27th August, 2011
The last time Maná had two singles in a row go to #1 was in 2006, when "Labios Compartidos" and "Bendita Tu Luz" followed in quick succession. That was during the first flowering of reggaetón, and my reaction was a simmering displeasure at such old-fashioned rock being dragged out again as if in counterpoint. Here in 2011 it is a similarly dance-friendly moment, with Maná appearing between big splashy international hits, and it feels more than ever like a kind of quiet culture war.
"Lluvia al Corazón" had sat at #1 for three weeks in the spring, and "Amor Clandestino" only popped in for a week; and not to suggest that my tastes are representative of the broader Latin Pop audience's, but I kind of liked the former, and think the latter is Maná at their self-important, pretentious, fauxthentic worst.
Opening with Fher's extremely basic harmonica skills signals that this is going to be a bluesy, authentic rock song, but there's no groove here, just a succession of dramatic builds, key changes and string sections shoring up the slow bits while Fher moans about love that has to be conducted in secret for unspecified reasons. The video gives a number of specifics, none laudable: one person is cheating on their partner, another is a tutor coming on to their student, a third is falling in love with a sex worker trying to keep it professional. The lyrics are certainly in a tradition of self-involved love poetry in which men bemoan the circumstances that prevent them from loving openly and look forward to the ever-delayed day in which they will be allowed to.
Could it be read as a closeted gay song? Of course, and that's the only thing that redeems it, and makes it feel like it's participating in the pop ethos of the 2010s. In the video, a woman looking like she's going towards Fher but instead kissing another woman in an extremely male-gaze shot is the closest we get.
The band is visibly aging, and the concurrent transition to HD videos does them no favors. Still, the next Maná single will also appear here, a record that I believe only Enrique Iglesias has matched. And of course, some day I'll be sorry not to have Maná to kick around any more.
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