Parqués is a traditional Colombian board game similar to Parcheesi or Ludo.
In this deeply personal song, Shakira playfully confesses all her everyday flaws and quirks, singing "Juego mal hasta el parqués" (I even play parqués badly). This uniquely Colombian cultural reference adds a charming and authentic touch to her lyrics, making it a wonderful piece of vocabulary for learners to discover.
Shakira opens this pop track by listing all her flaws before she even talks about the breakup. Instead of pretending to be perfect, she admits she cannot make coffee ("No sé preparar café"), knows nothing about soccer ("no entiendo de fútbol"), skips showers on Sundays ("Ni me baño los domingos"), and never wears a watch ("jamás uso reloj"). She even mentions playing "parqués" badly ("Juego mal hasta el parqués"), referencing the classic Colombian board game similar to Parcheesi or Ludo. It is funny, blunt, and totally honest: she lays out all her everyday messiness just to prove that nobody loves this person the way she does, even if that person no longer cares.
Once the confessions are out of the way, the chorus hits with the cold reality of a breakup that will not fade. She describes the dull repetition of heartbreak with the line "El cielo está cansado ya de ver la lluvia caer" ("The sky is already tired of seeing the rain fall"), watching every day turn into an exact copy of yesterday. She knows her ex is not coming back ("No vas a volver"), but she still cannot find a way out of the feelings. Loving them is simply "inevitable" (unavoidable).
Shakira signed to Sony Music Colombia at thirteen, and her debut album Magia sold about 1,200 copies in Colombia. Born in Barranquilla in 1977 to a family of Lebanese, Catalan and Colombian descent, she was belly dancing by four, after hearing Arabic drumming at a Middle Eastern restaurant near home, and she has written or co-written most of what she records.
The breakthrough came with Pies Descalzos (1995) and its single "Estoy Aquí", and ¿Dónde Están los Ladrones? (1998) followed with "Ciega, Sordomuda" and "Ojos Así". She moved into English on Laundry Service (2001), whose "Whenever, Wherever" was released in Spanish as "Suerte", then topped the US Hot 100 in 2006 with "Hips Don’t Lie", featuring Wyclef Jean. "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)", recorded with the South African band Freshlyground, was the official song of the 2010 World Cup. Her 2023 session with Argentine producer Bizarrap won Latin Grammy Song of the Year, and Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran took Best Latin Pop Album at the 2025 Grammys, her fourth Grammy next to fifteen Latin Grammys.