sol de Mexico'' ...

was released as the second single from his eighth studio album, ''

Romance Romance may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings ** Romantic orientation, the classification of the sex or gender with which a pers ...

'' (1991). Miguel co-produced his rendition along with Manzanero, with

string arrangements The string section of an orchestra is composed of bowed instruments belonging to the violin family. It normally consists of first and second violins, violas, cellos, and double basses. It is the most numerous group in the standard orchestra. In ...

being composed by

Bebu Silvetti Juan Fernando Silvetti Adorno (March 27, 1944 – July 5, 2003), professionally known as Bebu Silvetti or simply Silvetti, was an Argentine-Mexican pianist, composer, conductor, arranger, and record producer. In the 1970s he moved to Mexico a ...

. The

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

for Miguel's cover was directed by Pedro Torres, filmed in Miami, and features the artist performing in front of an orchestra. It won the '' Eres'' award for Video of the Year. Retrospectively, his rendition received favorable reviews 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 ...

who listed it among the artist's best songs. At the 1993 Lo Nuestro Awards, "No Sé Tú" won Pop Song of the Year while Manzanero received the

American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers 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, broadc ...

(ASCAP) Latin Award for the same category.

Background and composition

In 1986, Manzanero released ''Cariñosamente'', an album of new arrangements of songs he had previously composed as well as two original compositions written by Manzanero ("No Sé Tú" and "Otra Vez"). The former is a

that tells of a man "who can't stop thinking about the love of his life". "No Sé Tú" was released as a

promotional single A promotional recording, promo, or plug copy is an audio or video recording distributed free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available. Promos are normally sent directly to broadcasters, such as mu ...

from the album. Manzanero performed an instrumental version of the song on the piano for his studio album, ''El Piano, Armando Manzanero, y sus amigos'' (1995). According to ''La Verdad''s Paola Alejandra Parra, while Manzanero has written songs based on his life, it is not known to whom "No Sé Tú" was dedicated. He later re-recorded "No Sé Tú" as a duet with

on Manazero's album '' Duetos'' (2000). He also performed the song with fellow Mexican singer Susana Zabaleta on their

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th centur ...

''De la A a la Z'' (2006). "No Sé Tú" ranked number three on

's "Armando Manzanero 10 Songs That We Love the Most". As part of ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

''s tribute to the artist, who was presented with the

Lifetime Achievement Award Lifetime achievement awards are awarded by various organizations, to recognize contributions over the whole of a career, rather than or in addition to single contributions. Such awards, and organizations presenting them, include: A * A.C. ...

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

Joy Huerta Tirzah Joy Huerta Uecke (born June 20, 1986), known as Joy Huerta, is a Mexican singer and songwriter. Since its creation, she has served as vocalist of Jesse & Joy, a duo she forms with her older brother, Jesse Huerta. As part of the duo, sh ...

Jesse & Joy Jesse & Joy () is a Mexican Latin pop music, pop Duet (music), duo formed in 2005 by brother and sister Jesse (born December 31, 1982, as Jesse Eduardo Huerta Uecke) and Joy Huerta, Joy (born June 20, 1986, as Tirzah Joy Huerta Uecke), in Mexic ...

performed the song live with Manzanero playing on the piano. Following Manzanero's death, Huerta recorded her own rendition of the track and was featured as the closing theme for the Mexican telenovela ''

Fuego ardiente Fuego is the Spanish word for "fire". It may also refer to: Places * Volcán de Fuego, a stratovolcano in Guatemala *Tierra del Fuego, an archipelago off the southern tip of South America * Punta Fuego, a headland in the Philippines Music * ...

'' (2021).

Luis Miguel version

In 1991, Mexican singer

covered "No Sé Tú" on his eighth studio album, ''

'', a collection of

s performed by the artist. Released as the album's second single in February 1992 by

WEA Latina Warner Music Latina Inc. (formerly WEA Latina) is a record label part of Warner Music Group that focuses on Latin music. The record label was established in 1987. List of artists currently on Warner Music Latina *Alaya * Alex Ubago * Andrés Ca ...

, it is one of two songs by Manzanero that Miguel covered in the album, along with "Te Extraño", as selected from among 500 others. As with the rest of the album's tracks, it was co-produced by Manzanero and Miguel, with

arranging the

strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

. Recording took place at the

Ocean Way Recording Ocean Way Recording was a series of recording studios established by recording engineer and producer Allen Sides with locations in Los Angeles, Nashville, and Saint Barthélemy. Ocean Way Recording no longer operates recording facilities, but O ...

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

, California. The song was later included on his compilation albums '' Mis Boleros Favoritos'' (2002) and '' Grandes Éxitos'' (2005). A

live Live may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Live!'' (2007 film), 2007 American film * ''Live'' (2014 film), a 2014 Japanese film * ''Live'' (2023 film), a Malayalam-language film *'' Live: Phát Trực Tiếp'', a Vietnamese-langua ...

version of the song was featured on his live albums and as part of the "Romance Medley" on '' Vivo'' (2000).

Reception

Retrospectively,

commended "No Sé Tú" as one of Miguel's best songs. The track was listed among "10 Luis Miguel Songs You Should Know" by Emily Paulín on Sonica and "20 Best Luis Miguel Songs to Listen on

YouTube Music YouTube Music is a music streaming service developed by the American video platform YouTube, a subsidiary of Google. The service is designed with an interface that allows users to simultaneously explore music audios and music videos from YouTu ...

" by an editor for '' El Comercio''.

Danyel Smith Danyel Smith Wilson (born Danyel Smith; 1965) is an American magazine editor, journalist, and novelist . Smith is the former and first African-American editor of ''Billboard'' and ''Vibe'' magazine'','' respectively. She is author of two novels a ...

of ''Vibe'' magazine listed it as among the 99 best love songs of the and wrote: "Backed by a full orchestra, his voice rises, falls and penetrates, making us wish we'd been there ''la otra vez''". The ''

Classic Rock Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...

'' editor ranked "No Sé Tú" as Miguel's third best song of all-time by complimented it as "another satisfying ballad" and praised its "exquisite" musical arrangements. Cindy Carcamo of the ''

Orange County Register ''The Orange County Register'' is a paid daily List of newspapers in California, newspaper published in California. The ''Register'', published in Orange County, California, is owned by the private equity firm Alden Global Capital via its Digit ...

'' called it "beautifully written". Commercially, it topped the ''Billboard''

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 music, Latin songs, published weekly by Billboard (magazine), ''Billboard'' magazine. Since October 2012, chart ranki ...

in the United States, where it spent seven weeks at this position. It ended 1992 as the second best-performing Latin song of the year. In Mexico, both "No Sé Tú" and " Inovidable" topped the charts for a total of six months.

Music video

An accompanying

for "No Sé Tú" was directed by Pedro Torres and filmed in Miami; it features Miguel and an orchestra performing in front of a building. The video premiered on 16 February on the Mexican variety show ''

Siempre en Domingo ''Siempre en Domingo'' (translated ''Always on Sunday'') was 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 o ...

''. At the 1993 annual Premios ''Eres'', it won Best Video.

Accolades

At the 5th Annual Lo Nuestro Awards in 1993, "No Sé Tú" won Pop Song of the Year. At the inaugural ASCAP Latin Awards in the same year, Manzanero won Pop Song of the Year for the track in a tie with

Ana Gabriel María Guadalupe Araujo Yong (born December 10, 1955), known professionally as Ana Gabriel, is a Mexican singer and songwriter. With over 40 million records sold worldwide, Gabriel is the best-selling Mexican female artist, and one of the best- ...

's song "Evidencias". In 2002, "No Sé Tú" ranked second on the poll for the best all-time Spanish song in the United States by

Univision Univision () is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television, free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the L ...

, after " Piel Morena" by Mexican singer

Thalía Ariadna Thalía Sodi Miranda (; born 26 August 1971), known mononymously as Thalía, is a Mexican singer, songwriter and actress. Referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Latin Pop", she is considered one of the most ...

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 1986 songs 1992 singles 1980s ballads Luis Miguel songs Songs written by Armando Manzanero Song recordings produced by Luis Miguel Songs in Spanish Boleros Warner Music Latina singles CBS Records singles Telenovela theme songs Armando Manzanero songs