Cuba Libre (Gloria Estefan song)
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| "Cuba Libre" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Gloria Estefan | ||||
| from the album Gloria! | ||||
| Released | November 9, 1998 (Europe) | |||
| Recorded | 1997–1998 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 4:38 | |||
| Label | Epic | |||
| Songwriters | ||||
| Gloria Estefan singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "Cuba Libre" on YouTube | ||||
"Cuba Libre" ("Free Cuba") is a 1998 song by American singer and songwriter Gloria Estefan. It was released as the third single from her eighth studio album, Gloria!. It is a dance-pop song which was included on the album in two versions: English and Spanish. The song is one of the three only Spanish-language tracks, alongside "Oye" and "Corazón Prohibido". It represents a homage to Estefan's homeland, Cuba.[1] "Cuba Libre" was written and composed by Gloria Estefan, along with Emilio Estefan Jr. and Kike Santander.[2]
Ben Wener from Beaver County Times noted the "bouncing Afro-Cuban flourishes" of the track in his review of gloria!.[3] The Daily Vault's Alfredo Narvaez wrote that "Cuba Libre" is about "the feelings many of the expatriates of that island feel – hoping for a day that they'll be able to return home."[4] Chuck Eddy from Entertainment Weekly named the song as "ominously undulating", adding that it "reach[es] for the skies like a missile-crisis fiesta thrown by Donna Summer."[5] Joey Guerra from Houston Chronicle called it "an ode to Estefan's birthplace".[6] Victoria Segal from NME stated that the singer "sparkles with diva potential", "tenderly singing of her homeland".[7] Larry Flick from Vibe applauded the song, as well as "Oye", by stating that they "have a ferocious new energy and a vocal spark that Estefan hasn't previously displayed."[8]
