Man It’s A Hot One: The Fiery Story Behind Santana’s Enduring Hit, ‘Smooth’

Here’s a hot fact for you about Santana’s ‘Smooth’.

Now, when I say it’s a hot one, I’m not even talking seven-inches-from-the-midday-sun-level hot. This fact is the sun, it’s the sun that heats the sun, it’s the entire energy source for the planet you are currently spinning on. As far as facts go, this is the glowing orb.

Okay, here we go. ‘Smooth’ by Santana (featuring Rob Thomas) is the second most popular song of all time.

Of all time.

This is according to Billboard, who monitor such things, and it’s based on total radio spins, sales, and chart positions. ‘Smooth’ sat at number one for twelve successive weeks in America, and was sitting in pole position when the ‘90s ended. It was still number one when we kicked over into the new millennium.

For all we know Y2K may well have happened, but the sheer power of Santana’s smooth riffing keep all computer systems powered up, and safely steered plummeting aircraft to safety. It’s possible. Listen again. It’s probable.

And It’s Just Like The Ocean

It’s the song’s continued radio play that has made it so popular. Given ‘Smooth’s breezy charm, Rob Thomas’ ubiquity over the past two decades, and the Latin influence that was inescapable on pop radio in the late ‘90s, it was initially playlisted on every format of radio: pop, rock, alternative, adult contemporary, and even golden oldies, due to Santana’s greying fanbase. (He literally played at Woodstock, and not the ‘99 version with Korn and Limp Bizkit.)

It continues to be played on high rotation across many radio stations — in fact someone is probably playing it right now, and they probably won’t credit Rob Thomas when back announcing it, either.

The only song deemed more popular is ‘The Twist’ by Chubby Checker, which came out in 1960 (that’s six decades of radio play), invented a massive dance craze, and was instrumental in popularising the entire genre of rock and roll. It doesn’t, however, feature Rob Thomas.

Santana loved the vocal, the song, the passion, the implied señoritas, and so he jammed in that same guitar riff he uses in approximately 100 percent of his songs, and history was made (featuring Rob Thomas)

Like so many things, ‘Smooth’ got off to an unimpressive start. It began life as a demo penned by songwriter Itaal Shur, who heard Santana was shopping around for tunes for a new album, and whipped up a song named ‘Room 17’ in a weekend.

Shur had worked with the likes of Enrique Iglesias and Ricky Martin so he knew a thing or two about writing hip-shaking rhythm-snaking Latin pop, but unfortunately, his lyrics and melody were deemed sub-par, even by ‘Smooth’ standards. Plus, ‘Room 17’ sounds like the name of a shitty straight-to-DVD horror film starring Neve Campbell.

Rob Thomas was drafted in to write a completely new vocal melody and set of lyrics, and presented a re-recorded demo to Santana, now complete with barrios and muñequitas and references to the Mona Lisa. He somehow resisted the urge to slot the term ‘señorita’ in the lyrics, and so he was hired. Santana loved the vocal, the song, the passion, the implied señoritas, and so he jammed in that same guitar riff he uses in approximately 100 percent of his songs, and history was made (featuring Rob Thomas).

Under The Moon

Fun fact about ‘Smooth’: it was originally intended for George Michael to sing. This presents an interesting sliding doors scenario. At first, it might seem like a missed opportunity; a way they could have given this song some much needed critical credentials. But this is 2019 revisionist thinking, coming just two years since Michael’s untimely death rightly rendered him a musical legend.

‘Smooth’, however, was released in 1999, when George Michael’s stock was at its lowest market value. The previous year he’d been arrested for ‘public lewdness’. The forward-thinking UK market didn’t care, and his greatest hits record debuted at #1 and stayed there for eight weeks. Americans weren’t so amused, with his 1999 album stalling at #157, the worst showing of his career. If George Michael had sung ‘Smooth’, the odds are it would never have been:

‘Smooth’ has become truly timeless. It’s written in the wind, frozen in amber, burned forever into the midday sun.

A) Released as the lead single from Santana’s album
B) Been picked up by commercial radio and MTV – a necessity if you wanted to sell singles in 1999, or
C) Been treated seriously as a smooth love song for smooth karaoke sessions and smooth compilation albums.

These were much more reserved and homophobic times, especially in the Deep South.

Rob Thomas, on the other hand, was a hot one: coming off the back of four hit singles and a Matchbox 20 debut album which sold a startling 15 million copies, back in the $30 CD days. His stock was the highest it would ever be. Santana bought up big, and so did the rest of the world.

Another fun fact: there is a seven-and-a-half minute instrumental club mix of this song. Really let that sink in. In the radio edit, which is already a full minute shorter than the album version, it already sounds like Santana plays that same riff roughly three-dozen too many times. Now, imagine it stripped of its verses, both choruses, and just hanging on the pleasant but basic groove, Santana wailing like he just lost a baby.

Sadly, this mix has been lost to the annals of time, but a shorter club version is available, which adds a club-friendly pre-drop build, a tasty shuffle rhythm, and Rob Thomas ranting ‘so smooth’ on loop. And that’s only the first thirty seconds. It’s perfect for those who enjoy washing their MDMA down with Corona.

There have even been international versions recorded — or blatant steals, depending on how litigiously you go through life — such as Albi Ekhatark by Egyptian heartthrob Amr Diab which matches the sultry spirit of the original with an even more yearning vocal. You can almost hear this dude’s abs when he sings.

Sidenote: “Seven inches from the midday sun” sounds like it should be a series of psych singles released by a vinyl-only indie label.

It’s The Same As The Emotion That I Get From You

In 2016 ‘Smooth’ had another burst of popularity, as the song became the subject of a meme, in that muddy way that memes happen where irony and sincerity are blurred past the point of recognition.

It’s not hard to see how the perverse appeal of this song made it ripe for such treatment. The opening lyrics are instantly recognisable, the riff can be transposed and placed anywhere, and the words are sincerely-delivered yet silly beyond belief. Also, they rarely rhyme, relying mostly on assonance: mood/smooth/moon/you. Just try cracking onto someone with “you’re the step in my groove”, and see how smooth a line it really is.

Therein lies the song’s actual appeal. ‘Smooth’ remains the least smooth and most sexless song about sex that ever sexed. I sincerely doubt anyone has ever had sex to this song, unless it came on directly after a Portishead song on some ‘90s CDR mix.

It’s a song about sex that you can listen to with your parents in the car and not get embarrassed. It’s a song you can laugh at, and sing along to, and enjoy — ironically, non-ironically, it’s all the same when it’s bringing you joy. Your kids will like it. Your grandparents already do. It was never cool or cutting edge, so it hasn’t aged. It doesn’t echo any specific era, not in its production, nor its musical choices, nor its genre. It stands alone. It dances to its own rhythm.

This is why ‘Smooth’ has become truly timeless. It’s written in the wind, frozen in amber, burned forever into the midday sun.

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Nathan Jolly is a freelance writer based in Sydney, and was formerly the Editor of The Music Network, and tweets from @NathanJolly

All this week, Junkee is heading back in time to relive the greatest moments in pop culture from 1999. For more 1999 content, head here.