Rosalía performs as the musical guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

Rosalía’s ‘La Perla’ Lyrics and Meaning Behind the Most Thinly Veiled Track on LUX

The Spanish superstar just dro pped her new album, and one song in particular has fans buzzing

Ana Rojas
Archivado en: Rosalia  •  

Rosalía is officially back. On November 7, the Spanish artist released her long-awaited fourth studio album, LUX—a project full of symbolism, orchestral arrangements, and lyrics packed with metaphors (some more obvious than others). One of the tracks generating the most conversation is “La Perla,” which she recently performed on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Dressed in a wedding gown, Rosalía delivered a performance rich with symbolism.

A collaboration with Yahritza Y Su Esencia, the song blends their voices over a sound heavily inspired by regional Mexican music. Together, they create one of the album’s most playful and unexpected moments.

In the track, Rosalía takes sharp aim at someone who betrayed her: “Olympic gold medal for biggest jerk,” “a minefield for my sensitivity,” she sings with a mix of sarcasm and hurt.

What “La Perla” by Rosalía Is About

The song’s lyrics, which echo the humor of Bizcochito but with a sharper edge, turn the track into a moment of catharsis. Yahritza Y Su Esencia bring a distinct vocal warmth that softens the sting, transforming Rosalía’s frustration into a shared emotional release.

Together, they turn heartbreak into an act of emotional resilience—without losing either the poetry or the punch. It’s a reminder that even in heartbreak, there’s always someone who can stand with you. Heartbreak is never something you carry alone.

At one point, Rosalía stops the music to deliver a spoken interlude, laughing: “I mean, not calling him an icon would feel reductive for him, you know?”

It’s definitely a track fans will dissect line by line. Its witty, razor-sharp lyrics are already making waves online.

Rosalía’s ‘La Perla’ Lyrics

Hello, thief of peace
A minefield for my sensitivity
Playboy, a real champion
He spends the money he has, and also the money he doesn’t
He’s so charming, a star of senselessness
A mirage, Olympic gold medal for the biggest jerk
You’ve got the podium of great disappointment

The local disappointment, the national heartbreaker
An emotional terrorist, the biggest disaster in the world
He’s a pearl — nobody trusts him
He’s a pearl — one you’ve gotta watch out for

The king of the one-two trick, he doesn’t know what paying taxes is
He’s the center of the world
And after that, what does anything else matter?
You’re finally going to therapy — the psychologist and the psychiatrist
But what good is it if you always lie more than you talk?
They’ll build you a monument to dishonesty

You don’t make me feel sorry — whoever stays with you gets drained
You always invite yourself, and if you can, you live in someone else’s house
A walking red flag, a massive disaster
He’ll say it wasn’t him, it was his doppelgänger

(Well, I mean, of course, not calling him an icon
Would be too reductive a narrative for him, you know?)
Never lend him anything — he won’t give it back
Being a loose cannon is his specialty
Loyalty and faithfulness
Are languages he’ll never understand
His masterpiece, his collection of bras
If you ask him for help, he’ll disappear

The local disappointment, the national heartbreaker
An emotional terrorist, the biggest disaster in the world
He’s a pearl — nobody trusts him
He’s a pearl — one you’ve gotta watch out for