‘The light went out’ is the song with which Alejandro Sanz he remembers his “dead friends”. It’s also who he started to feel with “a strong attraction” as well as a “great respect” for motorcycles. Who opened the doors of its contract with Warner and therefore of Live fast, the album that changed his life and with whom he felt “totally outdated”: “What I sold it makes no sense… selling a million copies with a debut album is something that has never happened”. On February 22, 1992, ‘Se le apaga la luz’ was the second number 1 on LOS40 by Algazul Medina (the pseudonym he was using in the credits at the time).
“Above all, a liter and a half of heart”
Alejandro Sanz was 23 when he went from nothing to selling a million records and felt “totally overwhelmed”. Living Fast (1991) is the album that changed his life. He didn’t use any magic formula to do this because he himself didn’t know “what were the factors that influence success…if I knew, I would tell my friends.” But he revealed the ingredients he incorporated into the millionaire’s “stew” in front of the Cadena Dial microphones: “I put a drop of courage, a pinch of desire and above all a liter and a half of heart into it”.
Cover of “Live Fast” / assigned
The 10 songs that made this young Madrilenian from Moratalaz an idol were born from the mixture of these three essential elements: The two holding hands, Stepping hard, What I was is what I am, Living fast… But if there is a theme to which Alejandro owes the existence of this first album – for him it’s as if he didn’t exist Pimps must take care of them (1989) by Alexander the Great – en The light went out.
“That’s the song they hire him for”
Íñigo Zabala recounts it in Alejandro Sanz’s biography ‘Vive’ (written by Óscar García). Whoever was then A&R and Vice President of Marketing for Warner Music Spain was actually who opted for this “beginning singer” when he heard the songs of Viviendo aprisa, but precisely, the light went out. It’s “the song they hired him for”.
Produced by “Capi”, the light went out – and the Vivre vite repertoire – is written by Alejandro Sanz and ‘someone else’, a certain A. Medina. This is how he appears in the credits. The “companion” in the composition tasks is in fact a pseudonym that the artist used in his early days: Algazul Medina. The first word refers to the city of Cadiz where his mother was born, Alcove of the gasis (in which Alejandro has his street and will soon also have a museum). And Medina is the second surname of his mother, María Pizarro Medina.
“Writing about something you don’t know…is impossible”
And this song, like almost all the others, is based on something he experienced: “I almost always write about things that happen to me. It’s very difficult to write about something you don’t know. I think it’s impossible. Because there are also subjects that always border on the ridiculous. Because to speak, as in The light has gone out, of a motorcycle accident… there are very delicate subjects to treat. I write about what I know and I try to put everything I feel, show it in the song, but I try not to be excessive,” the artist told Cristina Tárrega on Cadena Dial.
The motorcycle accident mentioned by Sanz it was something he knew, the true story of a colleague. and it was something very difficult to deal with because it was deadly. He himself has told it several times: “The typical weekend when you finish school, you go home, and on Monday he doesn’t show up. And when you finally talk to another classmateyou find out that he had a motorcycle accident with his girlfriend and they died in the accident.
“I remember my dead friends”
Alejandro was deeply affected by this tragedy, “so much so that I decided to capture everything I felt”. He even put himself in his partner’s shoes: “I wrote this song about what i would think if it was him, what might have been going through his head while the ambulance was coming“.Y since he composed these verses – “The light went out, he shook, And the stretcher didn’t arrive, I struggled to find a way out, To go and listen to his heart, Confused hands, I can’t stay upright, I don’t can’t reach the girl of my life” – something has changed in him:
“Since then, I have felt a strong attraction to motorcycles, as well as a great respect for them.. Before, I used to ride on my friends’ bikes without thinking about it and press the gas pedal at full speed, I didn’t wear a helmet and didn’t take any precautions. Now it’s different. Precisely the song helped me a lot to overcome the sad event. In all cases, Every time I have to interpret it, many memories and many sadnesses come to mind.. I remember my dead friends and I sing it with more emotion if possible.”
“Alejandro Sanz, the heartbreaker”
At that time he was bornAlejandro Sanz, The Heartbreaker’, as titled on the cover of El Gran Musical in its January 1992 issue. Sales of Living on the Rush (August 1991) exploded And they exceeded all expectations. “It’s that It’s very strong that you are totally taken as a rookie to sell a million records. It’s horrible. It’s terrible because you don’t know half of the things. It’s the worst thing that can happen to you.”
Cover of The Great Musical with Alejandro Sanz / assigned
Success, fame and fans crushed Alejandro. “For me, the success was terrible. I had a bad time at first.” confessed to Dial. “No, I wasn’t expecting so much and I thought ‘is it a success?’ Success consists in the fact that I cannot live and that is all”.
Alejandro’s first three nº1s in LOS40
Three of Living Fast’s songs became Alejandro Sanz’s first three nº1s in LOS40. After Stomping (in November 1991), The light went out at the top of the list on February 22, 1992. The triplet completed it What I was is what I am (in May 1992)