Santana: Love of My Life

Of all the many collaborations that Santana engaged in for 1999’s Supernatural album, the partnership with alternative rocker Dave Matthews was one of the most interesting — at least personally. After all, as an acoustic guitarist/vocalist/bandleader, Matthews is himself an unconventional artist, as is Santana.

Latin-Rock Video

Check out the new video for this guitar and percussion-driven song by the leading Santana Tribute and Latin-rock band.

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Together, the two crafted the hip-hop tinged ballad “Love of My Life”: an uneven yet sometimes brilliant song that had Carlos playing out of the box both style-wise and tonally.

Love of My Life starts with a syncopated, modern drum and bass groove, over which a rapper introduces Carlos and the band. The verse and chorus consist of a call and answer with Matthews singing and Carlos responding on guitar. During the verse, Santana crafts blues riffs that complement Matthews’ melody, while in the chorus he pretty much mirrors the melody exactly.
The song is in the key of Gm, and stays pretty firmly ensconced, although it does shift between Natural minor (Aeolian mode) and Harmonic minor (when it goes to the D7). There’s a break after the second chorus where Santana echoes his own guitar riffs — albeit with different tones.

Though Dave Matthews certainly has a unique style, the song is uneventful. That is, until the end. There, the song picks up the tempo and moves into a rollicking salsa-inspired Latin groove, complete with a lively montuno pattern on the piano.

Latin-Rock Video

Check out the new video for this guitar and percussion-driven song by the leading Santana Tribute and Latin-rock band.

Watch the Video

Over this end groove, Santana solos with his trademark style. He manages to use a basic Gm pentatonic scale, while throwing in a few alternative scalar tones, and, like his lengthy solos in “Guajira” (from the Sacred Fire: Live in South America album), fits it seamlessly into the complex salsa progression underneath. This is where Carlos shines, and it turns the second half of the song into an exciting, uptempo dance number.

For the outro alone, Love of My Life is worth listening to, and, in fact, became one of the secondary singles issued from Supernatural (overshadowed by the blockbuster success of “Smooth” and “Maria Maria”).

Love of My Life Lyrics

Where you are that’s where I wanna be
And through your eyes all the things I wanna see
And in the night you are my dream
You’re everything to me

You’re the love of my life
And the breath in my prayers
Take my hand lead me there

I can’t forget the taste of your mouth
From your lips the heavens pour out
I can’t forget when we are one
With you alone I am free

Everyday every night you alone
You’re the love of my life
Everyday every night you alone
You’re the love of my life

We go dancing in the moonlight
With the starlight in your eyes
We go dancing till the sunrise
You and me we’re gonna dance dance dance

Carlos’ Gear

What he uses currently, as well as the history of the amps, guitars, effects, and more that he has been using throughout his career.

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Love of My Life Chords

Intro, Chorus, Bridge

Gm7 – D7 – Gm – D7
Cm – Bb – Eb – D7

Verse

Gm – Cm – Gm – Cm – D7
Gm – Cm – Gm – Cm – D7
Cm – Bb – Eb – D7

Outro

Gm – Cm9 – D7#9
(repeat)