The lyrics of most songs in "Laundry Service" are based on issues and themes related to love, as they had been written after Shakira began a relationship Antonio de la Rúa, the son of former Argentine president Fernando de la Rúa. "Underneath Your Clothes" is an "ode" to the positivity one gains when pursuing a relationship with a good person. Shakira shows an "important side" in "The One", which is a song about how "you love your guy so much that you’re actually going to learn to cook" and contains lines like "To buy more thongs and write more happy songs, it always takes a little help from someone." In "Rules", she aims to make her lover realise that he is "condemned" to her and lists "all the things your new boy can do." Songs like "Objection (Tango)" and "Fool" also deal with issues related to love but in a different manner. The former is dramatic and humorous in approach as Shakira commands her partner to end a love triangle and choose between her and the other lady; it was described as a "hell-hath-no-fury it's-her-or-me steam train." In the song, Shakira asserts that "Next to her cheap silicon I look minimal/That's why in front of your eyes I'm invisible", which a reviewer commented was a "brave statement in these days of suspiciously ripe teenybop flesh peddlers ." "Fool" discusses how Shakira continues to try to build up a relationship with a "shitty, self-absorbed man" even after suffering a "soul-crushing defeat."