"Octavo Día" ( English: Eighth Day) is a song written and performed by Colombian singer-songwriter

Shakira Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll ( , ; born 2 February 1977) is a Colombian singer-songwriter. Referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Latin Music", she has had a Cultural impact of Shakira, significant impact on the ...

. The song was released as a promotional single from her fourth studio ''

Dónde Están los Ladrones? ''Dónde Están los Ladrones?'' (, ) is the fourth studio album by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira, released on 29 September 1998 by Sony Music Entertainment, Sony Music Colombia. After attaining success in Latin America with her major-label ...

'' (1998), but received attention when it caused controversy after the singer performed it live in her 2002-2003 world tour. The song expresses Shakira's opinion about God.

Background

In an interview with

MTV News MTV News was the news production division of MTV. The service was available in the US with localized versions on MTV's global network and an online news team. In 2016, MTV refreshed the MTV News brand to compete with the likes of BuzzFeed and ...

, Shakira stated that "Octavo Dia" "talks about God when he created the world, the eighth day he went for a walk to outer space and when he came back he found our world in an infernal mess. And he found that we were being controlled and manipulated by just a few leaders and that we were like pieces of a chess game".

Live performances

Shakira performed "Octavo Día" at a concert held on 12 August 1999 at Grand Ballroom, which later became ''

MTV Unplugged ''MTV Unplugged'' is an American television series on MTV. It showcases recorded live performances of popular music artists playing acoustic instrument, acoustic or "unplugged" variations of songs. The show aired regularly from 1989 to 1999. F ...

''. She also performed it during the 2000

Tour Anfibio Tour Anfibio () is second concert tour by Colombian singer Shakira support of her fourth studio album ''Dónde Están los Ladrones?'' (1998). It started on March 21, 2000, in Lima, and ended on May 12 in Buenos Aires. The tour was sponsored by ...

. In the

Tour of the Mongoose The Tour of the Mongoose (also known as El Tour de la Mangosta in Spanish-speaking regions) was the third concert tour by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira, launched in support of her fifth studio album—and debut English-language record— ...

, behind the stage was a black and white backdrop video of

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

and

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...

playing chess, and on the stage some of the musicians were wearing masks of

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

and

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

's president

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...

. During the video at the show, Hussein's and Bush's puppets suddenly became restless and violent as they started playing with nuclear bombs instead of chess pieces. Then the

Grim Reaper The Grim Reaper is a popular personification of death in Western culture in the form of a hooded skeletal figure wearing a black robe and carrying a scythe.The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''. The symbolism of the video clip was that Bush and Hussein were treating the war as if a game, as if not treating it with much importance. The performance ended with a quote from

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

in the back screen of the stage: "When the power of love overcomes the love for power, the world will know the peace." However, some members of the audience were confused with Shakira's criticism when she performed "Octavo Día". David Hiltbrand, a journalist from ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', often referred to simply as ''The Inquirer'', is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded on June 1, 1829, ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is the third-longest continuously operating da ...

'', said that it was an atypical show number. "I thought it was a mistake, personally, not as a journalist. What I took from it

s that S, or s, is the nineteenth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and other latin alphabets worldwide. Its name in English is ''ess'' (pronounced ), plural ''esses''. ...

our leaders are caught up with themselves," Hiltbrand said.

Awards

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Octavo Dia 1998 songs Shakira songs Songs written by Shakira Songs written by Luis Fernando Ochoa