The song was written and produced by the singer and her frequent collaborator Luis Fernando Ochoa and belongs to the "very rock and roll" direction of the album.

An accompanying music video for "Sale el Sol" was directed by Jaume de Laiguana, and features Shakira and her band performing the song in a snow-decked forest.

At the Rock in Rio concert show in May 2010, Shakira sang the song as a tribute to Argentine singer-songwriter Gustavo Cerati, who had fallen into a coma earlier that month.

[1][3] Written and produced by Shakira and her frequent collaborator Luis Fernando Ochoa,[4] "Sale el Sol" is a call for "optimism through difficult times.

"[12] Billboard commended its lyrics, calling them "evocative and hopeful" and found it emotionally appealing, saying "Wistful and beautiful, it highlights a more pared-down Shakira.

"[1] The instrumentation of the song reminded Carlos Macias from Terra Music of Shakira's work in her sixth studio album Fijación Oral, Vol.

[16] The accompanying music video for "Sale el Sol" was directed by Shakira's frequent collaborator Jaume de Laiguana.

[17] Parts of the video also served as a Christmas season commercial for Spanish Cava wine producer Freixenet, who donated an estimated amount of 500,000 euros to Shakira's charity Barefoot Foundation.

Changing back to the forest setting, the camera pans upward to reveal that the maze is built behind the wall in front of which Shakira and her band are performing.

The song's bridge co-indices with the occurrence of a storm and culminates with Shakira tearing her top open, after which the sun rises and the intensity of the lighting increases.

[21] In May 2010, Shakira sang the song at the Rock in Rio concert show in Madrid, Spain, as a tribute to Argentine singer-songwriter Gustavo Cerati, her frequent-collaborator and close friend who had suffered a stroke earlier in the month and had fallen into a coma.