“Telepatía” by Kali Uchis
The title of this track (“Telepatía”), as you have probably already guessed, translates into English as “telepathy”. Telepathy is a pseudo-science – for lack of a better term – centered on the idea of two people being able to communicate without the use of spoken words, as in solely through their minds.
And the way that concept plays into the narrative at hand is that the singer is addressing her romantic interest. However, she and this individual are obviously separated by a considerable amount of space. So as the chorus indicates when “the moon is full” she is in heat, fantasizing about making love to him. And basically, as used in the chorus, the title is actually a metaphor pointing to such, i.e. her desire for lovemaking with this particular individual.
But in terms of the verses, Uchis alludes to “telepathy” more in the traditional sense of the world, though in all cases again pertaining to her lover.
Verse 1
The first verse is sort of related to the chorus in that it has a strong sexual undertone. But this time around the singer is saying that she can pick up her lover’s amorous thoughts rather, even though they are “miles away”. And since, once again, she is of a similar (i.e. aroused) disposition, she is letting him know that she is “just a flight away”, and he can jump on “a private plane” so that the two of them can hookup.
Verse 2
The second verse is a bit more difficult to decipher. On one hand it reads as if this time around the singer and the addressee are physically together. But her “telepathy” is manifested by the fact that she is able to read his thoughts just by looking at his face.
And again, the implication is that he is thinking of doing something sensual to her, which she agrees with. Also, she is able to perceive his thoughts while listening to him talk while he’s sleeping.
But then at the end of the passage the singer turns around and mentions the two of them being on the phone together. Perhaps this isn’t a contradiction but rather two different settings contained in one verse. Either way, in that regard what she says is that dude has the tendency to ‘stay on the phone just to hear her breathe’.
This statement would apparently point to the rapport they share as elaborated on throughout the song. Her lover basically being able to gather her thoughts just by listening to her breathe, without needing to actually be with her or to even speak.
Conclusion
So conclusively, this is very much a love/romantic song. Perhaps one can argue that it is rather a bedroom fun track. That being said, this whole ‘making love telepathically’ element is more like the subtheme.
More to the point is the fact the singer and her lover are able to communicate in such an ethereal fashion in the first place. And underneath all of the lyrics, that seems to be what Kali is celebrating. She is celebrating the fact that she and her partner have a love so strong that she can feel it even when they’re not together.
Indeed such is fundamentally how Uchis has explained the meaning of this track in her own words.
Release Date of “Telepatía”
This song is from Kali Uchis’ second album, “Sin Miedo (del Amor y Otros Demonios)” (Google translation: Fearless (of Love and Other Demons)).
In fact this is the third single from the project but was originally released with the rest of the playlist on 18 November 2020. But in terms of its singular release, Interscope, UMG and EMI did so during February of 2021.
Success of “Telepatía”
Concerning the aforementioned album, upon its first release it did not chart. However, the strength of the reception of this song allowed it to do so.
The track made it onto the top 50 of the UK Singles Chart and top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100. And the album itself went on to appear on the Billboard 200. Even more impressively it was a top-5 hit on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums chart.
The song also did quite well on the Billboard Global 200, a ranking of the top streaming songs, debuting on that list at number 29. And said success was partially attributable to “Telepatía” catching on with TikTokers, in which a challenge was created via the track on that popular streaming platform.
Said challenge involves participants lip syncing the first verse. And what differentiates this from your usual TikTok fare is that said verse is rendered in both Spanish and English.
Did Kali Uchis write “Telepatía”?
This is a song which Kali Uchis penned herself, though she had considerable help. For instance, its producers Manual Lara, Tainy and Albert Hype also co-wrote it. And additional co-writers are Cris Chil and Servando Primera.
Concerning Uchis’ explanation of the song, it possesses a much broaching meaning than just pertaining to romance. Part of it is in fact based on her “spiritually being with someone she physically couldn’t”. But even beyond that she has been told that the track possesses a telepathic, if you will, therapeutic quality which has the ability to heal and make the listener a better person.
