"A Word in Spanish" is a song by the English musician Elton John, released as the third single in most countries except in North America where it was the album's second single, from his twenty-first studio album Reg Strikes Back (1988) on 26 November 1988.
Background and release "A Word in Spanish" alongside "The Camera Never Lies" were both recorded in early 1988 at James Newton Howard's home. Its release date has been subject to debate, while Music Week claims its release date to be 28 November 1988, Authors Elizabeth J. Rosenthal, Bernardin Claude and Tom Stanton claim its release date to be in September 1988. although most authors agree its North American release date is sometime in November 1988.
Critical reception Cashbox's writers called it a "Spanish-guitar tinged ballad written with the kind of originality that John-Taupin haven't really touched since the seventies." Vulture critic Shana Naomi Krochmal placed it number 165 in a ranking of every Elton John song in 2025, stating that "Bernie playing dumb about how Spanish works shouldn’t be this charming, but somehow Elton pulls it off." Jim Beviglia writes that "it’s a lovely track, featuring Latin music accents to complement the song title", notes that "the best he can do is quote a word he doesn’t even understand based on the impact it made in a movie he saw."
Music video A music video for "A Word in Spanish" was released featuring choreography by Kenny Ortega.
Personnel According to authors Romuald Ollivier and Olivier Roubin:
Musicians
Elton John – vocals, synthesizers, organ Davey Johnstone – electric guitar, acoustic guitar, vocals David Paton – bass Charlie Morgan – drums Fred Mandel – synthesizers Dee Murray – vocals Nigel Olsson – vocals
Technical
Chris Thomas – producer Bill Price – engineer Michael Mason – engineer Paul Wertheimer – engineer Karl Lever – assistant sound engineer Tim Young – mastering
Charts
Chart (1988)Peakposition
References
Bibliography