A Latin pop ballad, it explores a woman's effort in trying to tell her boyfriend that she no longer wants to be involved in a toxic relationship and that separating is best for both.

An accompanying music video for "No" was directed by Jaume de Laiguana and depicts Shakira in a defunct ship yard.

She also performed the song on several occasions, such as Madrid bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics and Los Premios MTV Latinoamérica 2006, as well as including it on the setlist for her Oral Fixation Tour (2006–07).

[2] After attaining crossover success in 2001 with her first English language album, Laundry Service,[3] the singer wanted to release its follow-up.

[2] Shakira, having co-written almost 60 songs for the project, decided to divide the release into two volumes and put herself "on the mission of selecting [her] favorite ones" to the record.

[6] When recording the albums, she worked with previous collaborators along with new partners, such as Spanish singer Alejandro Sanz and Argentine musician Gustavo Cerati.

[8] In early June 2005, Shakira's spokespeople announced that "No" would be released in the following weeks as the second single from Fijación Oral, Vol.

It was produced by Shakira with additional co-production by Mendez and Cerati, who also played the guitar and provided backing vocals to the song.

[7] "No" is a pop ballad whose lyrics chronicle a woman's effort in trying to tell her boyfriend that she no longer wants to be involved in a relationship and that separating is best for both: "No, no intentes disculparte / no juegues a insistir / las excusas ya existían antes de ti / no, no me mires como antes / no hables en plural / la retórica es tu arma más letal".

[nb 1] Additionally, the lyrics depict the distance that age marks between two people: "y que a tu edad sepas bien lo que es / romperle el corazón a alguien así [...] espero que no esperes que te espere / después de mis 26 la paciencia se me ha ido hasta los pies".

Matt Cibula from PopMatters opined that the song's "slow-burning reserve is the simple setting for the crazy diamond that is Shakira's voice.

[13] Mark Kemp from Paste magazine stated that "No" was a "seething, acoustic-guitar-based" recording in which Cerati "fills the spaces between her words with subtle, tremolo-laden guitar lines".

[14] Spence D. from IGN website considered the song "starkly titled" and a "beautiful and haunting slow number that rides on Shakira's piercing vocals.

[15] For Jorge Patiño from Rolling Stone Argentina, "it's not hard to imagine 'No' with less ornaments, a little bit more raw, because it is a great song that didn't need major touches to stand up for itself".

[21] An accompanying music video for "No" was directed by Spanish director Jaume de Laiguana, who would later work with Shakira for various other projects.

[23] The clip was produced by Sergi Ciuro and Ester Udaeta, co-produced by Laiguana and Piramide, cinematographed by Alejandro Oset, and edited by Anna Oriol.

[32] On 11 July 2005, she went to Argentina and gave a performance of "No" on Susana Giménez TV show, and on her own special concert titled Shakira: Íntimo, both aired by Telefe.