Como la Flor
"Como la Flor" is a song recorded by American singer Selena. Written by A. B. Quintanilla and Pete Astudillo, it was released as the second single from her third studio album Entre a Mi Mundo. A family selling illuminated plastic flowers at a 1982 concert in Sacramento, California, inspired the recording. A decade later, A. B. was seized with an infectious melody and abruptly dashed out of the shower in a hotel room in Bryan, Texas, to recreate it on a keyboard with Astudillo. He completed the music in 20 minutes, while Astudillo took another hour to complete the lyrics. "Como la Flor" is an up-tempo, Tejano cumbia torch song that blends tropical cumbia rhythms with hints of reggae and pop music. Its lyrics describe the feelings of a female protagonist addressing her former lover, who abandoned her for another partner. The narrator is uncertain of her ability to love again, while at the same time, wishing her former partner and his new lover the best.
"Como la Flor" received widespread acclaim from music critics, who lauded Selena's powerful performance of the song's poignant lyrics about heartbreak and loss. The recording won Regional Mexican Song of the Year at the 1993 Premio Lo Nuestro awards. It was nominated for Single of the Year at the 1993 Tejano Music Awards but was removed in preliminaries; a move music critic Rene Cabrera criticized. The song peaked at number six on the US Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart and became one of the most-played songs on Latin music radio stations in Texas. After Selena's press tour in Monterrey, Mexico, organized by music executive José Behar, "Como la Flor" climbed to number three on Mexico's Grupera Songs chart, marking her first major commercial breakthrough in the country.
Following its inclusion in Selena's live set list, "Como la Flor" quickly gained popularity and became a staple in her concert repertoire, often serving as the opening or closing number. During her performances, Selena would oftentimes deliver the song in a slow, mournful tempo while performing a flamenco-inspired floreo hand gesture. As she transitioned to the upbeat section, she would exclaim "como me duele" while beating her chest, imbuing the song with a powerful emotional resonance. Selena's stage presence, choreography, and nuanced delivery of the song's themes of heartbreak and resilience were hailed by music critics and scholars alike, who praised her ability to capture the essence of Latino mournfulness in her performances. "Como la Flor" was the closing number of Selena's final live performance in Bryan on March 19, 1995; she was shot to death by Yolanda Saldivar on March 31. The song has since been regarded as Selena's signature and "trademark", serving as both her posthumous epithet and swan song. Its popularity has placed it among her most celebrated works and cemented its position in the Texas musical canon.
"Como la Flor" became one of the most popular songs recorded by an artist of Mexican descent in the US. In 2018, Rolling Stone named "Como la Flor" one of the best Latin pop songs. Several artists have recorded cover versions of the song; these include Jackie Cruz, Ángela Aguilar, and Cristian Castro. Selena's performances of the recording were dramatized by Jennifer Lopez in the 1997 Warner Bros. biopic film and in 2020 by Christian Serratos in Netflix's Selena: The Series. The New York Times writer Joe Nick Patoski named his biography of Selena after the song. Contemporary reviews have been positive; essayist Ilan Stavans said the emergence of Latin pop in the United States in the 1990s is attributed to the popularity of "Como la Flor". Scholar Deborah Parédez lauded Selena for innovatively blending unexplored genres of African American music into the Tejano genre, which she believes led to the song's success. The Recording Industry Association of America has certified "Como la Flor" 9× Platinum. The song currently holds the Guinness World Record for the most video uploads of people lip syncing to a single song in one hour.
Background and inspiration
Following the 1981 recession in Texas, former musician Abraham Quintanilla, sought to promote his children's band Selena y Los Dinos as a way to make ends meet after being evicted from their home. In 1982, Selena y Los Dinos, along with three other Mexican bands, performed at a nightclub in Sacramento, California. Following their performance, A. B. Quintanilla caught sight of a family vending illuminated plastic flowers. Struck by inspiration, A. B. conceived a repetitive rhythm and the working title "flor", though he found the term "plastic flower" lyrically unappealing. With the vision of someday crafting a song about a flower, he vowed to himself to turn his inspiration into a reality.In 1992, after a live performance, the band spent the night at a hotel in Bryan, Texas before their scheduled travel to Houston the following day. While staying at the hotel, A. B. was seized by an irresistible melody that he could not silence. He sprang out of the shower, grabbed a keyboard, and started working on the tune with backup vocalist Pete Astudillo and keyboardist Joe Ojeda. A. B. had a ten-year-old concept for a song, and he shared it with Astudillo, who initially proposed a different idea based on his own life experience. Astudillo believed that the lyrics would resonate more deeply with audiences if they were based on genuine emotions. Despite this, A. B. remained committed to his vision of a song about someone receiving a wilting flower from their lover as an analogy for the end of a relationship. The two decided to write about a despondent woman who wished her former partner well rather than portraying someone better off without them. Astudillo linked the song to a Spanish-language version that predated Adele's 2012 single "Someone like You".
A. B. took 20 minutes to compose the music and another hour for Astudillo to complete the lyrics. According to keyboardist Ricky Vela, the song was finished in his absence while he was out for dinner. During the recording sessions, Selena left the studio before completing the backing vocals. A. B. lamented, "homegirl just bounced on me, she said, 'I'm out of here, I'm going to the mall." Nevertheless, he revised the melody and added the finishing touches by recording the backing vocals himself. Keyboardist Joe Ojeda also provided instrumental arrangement for "Como la Flor". A. B. developed a simple formula for writing songs like "Como la Flor", which emphasized melody lines, synth hooks, and basic instrumentation, believing that simplicity is "what sells". The recording took place at Manny Guerra's AMEN Studios.
Music and lyrics
Musically, "Como la Flor" is primarily a Tejano cumbia torch song, which American scholar Deborah Parédez described as a transnational fusion that melds tropical and cumbia rhythms with reggae and pop music. Tejano music journalist Ramiro Burr referred to the track as a "pop polka", that incorporates pop, disco, and R&B. Although "Como la Flor" is "equally catchy" as "La Carcacha", it is performed at a slower tempo. Mike Hazelwood of Tulare Advance - Register called "Como la Flor" an infectious Tejano recording that is appealing to a broad audience beyond its genre. The song is written in the key of B major and composed in time signature, with a moderate "lively tempo" of 92 beats per minute. Selena's vocals range from F3 to B4, highlighting her "trademark cumbia rhythm." The melody of the song is simple yet melancholic, making it a "heart-wrenching ballad" according to Chris Pérez, the widower of Selena. Parédez also described it as a "captivating ballad", while Nathan Smith of Texas Music Magazine called it a "heartfelt, pop-tinged Tejano ballad." The call-and-response lyrics of the song's chorus invite audience participation. The bassline is described as "emphatic" and the beat is "irresistible" according to Christian Wallace of Texas Monthly. "Como la Flor" evokes "beauty and ephemerality", a connection that scholars Rosana Blanco-Cano and Rita E. Urquijo-Ruiz consider clichéd because of its title. Joey Guerra of the Houston Chronicle praised "Como la Flor" for its unique sound compared to other Spanish-language songs. It contains a danceable, synthesizer-based, pop-cumbia beat, and a banda keyboard sound. Selena "mixes pop vocalism" and displays a "boo-hooing cadence" that is consistent with ranchera songs. Writing for the San Antonio Express-News, Burr enjoyed the song's "memorable melodic hook" that he felt "had listeners whistling along". Soraya Nadia McDonald of The Washington Post called "Como la Flor" an "ear-wormy goodness" track.In the lyrics of "Como la Flor", the protagonist directs her words to her former lover who has terminated their relationship. She expresses her desire for her ex-lover to find happiness in his new relationship, something that she was unable to provide. The protagonist uses the metaphor of a wilting flower to describe the end of their relationship, which she finds painful. Uncertain of her ability to love again, the narrator reveals that she gave all of her love to her former partner and wishes him and his new partner the best. The lyrics delve into the complexities of romantic relationships. Selena portrays a hopeless romantic who finds solace in being able to say that she had loved, even if it meant losing the relationship. According to Erika Ramirez of Billboard, Selena's performance of "Como la Flor" and "No Me Queda Más" was so passionate and devoted that it left listeners feeling either nostalgic or transported to a fantasy world. Pérez describes the lyrics as "aching", while Wallace finds them plaintive, bringing even "the toughest hombres" to tears. Peralta describes the lyrics as lovelorn, and a "clean pop " that echoes the works of Chelo Silva. Parédez characterizes the lyrics as self-abnegating after an unsuccessful relationship, in stark contrast to the themes of typical cumbia, salsa, and dance songs in Latin music; its lyrics more closely resemble those of pop music. According to Jessica Roiz of Billboard, "Como la Flor" teaches a life lesson about maturely ending a relationship and being the bigger person, wishing the new couple well. She finds the lyrics empowering and positive.
According to Parédez, "Como la Flor" exemplifies a pop-cumbia composition that caters to a broad range of Latino musical preferences. The song's themes of yearning and anguish are palpable, and the recording possesses a "residue of materiality". The song's melodic shifts successfully evoke Selena's presence in an elegy that marks her absence, providing a multi-layered "emotional register and communal sensibility". During Selena's emotional proclamations of unrequited love, "Como la Flor" exerts a "tensive pull" on the listener. Selena's "teardrop vocals" capture and convey what Roland Barthes referred to as "the grain of Selena's voice". "Como la Flor" furnishes "emotionally useful modalities" akin to Jill Dolan's "utopian performatives" or Josh Kun's "audiotopias". Blanco-Cano and Urquijo-Ruiz assert that "Como la Flor" is capable of measuring and directing "the affective labor of Latinidad". Pérez extols Selena's emotive vocal delivery, which elevated "Como la Flor" and found other performances of the song by other artists as lacking Selena's emotional delivery. Sertan Sanderson of Deutsche Welle asserts that the song can be appreciated even by non-Spanish speakers. "Como la Flor" was included in the posthumously released album Dreaming of You, which was remixed by A. B who mixed the song to match the way the band would have performed it live. It diluted Selena's ethnic sound so that it would appeal to a wider mainstream audience, incorporating additional percussions to enhance the track's appeal, according to Burr in Billboard.