| "Como la Flor" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Selena | ||||
| from the album Entre a Mi Mundo | ||||
| Released | June 1992 | |||
| Studio | AMEN | |||
| Genre | Tejano cumbia | |||
| Length | 3:02 | |||
| Label | EMI Latin | |||
| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) | A. B. Quintanilla | |||
| Selena singles chronology | ||||
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| Music Video | ||||
| "Como la Flor" on YouTube | ||||
"Como la Flor" ("Like the Flower") 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 (1992). The song was written by Quintanilla, who was inspired by a family selling illuminated plastic flowers at a concert in Sacramento, California, in 1982. A decade later, Quintanilla 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 just 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. At the Premio Lo Nuestro 1993, the song won Regional Mexican Song of the Year. 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 often 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" ("how it hurts me") 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 in cold blood 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 (RIAA) has certified "Como la Flor" 9× Platinum (Latin). The song currently holds the Guinness World Record for the most video uploads of people lip syncing to a single song in one hour.[1]