| Día Especial | |
| Artist: | Shakira featuring Gustavo Cerati |
| Album: | Fijación Oral Vol. 1 |
| Released: | 28 November 2005 |
| Recorded: | 200405 |
| Genre: | Pop rock |
| Length: | 4:25 |
| Label: | Epic |
"Día Especial" (English: Special Day) is a Latin pop ballad performed by Colombian singer Shakira from her album Fijación Oral Vol. 1. The song is about how a day is made special with forgiveness. "Día Especial" is not an official single from Fijación Oral Vol. 1, but was popular around the time of the album's release, peaking at number 26 on the Billboard Latin Pop Airplay chart. Gustavo Cerati was the lyricist for the track with Shakira and Luis Fernando Ochoa as co-writers for the music. Shakira performed the song together with Gustavo Cerati at the Live Earth concert in Germany on 7 July 2007, an event to promote awareness of the global warming, pollution, and environmental issues.[1] [2] [3] [4] The English version of the song is titled "The Day and the Time" with brand new lyrics written by Shakira and Pedro Aznar and is featured on the album Oral Fixation Vol. 2.
Mike Wass from Idolator called "Día Especial" "one of Shakira’s best non-singles".[5] Telediario dubbed "Día Especial" and "No" as "two of the most remembered songs" of Fijación Oral, Vol. 1.[6]
Peter Murphy from Hot Press portrayed "The Day and the Time" as "perfectly polished but understated MOR with a Killers-cribbed synth break that might sound odd in your kitchen but a tonic on the radio".[7] Garry Mulholland from The Guardian praised the song stating that it's 'lovely'.[8] Spence D. from IGN described how Shakira is "flexing an almost pitch perfect ode", stating that the song is a "breath of fresh air" and "features some excellent ambiance rolling throughout", and pointing out Shakira's "chameleonic vocal nuances", and her "rich tenor punching the notes and lyrics with angst ridden ennui".[9] Matt Cibula from PopMatters reflected on how "there is something extremely avant about Shakira’s voice" "made up of equal parts Cher and Alanis and Nancy Sinatra" that gives the song "an edge that most pop singers can rarely achieve".[10] David Browne from Entertainment Weekly inscribed the song as "well-crafted but banal".[11]
On 7 July 2007, Shakira performed "Día Especial" together with Gustavo Cerati at the Live Earth concert in Hamburg, Germany, receiving an applause in the event held to raise awareness of the impact of global warming.[12] Her setlist also included the singles "Don't Bother", "Inevitable", and "Hips Don't Lie".[13]