The followup to "Dímelo" (there was a single between them, but it didn't have an English-language version and didn't do much business) is an uptempo ballad, with urgent drum kicks and close-plucked guitars giving an air of tension to Marc Anthony's long passionate wails and romantic lyricizing. Like the song that preceded it at #1, it is more generic 90s lovesong than any particular Latin genre, but the flamenco-derived guitar runs and pattering percussion are enough to make it sound of a piece with Anthony's current pan-Latin, dance-centric work.
As "You Sang to Me," it was his biggest English-language hit, kept from #1 on the Hot 100 by Carlos Santana's followup to "Smooth." And it was a significantly worse song than the Spanish-language version. If Marc Anthony is telling the truth, he wrote it as part of the process of wooing Jennifer Lopez; they wouldn't be married for another four years, after three separate high-profile relationships between them. But the English-language version is clunky and strained; his voice sounds thin and nasal in the effort to force emotion into words that don't resonate with him. He sounds infinitely more relaxed and joyful singing "Muy Dentro de Mí," riding the song's rhythm, extemporizing, and participating in call-and-response with the background singers. Although this wouldn't be his last attempt at English-language crossover material, it's a signpost pointing to the way his career would develop as the millennium wore on.
As "You Sang to Me," it was his biggest English-language hit, kept from #1 on the Hot 100 by Carlos Santana's followup to "Smooth." And it was a significantly worse song than the Spanish-language version. If Marc Anthony is telling the truth, he wrote it as part of the process of wooing Jennifer Lopez; they wouldn't be married for another four years, after three separate high-profile relationships between them. But the English-language version is clunky and strained; his voice sounds thin and nasal in the effort to force emotion into words that don't resonate with him. He sounds infinitely more relaxed and joyful singing "Muy Dentro de Mí," riding the song's rhythm, extemporizing, and participating in call-and-response with the background singers. Although this wouldn't be his last attempt at English-language crossover material, it's a signpost pointing to the way his career would develop as the millennium wore on.
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